JISC

XCRI-CAP is the UK standard for describing course marketing information. It shows how to structure the information, defines and names the data components and specifies the types of data permitted within each component. Its purpose is to enable information about courses and other kinds of learning opportunity to be shared efficiently between the computerised information systems used by learning providers and organisations collecting, aggregating and publishing information about courses. It is recommended by the UK government and is generally applicable across all sectors of UK education and training. 

XCRI-CAP is a standard that will make it easier to move data about courses around. The College believes it will be used to improve processes within the College and in partnership with other organisations. It will give the College the capacity to offer new and enhanced services to users of course related information. Its standard format and common definitions make it possible for information in different systems to be shared and updated without having to re-enter data. The project will provide an opportunity for the College to consider ownership of course information; the frequency and control of updates; interoperability between systems holding course information; and the ability to provide a common source of course information at all levels from single units to entire qualifications.

Objectives

The production of a standardised course offer using XCRI-CAP will help the College to meet objectives within a number of its Strategic Aims:

1. Ensure effective initial advice and guidance and support.
2. Provide a dynamic curriculum that engages students
3. Remove barriers to learning.
4. Promote the College’s position as a leading provider of land-based education and training.
5. Effectively promote the College and its achievements.
6. Market Higher Education in view of competition in an increasingly customer led market.
7. Widen participation in HE.
8. Enhance the quality of HE provision.
9. Enable HE courses to be accessed through flexible delivery.
10. Increase engagement with more employers, statutory bodies and all customers.
11. Increase employers’ awareness and take-up of HE and FE curriculum offer.
12. Respond to national agenda and initiatives to supply training to newly funded groups and under represented groups in education.
13. Increase the number of services provided on-line

Anticipated Outputs and Outcomes

The College will better understand the nature of its course portfolio when combined into a single XCRI catalogue, leading to opportunities for improved quality assurance, standardisation, and consolidation of duplicate offerings.   
The College’s Prospectuses, both electronic and paper-based will benefit from a common standard. It will enable the College to publish its course data on multiple sites without the need for re-keying of information. The College already provides information to a number of websites, all of which require course data formatted in slightly different ways. As the XCRI standard develops and becomes widely used, any organisation using the standard will be able to access the College’s data directly, thus saving time for both marketing and data staff. 
Course data is collected and held in a number of different systems. The project will consider the need for multiple sources of data and how a single source of course data can be used to populate or as a link to required data. By offering a single XML-based catalogue, the college will avoid the costs of manual data-entry into multiple systems. By making the College’s offerings visible on the web in an easy-to-process, open fashion, the College will open the door to new web-based services being created that help market the college’s offerings and add value.