JISC

Collection level subject terminology requirements in FE and HE, pilot service, cost-benefit analysis and user evaluation.  

Ensuring that FE and HE users of the Information Environment (IE) can find appropriate learning, research and information resources by subject is one of the major challenges facing the JISC, Intute, and the various key information and learning service providers across the archives, libraries, museums, and electronic services domains.  The various service providers use a range of subject schemes (from general schemes like LCSH, UNESCO, DDC, and AAT, to specific schemes like MeSH) to meet the requirement to adequately and consistently describe their resources for accurate retrieval. If cross-searching and browsing is to function coherently for users of the IE, these schemes must be mapped to one another, perhaps using a common 'spine' such as DDC with international and multi-lingual application and the potential to facilitate machine to machine (M2M) interworking. More importantly, perhaps, the terminologies in the minds of different types of FE and HE users must be 'disambiguated,' then translated into the service-assigned terms the users need to cross-search or browse the group of services of relevance to their query. The aim of HILT Phase II is to build and evaluate a pilot terminologies route map or TeRM that will mediate this process as a 'Shared Service' in the IE. 

HILT Phase III built a pilot demonstrator.  HILT Phase IV will assess its suitability for transition to service. 

Its key deliverables will be:

• An entry-level service capable of meeting the high-level mapping needs of two JISC stand-alone information services or aggregator facilities
• A freely available package consisting of an SRW client from the internet, instructions for making it interact with HILT and illustrative user interface routines (which could be customized by local JISC information services) for using the client to exploit HILT facilities, terminologies, and terminology mappings
• A dissemination programme to inform JISC service providers of the potential value of an operational service to their services and their users
• The results of a survey of JISC services aimed at gauging the level of interest and need for an operational JISC interoperability and terminologies delivery service
• If appropriate, an estimate of the costs of setting up and maintaining an operational service and funding ongoing research and development needs beyond an entry-level service
• Project documentation, including a Final Report

More information on HILT