FreePint Newsletter 200 - Diabetes and Repositories
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
View the fully-formatted version free at:
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
FreePint
"Helping 77,000 people use the Web for their work"
http://www.freepint.com/
ISSN 1460-7239 16th February 2006 No.200
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
IN THIS ISSUE
-------------
EDITORIAL
MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
By Liz Edols
FREEPINT BAR
In Association with Factiva
a Dow Jones & Reuters Company
JINFO :: JOBS IN INFORMATION
Senior Support Officer
Internet Research Analyst
Senior Unix System Administrator
Human Resources Researcher
Researcher
Information Manager/ Web Coordinator
Director
TIPS ARTICLE
"Health intelligence sources in diabetes"
By Marion Spring
REVIEW
"Setting up a library and information service from scratch"
Written by Sheila Pantry and Peter Griffiths
Reviewed by Susan Bradley
FEATURE ARTICLE
"Digital repositories in UK universities and colleges"
By Neil Jacobs
EVENTS, GOLD AND FORTHCOMING ARTICLES
CONTACT INFORMATION
ONLINE VERSION WITH ACTIVATED HYPERLINKS
FULLY FORMATTED VERSION
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = ADVERTISEMENT = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Silobreaker
12000+ sources, biographies, visualization, view360, search, split,
drill, save. Find new insights across information and industry silos.
Just what you have been waiting for. All this and more for a flat fee
of 199 USD per year and 2 weeks of free trial.
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [sb2001]
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
*** Researcha :: Immediate pay-as-you-go company data ***
Access hard-to-find data on UK company directors, original company
filing images and company data for Austria, Belgium, France, Germany,
Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland.
Researcha is free to search and view basic details, with convenient
report delivery. Try it now:
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
*** ABOUT FREEPINT ***
FreePint is an online network of information workers. Members receive
this free newsletter twice a month, packed with tips on finding and
managing quality and reliable work-related information.
Joining is free at and provides access to a
substantial archive of articles, reviews and events, with answers to
research questions and networking at the FreePint Bar.
To read the fully-formatted version, visit
. To receive the formatted version as
an email attachment or a brief notification when it's online, visit
. Please circulate this newsletter,
which is best read when printed out.
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
EDITORIAL
By William Hann
We all have a view from our desks where we work. Few views are truly
inspirational, but I enjoy seeing a bit of 'life' as I sit at my desk.
The view I have from my desk overlooks a small but busy street, with a
convenience store at one end, and a train station at the other.
Although both the store and the station constantly have custom, I
often wonder how much the operators of those facilities (the store
owner and the rail network operator) can really know about each
individual user of their facilities. Sure, they can surmise that the
early morning crowd are the commuters and the late night crowd the
troublemakers, but that's about as in-depth as it gets.
With the arrival of this, the 200th edition of FreePint, I've been
trying to relate this back to the FreePint community, and realise
that, in many ways, the store and station operator know more about
their users than we do about ours. For example, they know what their
user wants: a daily newspaper or a one-day Travelcard.
As we finish our first member survey in eight years, we have been
pleased and surprised by many of the findings. In particular, the
large percentage of members who work outside the traditional
'information' space. This response has been fairly typical:
"I so appreciate FreePint as I have less of an academic background
in information and more of a business background. I appreciate how
much I learn from the community. I hope to give as much as I get,
and am compiling information for community use as well."
While we are delighted with the level of certain responses -- for
example, that 93.1% of members read the newsletter -- some statistics
have been decidedly modest (only 43% of members lurk in the Bar). We
know that you really like the 'Favourite Tipples', but there is much
questioning about the necessity to include the full text of articles
in the emailed newsletter.
We also know that we need to provide more opportunities for you to
network and find out more about fellow community members ...
"I use FreePint to get an indication of where and how to look. I
have no formal training in library/information skills. I would be
interested to know how many other people are using FreePint who
consider themselves 'unskilled' - or are you all professionals?"
... and this is one of a number of areas where you'll see developments
from us over the coming months.
Thank you to everyone who participated in the survey; it has been a
fascinating and enlightening experience. We always welcome
constructive feedback, and special thanks go to this respondent who
provided a tremendous boost to the FreePint team:
"Frankly, I can't remember how we managed before FreePint"
Cheers!
William Hann
Managing Editor and Founder, FreePint
e: william.hann@freepint.com
t: 0870 141 7474
i: +44 870 141 7474
FreePint is a Registered Trademark of Free Pint Limited (R) 1997-2006
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = ADVERTISEMENT = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
What's your search missing?
The average Web searches will leave you sifting though mountains of
useless information. Factiva delivers the most relevant information
from the top business publications in virtually every region and every
industry. Sign up for a free trial of Factiva.com and start finding
what you need faster
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [fa2002]
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
*** Thomson's flagship product reviewed in VIP ***
The latest issue of VIP reviews Thomson Business Intelligence,
Thomson's new flagship product, that provides access to news, market
research and broker research, via a single interface:
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
By Liz Edols
* Australian Bureau of Statistics - not just
stats but also articles, white papers and research reports on
Australian social trends, industry, economic issues and more.
* Website Tips is a useful compilation of
resources on web site creation and management including design,
content, usability and information architecture.
* Scirus search engine , for all the best in
scientific, medical and technical information.
* Michael Quinion's World Wide Words,
- great for when you need
to know the origin of a word or phrase, or how to pronounce it.
* Garbl's Writing Resources
for all those little tips about writing and grammar that I'd love to
have in my head but don't. Thank you Garbl, whoever you are.
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Liz Edols is an Australian freelance writer and information
professional.
Submit your top five favourite Web sites. See the guidelines at
.
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = ADVERTISEMENT = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
NEW from Bureau van Dijk Electronic Publishing
ORIANA
Public and private financial company information
for the Asia-Pacific region
To register for a FREE trial click on
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [bv2003]
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
*** Jinfo :: Advertise information jobs to 4,000+ job seekers ***
Advertising an information-related vacancy with Jinfo
puts that position in front of 4,000 Jinfo Newsletter
subscribers and the entire FreePint membership.
Find out more about listing a vacancy today:
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
FREEPINT BAR
In Association with Factiva
a Dow Jones & Reuters Company
The FreePint Bar has been especially busy recently, with over 260
postings in the last month alone -- not including all the postings
at the FreePint Student Bar , VIP
Lounge and VIP Wire
. Thanks to everyone who has
made a contribution.
Back to the FreePint Bar - and this FreePinter needs help in
re-organising a colleague's collection of paper documents so that
it is accessible to the rest of the team. Any ideas?
.
Are you a member of CILIP -- perhaps you were but are not any more?
This poster has been a member for twenty years but is not sure whether
to renew her subscription. What do you think?
.
Do you know if you are allowed to reproduce UK and EU Government
legislation in full on a website? .
Or perhaps you know of a product similar to Lexis CourtLink that
provides details of European companies' legal activities?
.
Where can you find information on Hong Kong and Singaporean local
strategy consulting companies that have 25-100 employees
or statistics on the total size
of the UK food service market? .
This FreePinter has a friend who is opening up a beauty salon and has
asked for some help with market research - do you know where to start?
. Or how about market research on
craft kits, for example sales volumes and demographics?
.
The latest issue of VIP Eye has just been published and editor's
comments include: * Does Google steal content? * Free items on
HighBeam * Changing publishing models
.
Yahoo mail is not letting someone send attachments from his home PC -
any ideas where the problem lies?
There are no replies to this posting yet, so perhaps you can help:
"Does anyone use MS Project to schedule email mailshots and produce
reports of when things went out?"
And lastly, on the front cover of 'The Idiot' by F. Dostoyevsky, there
is a painting - do you know the artist and title?
That's it for this week, until next time.
Penny Hann
Production Editor, FreePint
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The FreePint Bar is where you can get free help with your tricky
research questions
Help with study for information-related courses is available at the
FreePint Student Bar .
Subscribe to the twice-weekly email digests at
.
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = ADVERTISEMENT = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Glen Recruitment is a leading independent Employment Consultancy
dealing in the recruitment of Information Specialists, Knowledge
Professionals, Business Analysts, Researchers and Librarians. We
provide both permanent and temporary staff at all levels from senior
managers to recent graduates. Please visit our recently upgraded
web-site for a wide range of current vacancies.
For more details call 020 7745 7245 email
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [gr2004]
*** VIP: Business information product reviews and news analysis ***
VIP, a monthly publication, offers in-depth, unbiased reviews of
business information products, plus commentary by editor Pam Foster.
Over 1,000 senior information workers read it, with information
budgets from GBP 45k to GBP 1.7m. If you fit this profile and you
don't read VIP, then you're at a disadvantage:
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
JINFO :: JOBS IN INFORMATION
The Jinfo service enables you to search and advertise
information-related job vacancies.
The Jinfo Newsletter is published free every two weeks, and contains a
list of the latest vacancies along with job-seeking advice. The latest
article is entitled "The Nature of the Beast". Read it online and
subscribe free at .
Here are some of the latest featured jobs:
Senior Support Officer
Interesting role at investment bank; support research team, organise
contracts, deal with invoices, monitor costs, liaise with vendors.
Recruiter: Sue Hill Recruitment
Internet Research Analyst
Determining information sources for our target markets and
establishing high quality demonstrations and subscription services.
Recruiter: Magus Research
Senior Unix System Administrator
Los Alamos attracts world-class scientists and applies their energy
and creativity to solving the nation's challenging problems.
Recruiter: Los Alamos National Laboratory
Human Resources Researcher
Research support at top level with Directors and Senior Execs on a
one-to-one basis. Must be confident and proactive. Central London.
Recruiter: Glen Recruitment
Researcher
Working at the Information Centre about Asylum and Refugees (ICAR),
you will work on a new project creating a database of research.
Recruiter: Information Centre about Asylum and Refugees
Information Manager/ Web Coordinator
Working at the Information Centre about Asylum and Refugees (ICAR),
you will take responsibility for the overall management of ICA.
Recruiter: Information Centre about Asylum and Refugees
Director
Ensuring the history of psychology is captured and recorded and
develop accessibility of relevant materials.
Recruiter: The British Psychological Society
[The above jobs are paid listings]
NB: These are just a selection of the jobs in the current edition of
the Jinfo Newsletter and over 100
in the Jinfo database .
Jinfo -- the best place for information-related job vacancies.
* JOB SEARCHING? -- Free search and sign up to the Jinfo Newsletter
* RECRUITING? -- Complete the form and advertise a vacancy for
just GBP195
-- 10% discount for agencies
-- 50% discount for registered charities.
Find out more today at
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
TIPS ARTICLE
"Health intelligence sources in diabetes"
By Marion Spring
According to Diabetes UK (2004) the number of people in the UK with
diabetes is 1.8 million. However, latest estimates of diagnosed
prevalence suggest that this could be the figure for England alone.
Taking into account levels of undiagnosed diabetes. the conservative
figure for the UK could be as high as 2.5 million people with the
disease.
There are two types of diabetes: Type 1 (insulin dependent, where the
body cannot produce insulin) and Type 2 (non-insulin dependent, where
the body cannot efficiently use the insulin which is produced). Risk
factors for Type 2 diabetes include weight, age and ethnicity. As
levels of overweight and obesity are increasing in the UK, so too are
cases of Type 2 diabetes; even young children are now being diagnosed
with the disease. In addition to affecting quality of life, diabetes
can cause serious complications including: damage to the eyes
(diabetic retinopathy); kidney damage (diabetic nephropathy); damage
to nerves (diabetic neuropathy); coronary heart disease and stroke.
Complications can be reduced or avoided by good management of
diabetes. It is therefore important that diabetes is diagnosed at an
early stage of the disease, and that those involved in the care and
treatment of diabetics, including patients themselves, have access to
good quality information. Estimates vary widely, but many surveys
suggest that between one-half and one-third of cases of diabetes are
undiagnosed.
A wealth of information and resources for diabetes patients,
caregivers, health officials and others is available via the web.
The following resources are grouped by the type of information
provided, and may be used with confidence for disease management,
caregiver support, population studies, public policy and a wide
variety of other uses.
Diabetes prevalence and incidence
---------------------------------
It is useful to establish the prevalence and incidence of diabetes
so that primary care providers can compare the expected prevalence
against the proportion of cases which are diagnosed, and to assist
service provision planning within the NHS.
There are several diabetes prevalence sources available. A guide
comparing these is available from the Yorkshire and Humber Public
Health Observatory (PHO) website, along with the PBS Diabetes
Population Prevalence Model, commissioned by the Department of Health
in collaboration with the National Diabetes Support Team. This is a
spreadsheet model that generates estimates of expected total numbers
of cases of diabetes (both diagnosed and undiagnosed) at Strategic
Health Authority, Local Authority, Primary Care Trust and local ward
level. The model can be used to compare expected prevalence between
populations and over time. The model provides projections of diabetes
prevalence through to 2010, based on three different obesity
scenarios .
Diabetes UK is the charity for people with diabetes. They fund
research, campaign and help people to live with the condition. Their
report "Diabetes in the UK 2004" describes patterns of diabetes
prevalence across the UK population. Figures are provided for
countries and regions within the UK, as well as by year, age and
ethnicity .
Under the new General Medical Services contract, General Practitioners
are now paid to collect data to provide evidence of their performance
against the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF). Indicator DM1 within
the QOF requires general practices to maintain a register of all
patients with diabetes mellitus. Over time this will provide a source
of comparative data on disease incidence and prevalence at a very
local level. More information about the QOF diabetes indicators is
available from the British Medical Association Website at
. The data is collected via an IT system
called the Quality Management and Analysis System (QMAS); data is then
published by the NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre
(HSCIC). Both data from and more information about QOF are available
from the QOF section of the HSCIC Website
.
The annual Health Survey for England collects data on the health and
lifestyles of people in England. Questions about diabetes were
included in 1991, 1993, 1994, 1998 and 1999. The HSE is a
representative sample and the survey relies on self-reports of
diagnosis. Reports and summary data are made available to the public
via the Department of Health Website .
Produced by the International Diabetes Federation, "the global
advocate for people with diabetes" the Diabetes e-Atlas provides
global epidemiological data about diabetes. It contains the latest
data on diabetes prevalence and health care expenditure in over 200
countries and territories .
Diabetes mortality
------------------
Mortality statistics are likely to under-estimate the number of deaths
that are attributable to diabetes. This is because diabetes is a major
contributory factor to other conditions, such as heart attacks and
strokes, which tend to be recorded as the cause of death for people
with diabetes. Data are collected by the Office for National
Statistics (ONS) from death registrations.
ONS produce several outputs based on death registrations, including
the Annual Deaths Extract, Public Health Mortality files and Vital
Statistics (VS) data. Due to the sensitive nature of this information
restrictions are in place as to who can access this information at a
detailed level, although aggregated England level annual data are
available to download from the ONS Website
.
The Compendium of Clinical and Health Indicators is a comprehensive
source of diabetes mortality data, as data are taken from ONS and
calculated as rates per population by sex. Rates are provided for
England and Wales; England; Government Office Regions; ONS area
classifications; Strategic Health Authorities; Local Authorities and
Primary Care Organisations. Tables on deaths from diabetes include:
* Age-specific death rate (per 100,000), pooled (in age bands)
* Directly standardised rates (and 95% confidence intervals), pooled,
ages 1 to 44 years
* Annual number of deaths (in age bands)
* Indirectly standardised ratios (standardised mortality rate and 95%
confidence intervals), pooled, all ages
* Indirectly standardised ratios (standardised mortality rate and 95%
confidence intervals), pooled, all ages - trends in mortality
(comparison of years)
* Years of Life Lost (YLL) up to age 75, average annual YLL rate
(per 10,000) and directly standardised average annual SYLL rate
(per 10,000), pooled.
To ensure confidentiality, numbers under five are suppressed. The
Compendium of Clinical and Health Indicators is available at
.NHS staff with access to NHSNet should
visit .
Diabetes hospital admissions
----------------------------
Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) provides information on admitted
patient care delivered by NHS providers in England. Information can be
obtained for patients admitted with diabetes, where diabetes is either
the primary (main) diagnosis, or any of up to 14 secondary diagnoses.
Aggregated data is available to download from the HES Website
. More detailed analyses are available
to public health and social care providers on request to your PHO. To
find your PHO see .
The Compendium of Clinical and Health Indicators obtains data from HES
and presents rates per population by sex. Rates are provided for
England and Wales; England; Government Office Regions; ONS area
classifications; Strategic Health Authorities; Local Authorities and
Primary Care Organisations. Tables include:
* Admissions for diabetic ketoacidosis and coma, directly
standardised rates, all ages, age standardised per 100,000
population.
* Hospital procedures: lower limb amputations in diabetic patients,
directly standardised rates, all ages, age standardised per
100,000 population
Contact details for the Compendium are given above.
Diabetes policies, guidelines and indicators
--------------------------------------------
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is
the independent organisation responsible for providing national
guidance on the promotion of good health and the prevention and
treatment of ill health. NICE guidance, primarily aimed at the NHS,
published on the treatment and management of diabetes includes
technology appraisals, interventional procedures, and clinical
guidelines .
Diabetes is a key policy area for the Department of Health. The
Diabetes National Service Framework (NSF) is a concerted effort to
make sure diabetics, wherever they live, receive the same excellent
standard of care. Annual progress updates on the NSF are also
available .
The NSF is supported by the Diabetes Information Strategy. This
provides the information infrastructure, systems and services required
to deliver the Diabetes NSF .
The framework and strategy are supported by the National Diabetes
Support Team, part of the NHS Clinical Governance Support Team. The
team helps support the implementation of the Diabetes NSF by working
with local services to improve diabetes care. They provide guidance,
advice and information on developments in diabetes care and support
effective information sharing and exchange
.
These are complemented by the Diabetes Specialist Library, part of the
NHS National electronic Library for Health (NeLH), which aims to
provide high-quality information on all aspects of diabetes, including
both clinical and organisational issues
.
Yorkshire & Humber PHO has created a Public Health Indicator Search
Tool, listing indicators and their associated governmental policies
and targets across the whole spectrum of public health. Users can
search specifically for diabetes-related indicators. The Indicator
Search Tool is available from the resources section of their Website
.
Diabetes is a serious disease, the effects of which can be limited by
good management. There is a wealth of both data and knowledge
available about diabetes to assist policymakers, clinicians and
healthcare professionals make informed management, treatment and care
decisions.
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Marion Spring has worked in health information for five years and is
Knowledge Manager at Yorkshire and Humber Public Health Observatory
(YHPHO). YHPHO is the lead observatory for diabetes on behalf of the
Association of Public Health Observatories and is currently leading a
new Diabetes Public Health Intelligence Group reporting to the
National Clinical Director for diabetes (Dr Sue Roberts).
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Related FreePint links:
* 'Healthcare and Medicine' articles in the FreePint Portal
* Post a message to the author, Marion Spring, or suggest
further resources at the FreePint Bar
* Read this article online, with activated hyperlinks
* Access the entire archive of FreePint content
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
*** DigBig :: What, Why, How, Where, For ***
What? DigBig shortens long Web addresses (URLs)
Why? Because long URLs break in emails
How? Put a long URL in the box and click 'Shorten'
For? Nothing. It's free.
Where:
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
REVIEW
"Setting up a library and information service from scratch"
Written by Sheila Pantry and Peter Griffiths
Reviewed by Susan Bradley
This slim volume (195 pages including appendices) is a practical guide
to setting up a library and information service from scratch. The
authors (information professionals with experience in industry and
government information services) present step-by-step guidance on the
many different aspects of the topic. Coverage ranges from the initial
stages of carrying out an information audit and the rationale for
setting up a service, through the potential pitfalls associated with
the possible locations of the premises, staffing requirements,
services to be provided, and on to the promotion of the service and
training of target groups.
Each chapter starts with a bulleted list of the topics to be covered
and finishes with a brief summary. The main part of the chapter
contains clear and succinct guidance, along with examples of the
authors' experiences and suggestions or questions to be considered. An
extensive bibliography complements these chapters, and references to
web resources are also included.
The appendices also contain useful suggestions on searching the
Internet and the library basics of filing, repairs, loans and
reference services, and a helpful glossary.
The short section discussing performance measurement was, for me, one
of the most useful sections, as it gave a good insight into the
difficult area of selecting and presenting appropriate statistics or
data.
The chapters can be read in a fairly stand-alone way. You can easily
dip in and out of the different chapters (aided by the informative
table of contents) and go quickly to the subject that most interests
you. For example, you may wish to read the chapter on services to be
provided by the library and information service before the one on
staffing or the one on the physical premises.
I found this useful book easy-to-read, and would recommend it to those
already running library and information services as well as to those
just starting out. Two suggestions for further improving this handy
book would be to make the example of a press release a
library/information service specific one, and to include more detail
about how an information professional can personally train their
clientele.
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Susan Bradley is an experienced information professional with over 15
years spent working in academic, commercial and membership
organisations, with roles covering electronic publishing, knowledge
management, library and information services, and records management.
She is currently working as the Information Officer for Universities
UK (UUK), the membership organisation for the vice-chancellors and
principals of the universities in the UK. She has recently developed a
library and information service for UUK staff but is still awaiting a
final location for the collection! Other current projects include
developing and implementing a new intranet and devising records
management policies and procedures.
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Related FreePint links:
* Find out more about this book online at the FreePint Bookshelf
* Read customer comments and buy this book at Amazon.co.uk
* "Setting up a library and information service from scratch"
ISBN 1856045587, published by Library Association Publishing.
* Search for and purchase any book from Amazon via the FreePint
Bookshelf at
* Read about other Internet Strategy books on the FreePint Bookshelf
To propose an information-related book for review, send details
to .
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
*** Have a suggestion about FreePint? ***
Use the FreePint Suggestion Box
to leave your anonymous comment:
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
FEATURE ARTICLE
"Digital Repositories in UK universities and colleges"
By Neil Jacobs
What's in a word?
-----------------
Sometimes a word acquires so many meanings that it becomes difficult
to use clearly. This happened to 'portal', and it may be happening to
'repository'. There is a lot of development work underway that claims
to relate to repositories, that might previously have been related to
'archives', 'digital libraries' or 'content management systems'.
Defining the boundaries is probably a waste of time, so for the
purposes of this article, I'll take a reasonably pragmatic approach,
which is to say a repository is a digital object store into which
material can be deposited. Repositories therefore offer information
professionals a way of becoming more involved in the processes whereby
digital information is made shareable, applying their expertise
earlier in the information cycle than has often been the case.
For those interested in definitions, a recent "repositories review"
report by Rachel Heery (UKOLN
) and Sheila Anderson, Arts and Humanities
Data Service , went into some detail. Kerry Blinco
and Neil McLean, leaders in the field from Australia, have drafted
what's informally known as a "wheel of fortune" (Slide 24 in the
PowerPoint presentation: ), describing the
dimensions along which a repository might be aligned (curated or
personal, open access or controlled access, etc.).
These provide a background to the current round of R&D work funded by
the UK Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC
), supporting universities and colleges in the
UK. The rationale for this work is that universities and colleges can
use repositories as a tool to implement various strategies, such as
an information strategy, research strategy or education strategy.
Of course, repositories will only be used, or strategies implemented,
where these help teachers, students, researchers or managers do their
work. Essentially, repositories help people share digital resources,
so, where this is an aim, repositories are a solution.
Standards and interoperability
------------------------------
Repositories only help people share digital resources where both the
repositories and the resources comply with international open
standards. In terms of repositories, the key interoperability standard
is the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting,
OAI-PMH , which enables metadata to be
exchanged reliably. In terms of digital resources, the standards vary
according to the domain, but include: Dublin Core
and MARC for
bibliographic data; IMS Learning Objective Metadata
; and ISO 19115
for geospatial data. Packaging standards exist
to create compound digital objects, integrating both files and
metadata, including METS (Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard
), IMS Content Packaging
, and the MPEG 21 DIDL (Digital Item
Declaration Language ).
So much for alphabet soup; where can repositories help, and what work
is underway to make them do so?
Academic research
-----------------
Building on a previous development programme (Focus on Access to
Institutional Resources - FAIR ), the current
Digital Repositories development programme
consists of some 25 projects that are exploring the role and operation
of repositories. Many of these are concerned with how repositories can
help academic researchers both do and share their work more
effectively. Open access is a key driver and demands are growing for
the outputs of publicly-funded research to be freely available on the
web (RCUK draft position statement ,
National Institutes of Health statement
, Wellcome Foundation policy
). JISC and others have
released guidance on open access, including a briefing paper
, and a set of questions and answers that
address some of the main concerns of researchers
.
Repositories have a key role to play, since they both enable open
access, and help universities and colleges manage the intellectual
output of their researchers. Again, JISC has released guidance in the
form of a simple briefing paper for universities
.
In terms of active development, work is underway to help universities
set up and populate repositories (Sherpa ),
to establish a Scottish research repository infrastructure (IRI
Scotland ), and to investigate the questions
of different versions of academic papers (Versions
). The PerX project
is also developing a pilot cross-
search of engineering open access repositories, building on previous
JISC-funded work such as the ePrints-UK search
and the Subject Portals
project .
While access to publications is vital, the research that it enables is
greatly enhanced where researchers can also access the data on which
the publications were based. With the advent of Grid computing
and computer applications based on Web
Services standards , this is increasingly
possible, though the challenges are not trivial.
There are a number of JISC-funded projects working within this area.
The pioneer is probably eBank
, which is informing a group
of projects (Repository for the Laboratory
, SPECTRa
) that are addressing the needs of research
chemists especially, though not exclusively, crystallographers. These
projects should answer some of the questions that arise from attempts
to link together the raw data streaming off laboratory equipment, data
analysis tools and techniques, archives of research data, research
reports and published journal articles.
Broadening the scope a little, the CLADDIER project
is looking at some of these issues within
environmental science, and the Grade project
is focusing on the technical
and legal issues when sharing derived works based on geospatial data.
Finally, the StORe project is building a
broad picture of linking scientific data and publications across a
wide range of subject areas.
The questions may be familiar (including persistent version
identification, digital rights, metadata quality, cultural change,
preservation), but they appear in new guises with each new domain.
Nothing illustrates this better, perhaps, than current work to
establish a prototype national service for open access to electronic
Ph.D. theses. These are much underused resources when they are only
available in paper form via inter-library loan, but are heavily used
when available electronically. The EThOS project
is building a prototype national e-thesis
service for the UK, seeking to solve the kind of questions noted
above, in partnership with a smaller project in Wales (Repository
Bridge ). Work is ongoing, too, to
coordinate this kind of work across Europe, working with both national
bodies such as SURF in the
Netherlands, and international initiatives such as DART Europe
.
e-Learning
----------
Creating, sharing and using online learning materials is seen by many
as a way of making the experiences of both students and educators at
once more interactive and more reflective. The JISC Exchange for
Learning development programme (X4L ) proved
the value of this approach and, with the development of the JORUM
learning object repository service, has
demonstrated its practicality. JORUM offers a way for educators to
share the learning materials they create, and to reuse those created
by others. Developer tools such as Reload
are being developed to make it easy to create content packages to
upload into repositories like JORUM in standard formats, so that they
can easily be re-imported into, for example, a virtual learning
environment. Interoperability means that materials can be shared at
regional level too, and a range of projects are exploring this
possibility (Distributed e-Learning, Regional Pilots:
) and, in particular, what
challenges arise when learning materials are shared directly between
universities and colleges. To address some of these, the X4L programme
has produced resources to
help educators create, re-use and re-purpose learning material.
Barriers remain however, and the 'Community Dimensions of Learning
Object Repositories' project will identify
some of these, and will suggest and test ways of overcoming them. At
the national level, a JISC repositories project
will build a collaborative
environment in which high-stakes assessment items (such as
examinations for medical students) can be shared. But there are
challenges within institutions as well, and the project 'Accessing and
Storing Knowledge' will demonstrate how institutional systems can be
joined up in a modular, more future-proof way, based on a framework of
Web Services standards .
As in the research domain, digital rights are a key influence on the
behaviour of individuals and organisations, and systems need to be
built that support the appropriate rights regimes. The Trust-DR
project is taking the experience of the
JORUM in developing its contributor licence, together with the
findings from a recent study ,
to establish an approach for institutions to create, express and
enforce a set of rights policies for their learning materials Trust-DR
will also be informed by another project
that is studying the rewards
sought by educators sharing learning materials, and the rights
information that they consequently need to be able to share with those
materials.
Finally, there are technologies that often come into universities and
colleges 'under the radar', such as blogs, wikis and peer-to-peer
repositories. The PROWE project is asking
whether blogs and wikis in particular can be used to support the huge
distributed networks of tutors associated with the Open and Leicester
Universities. The SPIRE project
is installing the
secure Lionshare peer-to-peer
system, to explore its potential in teaching and learning and, in
part, to dispel the mistaken notion that peer-to-peer equals Napster
equals insecure and probably illegal activity.
Multimedia
----------
Images, sound, video and so on can, of course, play a crucial role in
both research and teaching. The JISC has long secured such content for
use in universities and colleges
. However, the
establishment of repositories across UK tertiary education and beyond
has led some to ask whether the sector can do more to share the
resources it already has, as well as making better use of licensed
content from elsewhere.
One JISC development project, MIDESS
, is building both a technical
system and a set of policies to enable three universities to manage
their image collections in a coordinated way, and better exploit them
in teaching and research. A related set of studies will outline the
national challenges in terms of infrastructure (Community-Led Image
Collections Study: ), preservation
('Digital Images Archiving Study' and 'Moving Pictures and Sound
Archiving Study' ), discovery and access
(Visual and Sound Materials Portal Scoping Study and Demonstrator
Project ), and managing
sensitive images such as those from clinical settings (CHERRI-PIE
Project: ). Taken together, this work
could inform a national approach to multimedia management within
universities and colleges, based on repositories.
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Neil Jacobs manages the JISC Digital Repositories development
programme, a GBP 3.5m public investment in the infrastructure of UK
tertiary education. He is also editing a book on open access to
research publications, which will be published in the first half of
2006 (Open Access - Key strategic, technical and economic aspects
(forthcoming): ). He has previously managed
the national database of the UK Economic and Social Research Council,
and has conducted research into a wide range of topics including
students' and tutors' discourse around online learning, scholarly
communication and technology, academic library services, and
adolescent body image concerns. He is on the Board of 'euroCRIS'
, a European organisation concerned
with Current Research Information Systems (CRIS).
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Related FreePint links:
* 'Information and Libraries' articles in the FreePint Portal
* Post a message to the authors, Neil Jacobs, or suggest further
resources at the FreePint Bar
* Read this article online, with activated hyperlinks
* Access the entire archive of FreePint content
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
United Kingdom:
* "Search Engine Marketing - Maximise the Impact"
23rd February
* "Focusing on Data Protection & Privacy" 2nd March
* "Customer Data - Creating a Single in-Depth View of Your
Customers" 15th March
Canada:
* "2006 Government & Health Technologies Conference & Expo"
8th - 9th March
United States:
* "Linking Customer Feedback to Business Results"
27th February - 1st March
* "Spring 2006 ASIDIC meeting" 12th - 14th March
* "Lean Design & Development" 12th - 15th March
* "Achieving Customer Service Excellence"
13th - 15th March
* "JISC Conference 2006" 14th March
* "The International Conference on i-Warfare and Security"
15th - 16th March
Submit your event for free promotion:
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
FREEPINT GOLD
A look back at what FreePint covered at this time in previous years:
* FreePint No.177 24th February 2005. "Website Usability" and
"Recycling - A Growth Industry"
* FreePint No.154 19th February 2004. "Electronic Information for
Occupational Safety and Health - Challenges for the Information
Professional" and "Legal Issues For Information Professionals. How
UK Copyright Law Has Changed With The EU Directive"
* FreePint No.131 20th February 2003. "France - Business and Economics
Sources on the Web" and "Poisons, Potions and Toxins - Toxicology
Sources on the Web"
* FreePint No.106, 21st February 2002. "Searching for 'The Daily Me'"
and "So you want to start your own business? Web resources that
every budding entrepreneur should consult before taking the plunge"
* FreePint No.81, 15th February 2001. "Economics sources" and
"Aboriginal Australia on the World Wide Web"
* FreePint No.56, 17th February 2000. "UK Political & Government Web
Sites" and "Topics and Collections: An Alternative Metaphor for
Using the Web"
* FreePint No.32, 18th February 1999. "Environmental Information on
the Internet" and "New Library: now comes the action"
* FreePint No.8, 19th February 1998. "A New Light on the Horizon" and
"Current Awareness Research on the Internet"
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
FREEPINT FORTHCOMING ARTICLES
[Provisional]
* MP3s and Podcasts *
* Market research sources on the web *
* Blind web accessibility * Project management *
* Delivering user education to a dispersed population *
* KM and blogging * Implementing new library management systems *
* Open source software * Managing change *
If you have a suggestion for an article topic, or would like to write
for FreePint, then please contact or read
the notes for authors at .
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
CONTACT INFORMATION
Address:
Free Pint Limited
4-6 Station Approach
Ashford, Middlesex
TW15 2QN, United Kingdom
Telephone:
UK: 0870 141 7474
Int: +44 870 141 7474
Directions and maps:
Contributors to this issue:
William Hann (Managing Editor, FreePint), Penny Hann (Production
Editor, FreePint), Pam Foster (Editor, VIP), Susan Bradley,
Liz Edols, Marion Spring, Neil Jacobs, Plain Text
(proofreading).
Advertisers/Sponsors:
Information Centre about Asylum and Refugees, The British
Psychological Society, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Magus
Research, InfoSphere, BvD, Factiva, Sue Hill Recruitment,
Glen Recruitment, Willco, VIP.
Web
Authors
Advertising
Subscriptions, Letters & Comments
FreePint Suggestion Box
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
(c) Free Pint Limited 1997-2006
Technology by Willco
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your subscriptions or password,
visit or email .
For details about contributing, advertising or to see past issues,
please visit the Web site at or
email .
Please note: FreePint (ISSN 1460-7239) is a registered trademark of,
and published by, Free Pint Limited. The publishers will NEVER make
the subscriber list available to any other company or organisation.
The opinions, advice, products and services offered herein are the
sole responsibility of the contributors. Whilst all reasonable care
has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the publication, the
publishers cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions.
This publication may be freely copied and/or distributed in its
entirety. However, individual sections MAY NOT be copied and/or
distributed without the prior written agreement of the publishers.
Write to William Hann, Managing Editor,
for more details. Product names used in FreePint are for
identification purposes only, and may be trademarks of their
respective owners. FreePint disclaims any and all rights in those
marks. All rights reserved.
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
This edition has been sent to <{EMAIL}>.
To change your subscriptions, visit
or send an email to .