JISC Digest issue 6
JISC has invited institutions to submit funding proposals for projects in the areas of enterprise architectures, e-infrastructure, and users and innovation. Proposals may be submitted by higher education institutions (HEIs) funded via the HE Funding Councils for England and Wales, and by further education (FE) institutions in England that teach HE to more than 400 full-time equivalents.
1. Updates
1.1 Capital programme
Funding is available for projects starting from December 2007 onwards for 12-15 months depending on the area of work. The closing date for submissions is 2 October 2007 and all projects must be complete by the end of March 2009.
Circular 02/07: Capital programme call for projects
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2. News
2.1. JISC reviews its services to the Arts and Humanities community
Following the Arts and Humanities Research Council's decision to cease funding the Arts and Humanities Data Service (AHDS) from 31 March 2008, JISC has announced it is unable to continue to fund the service alone and will therefore cease its own funding on the same date.
Chair of JISC, Professor Sir Ron Cooke, paid tribute to the AHDS as a centre of expertise and excellence within the Arts and Humanities community, and praised staff for their hard work and dedication over the service's 11 year history.
JISC and its partners are now exploring alternative approaches to maintaining support for the community beyond next year.
Supporting research in the Arts and Humanities: JISC reviews its services
2.2. Student Expectations Study
A new study being carried out by JISC in collaboration with research specialists Ipsos MORI aims to explore whether there is evidence of a disparity between student expectations and what HE institutions offer in terms of information and communications technology (ICT).
Over 500 UK students were interviewed to gather information on areas including how students currently use ICT and what they expect to be able to use at university.
A second strand of activity focused on institutional attitudes towards ICT use and demands, social computing activity and Web 2.0 offerings for students. Members of staff in a number of HEIs were interviewed by telephone and online to discover what institutions believe they offer in the way of ICT support.
The study will give JISC a better picture of what certain students entering university expect from their universities, in comparison to what institutions do and don't offer in terms of ICT. The findings of the study are due to be published in September.
For further information, please contact Charles Hutchings
2.3. JISC Legal highlights Business and Community Engagement
JISC Legal has dedicated a section of its website to Business and Community Engagement (BCE) which will feature guidance on the legal issues that all institutions face in the course of their BCE activities. Case studies illustrating how these issues arise in practice are available to download, including those of intellectual property rights and copyright. In addition, the website will offer a helpdesk facility making it possible to address, on a one-to-one basis, specific areas of concern.
JISC Legal also held a webcast in July on 'BCE - The Legal Issues', to raise awareness of the legal aspects of BCE activities and show how JISC Legal can assist colleges and universities with these issues. The webcast is available, along with other materials. Click the link below to access.
Business and Community Engagement, Technology and the Law
2.4 TechDis highlights groundbreaking work in specialist colleges
A new publication from JISC TechDis, the UK's leading educational advisers on inclusion and accessibility, highlights how independent specialist colleges are progressing opportunities for disabled people in higher, further and adult education.
Specialist Colleges: Specialists in Innovation details the highly successful outcomes of Innovation Fund projects funded by JISC. A total of 27 projects across 22 colleges were funded, ranging from the use of interactive whiteboards to wireless networking in a rural college.
TechDis: The Innovation Fund
2.5. JISC and the Higher Education Academy working together
The Higher Education Academy/JISC collaboration is continuing to progress, linking with staff in the respective executive bodies, JISC Services, Subject Centres, units and teams funded through the two organisations.
With a cross-organisational focus, the collaboration initiative has enabled greater understanding to be gained of the individual strengths of JISC and the Academy by highlighting information on pro-active cooperations, providing advice to enhance existing links and giving support to establish new ventures. A Partnership Review highlighted the energy, value and synergy in the partnership with a desire expressed for further development in the future.
To develop cross-organisational links, a programme of regional network workshops has been arranged during July and September, hosted by and involving staff from each of the JISC Advisory Services and those from Subject Centres and Regional Support Centres (RSCs). These events will provide opportunities for regional centres/services/teams from the Academy and JISC to learn more about each others' work to inform, support and enhance future developments for the benefit of the sector.
The Higher Education Academy partnership
2.6. National e-books observatory project
Earlier this year the JISC national e-books observatory project began its work to license collections of e-books that are core texts for UK HE, focusing on engineering, medicine, media studies, and business and management.
JISC is funding publishers to make available a selection of their e-books to all UK HEIs free for the next two years. Following consultation a suite of 30 taught course texts has been selected and will be made available from September to all HEIs in the UK. Depth analysis of the texts' usage will be undertaken, giving publishers, institutions and JISC vital intelligence to inform future initiatives in this area.
JISC National e-Books Observatory Project
2.7. RSCs to advise Work Based Learning sector
The role of the nine JISC RSCs in England has been expanded to include the Work Based Learning (WBL) sector. This is part of the ongoing strategy of the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) to extend e-learning across all of the post-16 sectors. The RSCs will work closely with the national partners who are already working in the sector, and will provide regional signposting of LSC and partners' WBL initiatives, projects and outputs.
JISC has appointed a national coordinator for its RSC WBL activities, and the English RSCs are each recruiting a WBL adviser to meet the needs of the new clients. The RSCs work directly with learning providers in their regions to ensure that the opportunities created by the development of new learning technologies can be realised.
JISC Regional Support Centres
2.8. The Depot launched
A national JISC-funded e-print repository has been launched. Based at EDINA at the University of Edinburgh, the Depot will enable all UK researchers to deposit their academic papers and other outputs under terms of Open Access, including those whose institution does not yet have a repository.
The new service, with its simple message and advice to 'put it in the Depot', represents an important step in the development of a scholarly communications environment for UK education and research.
The Depot
2.9. RoMEO site doubles entries on publisher policies
Publisher policies on self-archiving listed by the RoMEO service have increased to 300 in the past year.
The service, funded by JISC and the Wellcome Trust and run by SHERPA project at the University of Nottingham, allows authors to find out about publishers' copyright policies in relation to self-archiving of their research outputs.
With the number of citations of openly accessible articles in institutional and other repositories rising beyond those published in journals, RoMEO has become an essential resource for many in the Open Access community.
RoMEO
2.10 JISC Information Governance Gateway
The JISC Information Governance Gateway is to be launched at the end of September. A JISC-commissioned 'one stop shop' for all matters relating to information governance legislation and the HE sector, it will cover records management as well as UK and Scottish legislation, including, but not necessarily limited to:
- The Freedom of Information Act 2000
- Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
- The Environmental Information Regulations 2004
- The Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004
- The Data Protection Act 1998
- Copyright legislation
The Gateway has been commissioned as part of JISC's ongoing programme of activities aimed at supporting and developing institutional records management and compliance with information-related legislation. It will contain resources of relevance to both practitioners and the public regarding the HE sector's compliance with information governance legislation and will include a central point of access to all HE Publication Schemes and Disclosure Logs. It will also facilitate online debate, the exchange of learning and best practice concerning information governance, and establish a means by which frequently asked questions and their answers can be gathered and shared.
JIGG pilot project beta version
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3. Reports
3.1. New report highlights challenges of data
A new JISC report, Dealing with Data, investigates the issue of the 'data deluge' - the increasing volumes of e-Science research data - and charts a practical path forward to help stakeholders plan their next steps in data curation.
The report, by Dr Liz Lyon, Director of UKOLN and Associate Director of the Digital Curation Centre (DCC), reviews the variety of data and arrangements for their curation and use across disciplines. The work of funders, national data centres, institutional repositories, learned societies and the DCC are all documented, with a view to identifying (as the report's subtitle says) the 'roles, rights, responsibilities and relationships' that are emerging as important.
JISC is already taking forward work in a number of the areas highlighted, such as identifying the costs and benefits of data preservation, and offering discipline specific guidance to the sector. Further work is planned, including the development of a 'Data Audit Framework' to enable all universities and colleges to carry out an audit of departmental data collections, awareness, policies and practice for data curation and preservation.
Dealing with Data
3.2. Research reveals disparity in penalties for plagiarism
Regulations on plagiarism penalties among HEIs vary substantially throughout the UK, according to research published by the JISC Plagiarism Advisory Service (JISCPAS).
The report, which analysed 153 HEIs, found that almost a third use guidelines that fail to advise academic staff on appropriate penalties, and reveals inconsistency across institutions. Academic penalties, such as failing assessments, were typical, but some institutions also allowed for expulsion and fines of up to £1,000.
Baroness Ruth Deech, the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education, who called for the research in 2006, described the report as 'enormously valuable', saying: 'This provides a step towards greater consistency and fairness throughout the sector'.
JISC Plagiarism Advisory Service
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4. International
4.1 Knowledge Exchange explores multinational licensing
A meeting of senior members from the Knowledge Exchange (made up of Denmark's Electronic Research Library (DEFF), Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), JISC and SURF) in Bonn in July 2006 led to an agreement to establish a framework for testing multinational licensing. In September 2006, national experts agreed to pilot an international tender, the first known international attempt to secure access to online content on behalf of the education and research community.
The tender process was launched in February 2007, with a request for information, stimulating responses from over 20 publishers. Initial bids were considered during Spring 2007, with final submissions due over Summer 2007.
There are many challenges involved in the process of allowing four very different national procurement systems to work together. Procurement normally works the other way around, with national organisations individually approaching publishers about specific 'big deals' or opportunities. The international tender will reverse the process, requiring the partners to ask publishers to approach the academic and research communities. If successful, this trial could, says the Knowledge Exchange, start something of a revolution in the procurement of online content.
Knowledge Exchange
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5. Other
5.1. Launch of the Institute of Knowledge Transfer
As universities become increasingly encouraged to maximise the value of their knowledge and expertise by working with external partners and clients for mutual benefit, a growing body of knowledge transfer practitioners has emerged across institutions and partner organisations, with the common objective of more effective and sustainable knowledge transfer.
Addressing the need for a professional body to support these individuals, the Institute of Knowledge Transfer (IKT) was officially launched on 9 May 2007 at an event which was held at the British Library and part-sponsored by JISC.
Offering professional accreditation, certification, training and career development to those working in knowledge transfer across universities, industry and public sector research organisations in the UK and Ireland, the IKT is working towards supporting institutions to bring about the cultural, organisational and technological changes needed for effective knowledge transfer.
Institute of Knowledge Transfer
JISC and Business and Community Engagement
5.2. Customer relationship management strategies in HE
JISC and the University of Coventry co-hosted an event on the use of customer relationship management (CRM) systems in HEIs and public and private sectors on 26 June. Drawing together more than 100 individuals from the educational and commercial communities, it allowed delegates to share their experiences of implementing CRM systems in their institutions and organisations, discuss needs and issues and highlight examples of best practice.
The event was held in parallel with a study into CRM issues in HEIs that JISC is currently funding in order to establish the community's needs in this area, as part of its work to support BCE. The study is due to provide a final report on its findings and recommendations in August 2007.
5.3. Managing identity - cross-sectoral approaches
JISC represented the FE and HE sectors at a major symposium on Identity Management at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, last month.
Organised by the Oxford Internet Institute and jointly supported by JISC, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the public debate focused on the various initiatives in both the public and private sectors in this area, and the more general issues which arise across all areas.
The symposium was chaired by Jonathan Bamford of the ICO with presentations given by, among others, Sir David Normington, permanent secretary at the Home Office, and Professor Brian Collins, Vice President of the British Computer Society and specialist adviser to the Home Office Select Committee's work on Identity cards.
The public panel was followed by a private workshop supported by JISC and the ICO with representation from both as well as the Department for Education and Skills, Department of Works and Pensions, Department of Transport, the University and Colleges Admission Service, Microsoft and other key organisations in the sector.
JISC is funding several projects on Identity Management under its e-Research programme, with further events aimed specifically at the HE and FE community due to be held in late 2007 and early 2008.
5.4. Digitisation and e-content conferences
A major international symposium was organised and hosted by JISC in July to explore national and international policies and strategies concerning e-content.
Among the speakers at the invitation-only event were Patricia Manson (Head of Unit at the European Commission's Directorate Generale for Information Society and Media), Kevin Guthrie (President of the US-based Ithaka), JISC's Head of Development Sarah Porter, and Chris Batt, Chief Executive of MLA (Museums, Libraries and Archives Council). The symposium addressed national and consortium strategies, business models, sustainability, mass digitisation and the development of standards, among a range of other issues.
Delegates were joined by around 130 leading figures from education, research, cultural heritage, public broadcasting and industry in the UK and beyond for a further two days for a conference on digitisation which showcased national and international digitisation initiatives - including JISC's £22m digitisation programme - and explored the potential for cross-sectoral cooperation in the area. The conference was opened by Carwyn Jones, now Counsel General and Leader of the House in the Welsh Assembly Government.
JISC Digitisation blog
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The items included in this digest are selective. A more comprehensive view of JISC's activities is available from other regular JISC publications, including the monthly JISC Headlines. For further information please contact Philip Pothen