A sample of recent press coverage on JISC and its services
December
The Preservation of Web Resources (PoWR) Project
JISC has just released a handbook concerning the digitisation of online resources. The topics covered include the risks to websites, the tools needed for preservation, deciding what to store and who should have responsibility for web archiving.
November
The Great War Archive and World War One Poetry Archive
Digitisation project launch: The Great War Archive and World War One Poetry Archive at the University of Oxford were launched to coincide with the 90th anniversary of Armistice Day. Funded by the second phase of the JISC digitisation programme, they offer free access to rare primary source material, allowing educators, scholars and the public to view previously unseen memorabilia and poetry from World War One.
The Carl Giles Collection at the British Cartoon Archive
Digitisation project launch: The Carl Giles Collection at the British Cartoon Archive, University of Kent. This JISC-funded project will enable free access to over 120,000 images from 250 leading cartoonists including work by Ralph Steadman, Martin Rowson, Steve Bell and now Carl Giles, arguably the most famous cartoonist of his generation and creator of the much-loved ‘Giles Family’.
October/November
NewsFilm Online: ITN/Reuters archive of news footage
NewsFilm Online is a ground-breaking digital collaboration between JISC, ITN Source, Reuters, EDINA and the British Universities Film and Video Council (BUFVC). It offers 3,000 searchable hours of news footage from the ITN/Reuters archives, with video playback and downloading available to staff and students at subscribing UK universities and colleges.
October
This 'Library and Information Update' supplement continues JISC's Libraries of the Future campaign, introduced in April. It was created in conjuntion with the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP).
Articles explore the transformation of libraries within education and national e-content strategies. There is also an interview with JISC Chair Sir Ron Cooke, concerning how JISC can help educational institutions in terms of strategic IT provision.
September 2008
JISC sponsor Innovation in ICT at THE awards
In 2008, JISC sponsored the Innovation in ICT Award at the Times higher Education awards. The winner was Russell Stannard from the University of Westminster, for his series of freely available, open access online teacher training videos. The series of over 30 online tutorials introduce and develop skills in topics from starting a blog or wiki to using Second Life or interactive social networking sites.
June 2008
This study gathered qualitative and quantitative data from students entering higher education. It investigates the extent to which their perceptions of IT provision within higher education matched expectations, discussing the potential implications for future IT provision.
April 2008
The Guardian supplement explores the achievements of academic libraries in the UK, assesses current challenges and looks forward to the future. The supplement marks the start of Libraries of the Future, an attempt by JISC to initiate a debate about the future of the academic and research library.
Articles explore open access, the phenomenon of ‘Library 2.0' – the integration of user generated content with traditional library content – e-books, new business models, digitisation, digital preservation and much more.
March 2008
Committee of Inquiry into the Changing Learner Experience
A UK-wide inquiry begins its work into the widespread use of new technologies by university and college students and what implications this may have in higher education. The Committee will consider the impact of the newest technologies such as social networking and mobile devices on the behaviour and attitudes of learners coming up to, and just arrived in, higher education and the issues this poses for universities and colleges.
January 2008
Google Generation
The recently published Information behaviour of the researcher of the future report unravels some of the realities surrounding the google generation and highlights the potential impact this will have on the future of libraries.
19th Century Newspapers
With the launch of the British Library’s 19th Century Newspapers website, Stephen Hoare discusses the JISC-funded digitisation
programme that enables online access to a cross section of national and regional materials for UK Further and Higher Education Communities.
April 2007
Plagiarism
Will Murray of the JISC Plagiarism Advisory Service gives his views on Education secretary Alan Johnson's recommendation to students to use Wikipedia.
Web 2.0
JISC tackles the 'brave new Web 2.0 world' of wikis, podcasts and blogs through its Users and Innovation programme.
March 2007
JISC and the Research Councils
The signing of an agreement between JISC and the Research Councils will give a boost to services available to UK researchers.
For the full announcement, please go to: Partnership agreement
British Parliamentary Papers digitisation project
A major new online resource uncovers the parliamentary history of the 18th century.
Plagiarism
Could honour codes, through which students pledge to uphold strict rules of academic conduct, become a feature of UK academic life?
e-Books observatory
JISC is working with e-book publishers to boost usage and uptake of a potentially vital e-resource
For the full announcement, please go to: e-books
February 2007
Cross border licensing
JISC and partners explore the potential for international licensing arangement for online resources.
For the announcement, please go to: International licensing
e-Infrastructure report
JISC and partners set out the requirements for an e-infrastructure that can maintain the UK's lead in science and innovation in the digital age.
For the full announcement, please go to: e-infrastructure
January 2007
EU Petition on open access
JISC and European partners call on the European Commission to back moves to open up access to the fruits of European research.
For the original announcement and to link to the petition site, please go to: EU Petition
December 2006
Intute
The JISC-funded Intute sevice provides an alternative to traditional search engines such as Google by providing links to web resources hand-picked by subject specialists.
See more information about Intute
UK Access Management Federation
JISC and Becta launch the UK Access Management Federation which will bring education and research sectors a step closer to achieving a single sign on to network and online resources.
For the full announcement, please go to: Federation
November 2006
JISC capital programme
The first round of funding under JISC's £81m capital is allocated to a range of projects to develop repositories and preservation, e-infrastructure and e-learning.
For the announcement, please go to: Capital programme
Licence to Publish
The Licence to Publish issued jointly by JISC and SURF, its counterpart organisation in the Netherlands, provides an answer to the question of balancing rights and interests in the digital age and to that of authors becoming more aware of their rights in a complex scholarly environment
For the full announcement, please go to: Licence to Publish
October 2006
e-Framework
Bill Olivier, JISC’s Director of Systems and Technology, looks at what more flexible approaches to the deployment and management of IT systems can bring to education and research and how the e-Framework initiative is supporting these more flexible approaches.
SuperJANET5
SuperJANET5, the upgrade to the JISC-funded academic network is launched at an event in London.
For the announcement, please go to: SJ5
Academic Database Assessment Tool
A new resource is helping librarians to assess the coverage of key bibliographic databases.
For the announcement, please go to: ADAT
JISC/Universities UK/Guild HE Plagiarism event
A major conference on plagiarism attracts senior figures from UK higher education.
Regional newspapers covering the event included Manchester Evening News and the Norwich Evening News
September 2006
Learning spaces
A JISC publication – Designing Spaces for Effective Learning – explains how innovative approaches to the design of learning spaces can help inspire students and staff.
For further information, please contact: Philip Pothen