This project will initially be scoping out the functional, software, collection and user needs requirements for a Visual Material and Sound Portal demonstrator. The second phase will focus on building the demonstrator portal.

Visual & Sound Materials portal scoping study & demonstrator project


Start date: 1 September 2005

End date: 28 February 2007

Funding programme: Portals programme

Project website: http://edina.ac.uk/projects/vsmportal/

JISC theme(s): Information environment

The Visual and Sound Material portal (VSM) scoping study and demonstrator project is part of co-ordinating policy for multimedia service provision. The present project is seen as contributing further steps towards a user-lead specification and development of a facility providing a single integrated access point for the range of still-image, moving-picture and sound collections in the JISC IE and beyond. This project will seek to meet programme objectives through exploration of the nature and use of a portal as a means of discovering, locating and accessing time-based content and images for learning, teaching & research.   

Aims and Objectives  

The overall aim of the project is to investigate through initial scoping activity and the construction of a demonstrator, the value and feasibility of a JISC-designated national portal for both time-based media and image collections.   

The specific objectives are to:

  • To review and collate the output of previous JISC-funded studies related to time-based media and still images (Phase 1)
    • To review available and accessible collections  (Phase 1)
    • To evaluate and compare extant software solutions (Phase 2)
    • To review relevant metadata schemas and standards (Phase 1)
    • To highlight implications of legal issues on portal development (Phases 1 and 2)
    • To build a demonstrator portal and demonstrate it in at least two FE/HE institutions ensuring that it meets the requirements of users (Phase 2)
    • To develop a business plan for a future portal service (Phase 2)      

Project Methodology  

The scoping study (Phase 1) will consist largely of a review of:  literature; output of previous JISC-funded studies of VSM materials, portal developments and user requirements; and suitable and available collections.  A specification of functionality in the candidate model(s) assessed during the literature review and as the result of our study of user requirements will be refined through the use of paper based prototype at the start of the demonstrator phase (Phase 2). It is particularly important that the development cycle includes early user engagement. One outcome of the paper prototyping will be a set of use cases that, in conjunction with the software evaluation review, will help in the selection of the architecture and hence the application software for the demonstrator. More than one working prototype of the demonstrator will be created to facilitate testing and validation of initial user requirements.  

Implications / Deliverables / Stakeholders  

Phase 1

  • A report to the JISC outlining the scope, scale and nature of work to be undertaken in Phase 2
  • Details of options for the development of the demonstrator portal, portal software, and approaches to achieve the identified functional and user requirements.

Phase 2

  • Business plan for development of a VSM portal service
    • Draft collections policy
    • Draft content licensing model
    • Draft functional and technical specification
  • Recommendations for software to be used to build portal service (possibly different from that used to build demonstrator)
  • User-led specification of functionality
  • Last updated on 07/01/09 by Kerry Ann Down