Does JISC have funds for more digitisation?
As Phase 2 of the JISC Digitisation Programme draws to a close, we continue to get plenty of calls asking when Phase 3 will be starting, with great enthusiasm for more of the same.
At present, JISC has no funds for a third phase of work on the scale of the previous two phases (totalling £23.5m).
However, JISC is still keen to fund innovative digitisation work in the future, and we are currently making the case for how to get such funds.
So, if you are looking for funds for your own collections then don’t throw the ideas away. Continue to make a noise about them, think of innovative ways in which they could be used digitally, and this will all help the case for further digital work.
JDCC09: Stuart Lee: Content is king
Stuart Lee took as his theme “Content is king, but we are in a republic”. After raising several laughs with his Star Trek ‘library of the future’
JDCC09: Sarah Porter: Fostering knowledge
This session saw Sarah Porter put JISC’s work in context (encompassing everything from bourbon biscuits to global infrastructure). Quoting Nick Poole, she told us it was “time to stop thinking and get on and do”.
JDCC09: User Engagement: Business and community engagement
Simon Whittemore from JISC gave some background on JISC’s £6m business and community engagement programme. Sarah O’Donnell from MMU discussed their wide-ranging community engagement programme. And Paul Lowe from the London College of Communication talked about three projects currently underway to engage the local community and the global community of photojournalists.
JDCC09: User Engagement: Users, impact and metrics
Session 2 of the User Engagement strand looked at what makes a well-used resource, and how you go about measuring the impact your resource is having on its users using qualitative and quantitative metrics. Claire Davies from Curtis and Cartwright focused on the benefits of audience research, and Eric Meyer from their Oxford Internet Institute talked about the Toolkit for the Impact of Digitised Scholarly Resources (TIDSR) and different methods of measuring impacts. Finally, Susan Whitfield from the British Library gave an overview of the International Dunhuang Project to put the Silk Road online.
JDCC09: Content in Education: Open educational resources
Open Educational Resources (OERs) are learning materials that are specifically designed to be shared, with learners and teachers in mind. The ways in which JISC is helping to make it easier to create and share OERs and how the Open University is leading the way in the use of OERs was the focus of this session, led by Amber Thomas, programme manager of the JISC OER programme, JISC, Andy Lane, director of OpenLearn, Open University, and Peter Burnhill, from JORUM.
JDCC09: Content in Education: New media content
This is a pivotal moment for film and sound in education. Digital Britain was the last gasp of an ancien regime. We need Robespierres not Bourbons to do this future mapping. For the students of the future, multimedia will be their way of working. We will not distract them from Facebook unless we can offer a more compelling experience.
This was the radical message that came out of a lively session on the use of digital media in education, featuring the work of the JISC Film and Sound Think Tank (Peter Kaufman, Paul Gerhard) and JISC Digital Media (Zak Mensah).
JDCC09: Looking into the future: Delivering and accessing content
This last session in the ‘Looking into the future’ strand was a mix of three very different approaches to delivering and accessing digital content.
David Flanders’ talk was a glimpse into the world of efficient technology design and implementation. Matthew White talked about his experience in marketing, and Shelley Hales and Nic Earle spoke of their success with Second Life.
JDCC09: Sarah Porter: International collaborations
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/avfiles/events/2009/06/08_David_Baker_Urge_Intro.flv http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/avfiles/events/2009/06/09_Sarah_Porter_Urge_Intro.flvIn a global academic culture of sharing resources and expertise, collaboration is an essential part of many higher education projects.
Each of the 3 speakers had vastly different experiences, but there were a few common threads that ran through all the talks:
- The importance of clear and frequent communication
- A need for mutual respect and trust in all parties
- Fair distribution of resources and responsibilities
JDCC09: Looking into the future: Libraries
In a session in which approximately 70% of delegates were librarians (according to a quick show of hands) we discussed the role and nature of libraries in the future, and watched a fascinating video produced by JISC (available to view below).
Key points raised in the session:
- We need to rethink our attitudes towards what libraries are: what they look like, what they contain, who work in them and what they are used for
- Information literacy is an essential component of library use, but how should it be taught? Is it up to teachers or librarians to help people learn to access and interpret information?