Jisc is now offering further education (FE) providers’ free subscription to Jisc MediaHub.
It enables direct access to over 130,000 images, films and audio files, licensed for educational use. And also provides a search for over 1 million additional items available in various public collections.
Jisc MediaHub allows cross-searching and exploration of TV news, documentary films, still images and classical music. To gain access to these resources FE providers simply need to sign up to the service through Jisc Collections.
Emily Armstrong, libraries and e-learning manager from Hull College, says:
"I find Jisc MediaHub to be very useful both as a resource for students to study the videos and images, and for them to use to illustrate their assignments. For myself and our teacher education students it allows us to create appealing paper and electronic teaching materials, explain complex ideas more simply and engage visual learners."
Scott Gibbens, service representative at Jisc Collections, says:
“We are delighted to offer Jisc MediaHub free to FE users. We hope this will help users to see the value they can gain from multimedia content and encourage them to share best practice examples. The service is already popular with over 171 FE colleges subscribed. I see it as a source that can allow teachers to use and develop a variety of teaching styles.”
Details of all the collections included are at Jisc Mediahub.
via Jisc news
Oxford University Press (OUP) is joining OAPEN-UK, a collaborative research project exploring open access (OA) scholarly monograph publishing in the humanities and social sciences.
Creative Commons attribution information
OAPEN-UK recognises that open access will require changes to current working practices as well as cultural change, and that resistance to change is inevitable. By working with each stakeholder and sharing findings between them, the project promotes understanding and knowledge, and enables stakeholders to make informed decisions based on evidence, rather than assumptions.
OAPEN-UK marks OUP’s first move into the developing world of open access scholarly monographs.
Mandy Hill, publishing director of Global Academic Business at OUP, says:
“We’re excited to join the OAPEN-UK project. OUP has a proud history as a major publisher of scholarly monographs and we are committed to their global dissemination. OAPEN-UK, with its objectives to develop awareness of and data around OA monographs, will play an important part for us in working with the scholarly community to determine the best business models for the future.”
Caren Milloy, head of projects at Jisc Collections, says:
“The participation of OUP in OAPEN-UK marks a significant step in the recognition and acceptance that OA monographs will be part of the scholarly publishing future. The inclusion of the 18 OUP titles will strengthen the usage and sales data we are collecting to compare the performance of open access titles against non-open access titles and will complement the knowledge and expertise feeding into the research.”
The OUP titles cover a range of subjects including law, politics, economics and the early church, and are freely available as PDFs to be read and re-used under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No-Derivatives Licence (CC BY-NC-ND). The titles are available via the OUP catalogue, Oxford Scholarship Online, OAPEN Library and in Google Books.
More information on the OUP titles and the OAPEN-UK project can be found on the OAPEN-UK website.
via Jisc news
Learners with disabilities or learning difficulties could enjoy greater independence and improved access to training and education thanks to a Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and Technology Strategy Board (TSB) competition, run by Jisc TechDis.
One million pounds worth of funding is being made available for two competitions calling for groundbreaking product designs: ‘Ready steady STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics)’ and ‘Good to go’. These are aimed at technology developers and ask designers to invent new products which will help those with disabilities and learning difficulties gain independence and access to work, training and education.
Skills minister, Matthew Hancock says:
“It is important that as many people as possible have the chance to play an active part in society and have access to whatever training they need.
"Competitions like these help to drive innovation and will hopefully produce some very interesting results that will widen access to those with learning difficulties or disabilities."
Stephen Browning, head of Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) says:
“This is another exciting SBRI competition which will give an opportunity for business to bring new ideas to address these important challenges.”
Sal Cooke, director of Jisc TechDis says:
“Equality of opportunity should be available to everyone regardless of circumstance and these competitions are an important part of our support for independent learning, working and living.”
The deadline for applications is 4 November 2013. Competition briefs and application forms are available on the Jisc TechDis website.
For more information please contact Allison Loftfield, online information and communications manager at Jisc TechDis - allison@techdis.ac.uk or 01904 717542.
via Jisc news
Following the very successful period of Professor Sir Timothy O’Shea as chair of its board of trustees, Jisc’s members, the Association of Colleges (AoC), GuildHE and Universities UK (UUK), are now in the process of seeking his successor.
At a time of dynamic and exciting change for Jisc, the person sought will have the qualities and standing to lead the Jisc board. The mission of Jisc is to enable people working in UK higher education, further education and skills to perform at the forefront of international practice by exploiting fully the possibilities of modern digital empowerment, content and connectivity.
The candidate should demonstrate business acumen and significant experience of strategic planning and financial management. They will have experience in a senior role in a UK higher or further education institution with a strong track record of leading boards in large and complex contexts.
Martyn Harrow, chief executive of Jisc, says:
“This is a very important appointment for Jisc to build on the excellent contribution of Sir Timothy and lead Jisc through continuing change and development, whilst ensuring that we sustain exemplary levels of service to our customers.
“Whilst working to embed a new business model for the organisation the successful candidate will also be passionate about progressing our vision to help make the UK the most digitally advanced education and research nation in the world.”
The closing date for this vacancy has now passed, and applications are no longer being accepted.
via Jisc news
Jisc Collections is now offering universities and colleges access to one of the largest sources of online films in the field of engineering and technology - IET.tv from The Institution of Engineering and Technology.
The IET.tv archive includes over 3,000 presentations filmed at lectures, seminars and conferences from 2002-2012. The content is from events that are highly regarded by the global engineering and technology community, and features key academics and practising engineers and technologists who are specialists in their fields from around the world.
Caren Milloy, head of projects at Jisc Collections says:
“This collection of films received top marks from the community in our most recent round of content procurement for multimedia archives. A unique resource, IET.tv makes the teachings and knowledge of engineering and technology experts instantly accessible to students. We hope that this resource will go on to benefit many students and ultimately improve their learning experience.”
Mark Reynard, business manager at IET.tv, says:
"Combining the power of vision with voice and accessible 24/7, IET.tv connects users to one of the largest online resources of learned engineering and technology content available on the internet.”
IET.tv contains eight engineering and technology channels covering a range of skill areas. These channels are aimed at engineering academics and researchers and include - communications; control and automation; electronics; IT; management; manufacturing; power; and transport.
The resource is available on Jisc MediaHub, which delivers access to over 130,000 images, films and audio files licensed for educational use. The service also provides a search for over one million other items available in various public collections. Hosted by EDINA, a Jisc funded national data centre, Jisc MediaHub is free to further education colleges and available via paid subscription to higher education institutions.
For more information or to subscribe to this service visit the Jisc Collections website or contact help@jisc-collections.ac.uk.
via Jisc news
Scotland and Wales have started to undergo work to develop shared library IT systems across their higher education institutions thanks to initial funding and support from Jisc.
Ultimately, this will provide students access to information hosted at all institutions, opening up a wealth of teaching and learning materials. There will also be cost saving opportunities.
Higher education institutions in Wales are currently joining with the National Library of Wales to start development of a joint procurement process for a shared library management system. The shared system will open up potential opportunities for collaboration on other levels – including the possibility of reciprocal borrowing across the libraries and shared cataloguing of collections. They are looking to have these systems in place by summer 2015 – 2016 and a tender for the work will be going out in the New Year.
Tracey Stanley, deputy university librarian and assistant director of information services at Cardiff University has been heavily involved in the work says:
“The Welsh Higher Education Libraries and the National Library of Wales have developed a compelling vision for a shared library system. A shared system will give us the opportunity to work more closely together for the benefit of our users, for example, on sharing content, collections or services. We also have an opportunity to share the costs of development and support, share expertise across Wales and work together to enhance our services."
For more information on the Welsh project visit their blog.
The first phase of the Scottish project, The Benefits of Sharing, has shown the benefits that a shared national IT support system could offer higher education and possibly further education institutional libraries. The key benefits include:
Phase two of the work has now begun and the team are working with a task force at the Scottish Confederation of University and Research Libraries (SCURL) to bring together a plan of what the service/systems would look like, for example what is included - room bookings, electronic support. They are hoping to have this is place by December and if a clear vision is developed a business plan will then be devised for implementation.
Mark Toole, director of information services at the University of Stirling, who is heavily involved in the project, says:
“In Scotland, current Government policy is encouraging universities to work together, often through grant bids, to maximise overall research outcomes and impact. So the development of this type of national IT service has a lot of support and goodwill behind it.
“We are grateful to Jisc for funding the initial investigations into this work and for supplying us with many tools that we can bring together and build on when we start to look at implementation, such as KnowledgeBase+. It is going to be challenging to ensure that we deliver a service that meets user needs, but the potential is there for a shared service to bring great benefits to all involved.”
Ben Showers, programme manager at Jisc explains:
“The collaboration on the development of library systems and services in Scotland and Wales has the potential to transform the experience of students and researchers who attend university in these countries. It is easy to imagine the possibilities - seamless access to a wide range of content and resources, through to innovative services built on top of this new infrastructure such as powerful recommendation engines and integration with teaching and learning systems.
“By collaborating on the essential infrastructure these universities are creating the resources and space that will enable them to develop the future services and systems that their students and researchers will need.”
via Jisc news
Listen to a podcast from Laure Haak, executive director of ORCID, on the benefits and challenges that universities face in taking up and exploiting ORCID.
via Jisc news
Jisc is today writing to UK universities to outline proposed refinements to the organisation’s funding model.
Since the publication of Sir Alan Wilson’s review of Jisc in February 2011 it has enhanced its integration with the sector to deliver products and services developed around its needs. With the balance of higher education funding moving from grants to tuition fees, the balance of Jisc funding needs to change. This means that Jisc’s existing subscription model for the Janet network will be refined, with the proposed change coming into effect from the start of the academic year 2014-15.
This will ensure that universities continue to benefit from a world class research and education network, negotiated rich and up-to-date online collections, best practice advice on many different areas and targeted research and development.
Explaining the changes, Martyn Harrow, Jisc chief executive said
“Jisc’s funding has decreased over the past few years and will continue to do so. We have made efficiency improvements meaning that Jisc will absorb the majority of these financial reductions without threatening any of the core services on which the sector depends.
“We are currently writing to all higher education institutions setting out details of these changes and the implications for their 2014-15 budgets. There should be minimal change in the further education and skills sectors, and we will be communicating in due course to clarify the position for this sector.”
Commenting on these changes Nicola Dandridge, chief executive, UUK said
"UUK recognises the importance and value of Jisc and the work it does across the higher education, further education and skills sectors to support the use of digital technologies. We are fully supportive of the new sector driven governance model for the organisation and the work that has been done to shape Jisc to be leaner, better value, and even more focused operationally and strategically on the true wants and needs of the sector.”
Each year Jisc saves the sectors it serves around £260m - three times its operating costs - in direct savings and cost avoidance, in effect saving each individual institution many times its own subscription. In addition to these efficiencies, Jisc will minimise the impact of the shift by creating the largest VAT cost sharing group in the UK meaning that institutions will not pay VAT on future Jisc subscriptions.
“We know the financial pressure all our institutions are under, so we will continue to look at the way Jisc works and will constantly strive to improve our services. In his review Sir Alan Wilson described Jisc as a ‘national asset’, these changes will ensure that learners and researchers - both on and off campus - continue to have instant access to an unrivalled research and education network, as well as vital collections and resources that are of immense benefit to them,”
said Martyn.
via Jisc news
This year Jisc Collections is investing £200,000 to provide additional content to the E-books for FE project, which is available on a free subscription to further education (FE) colleges across the UK.
Subscribing colleges can now access 50 new e-book titles in addition to the 3,000 currently offered. New titles cover a variety of the latest BTEC and A-Level qualifications. Subjects from history to business and motor vehicle maintenance to beauty therapy are provided for.
Hilary Richmond, e-resources librarian at Cheadle & Marple Sixth Form College and user of the service tells us:
“The E-books for FE project has given us access to a collection of free e-books that would otherwise have been beyond our means. Having a collection tailor-made for the needs of FE has been welcomed by both staff and students and the e-books are now increasingly becoming established as part of the curriculum.”
Ben Taplin, licensing manager at Jisc Collections says:
“We work closely with our FE members to ensure we add the content they need. In my experience colleges prefer narrower lists which will get the highest usage, which is why many of the titles are text books and course books. These new titles not only help to provide an up to date service, but also offer students to opportunity to access content at any time and from any location allowing them to carry out their work at a time that suits them.”
For those further education providers who do not currently have access to the content that is freely offered by the E-books for FE project, they can subscribe now by placing an order at the Jisc Collections website.
via Jisc news
Respected education academic, Sugata Mitra has been confirmed as a key note speaker at the newly-launched Jisc Digital Festival 2014.
Further and higher education specialists will have the opportunity to hear from the eminent science and educational technology expert, and winner of the TED Prize 2013, at the Jisc Digital Festival. The two day event, which will take place at the ICC Birmingham from 11-12 March 2014, is designed to showcase and celebrate the best in digital talent, as well as explore the technologies of the future.
In addition to Mitra, a range of experts will be speaking on digital technologies for post-16 education. Acclaimed for his ‘Hole in the Wall’ experiment, which delivered ICT to underprivileged and previously under-connected children in Delhi, Professor Mitra is also recognised for establishing India’s first local area network-based newspaper publishing system in 1984.
As the event’s closing keynote speaker, he will be discussing the future of education, and the potential for digital technology to transform education and research. His talk, which will be delivered by video link-up, will conclude two days of discussions, workshops and networking opportunities for experts and providers from the higher education, further education and skills sectors.
Jisc was established to support education institutions in effectively adopting technologies and to help position the UK as the centre of digitally advanced education and research. The Digital Festival, which replaces Jisc’s annual conference, will offer the sector an opportunity to share ideas of best practice and learn and discuss innovative ways to harness digital technology.
Sugata Mitra said:
“It is refreshing to see Jisc hosting a conference like this. Ours is a time when we need to factor in the Internet into every aspect of education. It is time for teachers and lecturers to be ready for change.”
Martyn Harrow, chief executive of Jisc added:
“Sugata Mitra’s level of excellence in his field, positions him as the ideal speaker for the Digital Festival. His presence at the event reinforces our mission to enable people in higher education, further education and skills in the UK to perform at the forefront of international practice by exploiting fully the possibilities of modern digital technology. He will undoubtedly inspire visitors to make a positive change in their colleges and universities and is a great example of the supportive and engaging event we are aiming to deliver for our customers.
“The festival will enable education professionals to collaborate and share real solutions and make the most of digital technology to ultimately enhance teaching and learning. With a wide range of thought-provoking discussions being lined up and plenty of practical advice to take away I’m looking forward to attending and hope to see you there.”
To register your interest in attending the Jisc Digital Festival on 11-12 March 2014, visit the event page on our website.
via Jisc news
This week Jisc entered the top 100 technology experts to follow on Twitter rankings.
Evan Carmichael, a leading US entrepreneur and small business expert, recently published on his blog the list of the Top 100 Technology Experts to follow on Twitter. Jisc was featured at number three.
Evan attracts hundreds of thousands of individuals to his website every month seeking advice from successful businesses and he is regularly featured as an expert in the New York Times, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Yahoo, Mashable, PC World and many more. Jisc’s inclusion near the top of the list shows how technology entrepreneurs are looking to the UK for expert advice on technology innovation in education and research.
Tom Mitchell, Jisc’s e-communications officer said:
“Over the past year we have been looking to build our Twitter following whilst sharing best practise, advice and guidance on digital technologies and all aspects of education, research, teaching and learning.
“It is great to see that the advice and links to useful resources is being picked up not only in the UK but being recognised internationally too.”
Follow us on Twitter @Jisc to find out the latest thinking, trends and tools supporting UK education and research digital technologies.
via Jisc news
The British Geological Survey (BGS) is today launching the world’s first 3D virtual fossil collection to the public.
Thousands of 3D digital fossil models, plus several thousand quality images, many in 3D, can now be browsed and downloaded for free on a computer, tablet or phone.
The GB3D Type Fossils Online project, funded by Jisc, has rescued fossils from dusty drawers and made them available for academics, researchers and fossil enthusiasts to enjoy at their leisure.
To celebrate the launch, the BGS are running a free competition for the public at a number of museums around the country, the participating venues are:
Over the next three weeks, visitors are invited to spot 3D-printed fossils among museum displays and enter a draw for VIP behind-the-scenes museum tours. One overall winner, drawn from all of the regional entries, will also receive a tablet computer pre-loaded with 3D fossils.
In the UK, fossil type specimens are stored in a number of locations across the country and there is no easy way to search across the many different catalogues. The GB3D Type Fossils Online project has developed a single database of type specimens, held in British collections, of macrofossil species and subspecies found in the UK. This includes links to photographs and laser scans of the best to produce a selection of 3D digital models.
The BGS has carried out the work in collaboration with its partners: The National Museum of Wales; The Sedgwick Museum Cambridge; The University Museum of Natural History Oxford; and the Curators’ Group, which represents a number of regional museums.
Professor John Ludden, executive director of the BGS, said:
“This work will provide an outstanding resource to geologists at all levels - researchers, university students, school students and amateurs for years to come’’.
Peter Findlay, programme manager at Jisc, said:
“A unified database of type-specimens is useful but, for it to be really useful, people need images of the physical items. 3D-printed models offer the opportunity to engage with a physical facsimile which can really transform someone’s understanding and at the same time reduce access costs and the need to handle originals.
As part of Jisc’s vision to provide simple and fast access to digital content, we’re delighted to fund this project, bringing these artefacts to life and into the hands of those fascinated by fossils”.
The competition closes on Thursday 12 September 2013, competition rules can be found on the project blog.
via Jisc news
Dr Phil Richards, director of IT at Loughborough University has been appointed chief innovation officer at Jisc.
Creative Commons attribution information
Dr Phil RichardsAll rights reserved
Prior to his role at Loughborough University Phil undertook IT roles within other academic institutions, these included head of ICT at Plymouth University and assistant director of information services at Aberystwyth University. More recently, he has become known for his novel approach to data centres: Loughborough’s ‘hybrid cloud’ model has delivered millions of pounds and hundreds of tonnes of carbon savings. It has also won plaudits including the 2012 Times Education Leadership and Management Awards ICT initiative of the year.
Phil, who has a first class honours degree in physics and a doctorate in nuclear structure physics from University of Oxford, was involved early in his career with e-learning. First as a courseware developer in physics at Cardiff University, next as an e-learning advisor working directly with academics at the University of Hull and finally as head of e-learning at King’s College London. Whilst at Hull, he obtained a postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education Teaching, leading to Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).
Phil tells us:
“I am really pleased to accept the role of chief innovation officer at Jisc. I share Jisc’s passion for working together with learners, researchers, IT departments, libraries and academic leaders across the sectors to show the potential that digital technologies can have in transforming the learning and research experience. I am looking forward to getting started and seeing what we can achieve for the future of innovation.”
Martyn Harrow, chief executive of Jisc comments:
“We are delighted that Phil is joining Jisc to strengthen our senior team and pursuit of our mission to enable people in UK higher education, further education and skills to perform at the forefront of international practice by exploiting fully the possibilities of modern digital empowerment, content and connectivity.
Phil brings a wealth of knowledge of the needs of our communities and his research background and experience in ICT and e-learning. He is ideally placed to lead our digital futures directorate working with colleagues in Jisc and across the sectors to identify and carry out cutting-edge practical exploration and experimentation that can really make a difference to UK education and research”
Dr Richards will take up his appointment in November 2013.
via Jisc news
Lecturers, learners and researchers across the UK now have access to over 14,000 additional full text e-books and thousands of pages of primary source material on their tablets and mobile devices thanks to a new partnership agreement between Jisc Collections and BiblioLabs.
The partnership, which is rooted in pushing forward the Digital Humanities, will also empower subscribing institutions to make digital content from their internal repositories available to scholars and enthusiasts around the world.
The offer, called BiblioBoard, is available for subscription for education and research organisations. It offers two platforms to university libraries:
BiblioBoard Library is an award-winning content ecosystem that connects library patrons with digital archives from around the world. It includes over 14,000 e-books and consists of millions of pages of high-quality primary source content covering literature, philosophy, history, geography, science and more. In addition to the web version, BiblioBoard Library is available as a native application on a variety of popular tablets (iPad, Kindle Fire HD, Nook, Nexus 7 and Samsung Galaxy). Through a highly visual and intuitive interface it provides library patrons with curated multimedia collections that incorporate books, articles, images, audio and video.
BiblioBoard Creator is an easy-to-use authoring tool that enables libraries to make available valuable digital assets in their internal repositories to others either for free or for sale via BiblioBoard Library.
Scott Gibbens, service representative at Jisc Collections says:
“Jisc Collections considers this product a unique service to users, allowing them to access resources via an interface expertly designed for mobile devices.”
Mitchell Davis, BiblioLabs founder and chief business officer says:
“BiblioBoard is a low cost alternative to historical databases from more traditional publishers. It allows university libraries to significantly increase their e-book collections and easily support growing demand for high fidelity tablet and mobile content. Historical books, articles, images, photographs, maps, pamphlets and documents, as well as streaming audio and video content have been expertly organised into anthologies. We are excited to be offering such a comprehensive tool set to push forward the Digital Humanities within UK institutions.”
The BiblioBoard Core content module has been expertly organised into more than 200 anthologies and will be updated with new anthologies quarterly. BiblioLabs currently offers two additional modules for purchase, African American History and Folk and Americana. Each features content from highly regarded museum collections. Additional modules will be available for purchase in the future, including Accessible Dissertations, Spanish Language History and Literature, Military History, and Women’s Studies.
Visit the Jisc Collections website for further details on subscription or contact Carolyn Morris.
via Jisc news
Jisc welcomes the publication today of the Department for Business Innovation and Skills’ international education strategy outlining the UK’s role in contributing to worldwide innovation within schools, colleges and universities.
We are looking forward to being able to offer our expertise, while working with the Government and partners, in delivering this new strategy in particular in ‘leading the world in education technology’ and ‘building a new relationship with emerging powers’.
Our mission is to enable people in UK higher education, further education and skills to perform at the forefront of international practice by exploiting fully the possibilities of modern digital empowerment, content and connectivity.
The UK boasts one of the best digital infrastructures in the form of the Jisc research and education network Janet, delivering unparalleled connectivity and access to resources, while being safe and secure.
Martyn Harrow, Jisc chief executive says:
“We are already investing in Janet6, which will be the premier network of its type in the world, to ensure the continuing success of UK research and education, and the economic value it generates, now and over the next ten years.
“We hope our help on reaching out with online learning, connecting through social media to set up international student hubs, collaborating internationally for teaching, learning and research, enabling international collaboration and ensuring global secure access to institutions’ services and resources, will be a good basis for enabling this strategy to progress quickly.”
Jisc works in partnership across UK education and research to explore and provide cutting edge technologies in education, creating high-value-added products and services that have been built by the UK’s education sectors for the UK’s education sectors.
Read our guide on how you can get started on contributing to the UK’s international education strategy.
via Jisc news
Two new virtual microscopes are giving undergraduates and anyone interested in earth or life sciences the opportunity to learn microscope skills just as they would in a laboratory, thanks to Jisc-funded resources launching within The Open University’s new science portal.
Students will now have the same opportunities whether they are learning remotely, quickly or slowly, without access to expensive laboratory equipment or simply looking to expand their knowledge. It will also allow them to develop important research skills needed for microscope work in the lab.
Paola Marchionni, Jisc programme manager, says:
“Our resources such as the virtual microscopes will help breed a new generation of scientists confident in using digital technology. These resources are example of where digitisation of important collections is not just an end in itself but can make a real impact on the quality of teaching and learning opportunities for students - and of course with all the images licensed under Creative Commons everybody will be able to access and enjoy them."
People working in the life sciences can now view more than 300 digitised microscope slides to better understand the make-up of the body from blood vessels to nerves - and what happens when diseases attack.
The slides have come from seven different UK medical schools, hospitals and universities - so users know they are looking at quality-assured material.
David Male, from The Open University, led the team who assembled and developed the life sciences resource, says:
“Students would normally only be able to access a limited range of slides depending on where they work. The virtual microscope lets them study a much greater range of normal and diseased tissues, including hospital biopsies and University collections. However the main value of the microscope is in the active legends which take users directly to the features described on the slide, just as an instructor would do.”
For geologists, those working to identify, classify and understand rocks and minerals have their own specialist microscope slides, which the developers hope will save time and resource in the lab.
Such detailed study is critical for an understanding the processes going on deep beneath the Earth’s surface, how mountains and volcanoes formed, and to understand how our planet’s surface has evolved.
Simon Kelley, also from The Open University, heads the team for the Earth Science microscope. He explains:
“There is an old saying that the best geologist is the one who has seen the most rocks and there is some truth in that. The virtual microscope for Earth science is a great resource because it allows users to study over 150 rocks from Earth, the moon, and outer space on their computer, tablet or even smart phone without the need for an expensive laboratory.”
Instead of looking like a standard web page of images, the online microscopes emulate all the functions of a light microscope, so that the user can scan across the image, change magnification, adjust the lighting, and in some cases rotate images or photograph areas of interest.
What’s more, the resources are backed up by quality information and teaching resources to help lecturers and teachers make the most of the slides.
The more basic material is suitable for teaching in schools, while the more specialised information supports undergraduates or even postgraduate researchers.
The resources now form part of The Open University’s online scientific portal OpenScience Laboratory, which includes remote access to virtual instruments like these ones, online science labs, online field investigations and opportunities for the general public to contribute to science.
The microscopes are accessible from the OpenScience lab - you'll need to sign in or register to access them.
via Jisc news
With the birth yesterday of the Prince of Cambridge, an important free resource can show you how royal births and their reception have changed throughout history.
Connected Histories brings together 22 digital resources related to early, modern and nineteenth-century Britain. The search engine allows researchers to collect and share important sources for British history in one place, revealing unexpected connections and surprising parallels, whether from nineteenth-century newspapers, the records of courts and parliaments, or drawings. It also allows sophisticated searching of names, places and dates.
The project, funded by Jisc, is a partnership between the University of Hertfordshire, the Institute of Historical Research, University of London and the University of Sheffield.
A search for terms related to ‘royal births’ highlights a wealth of information drawn from historical sources across British history, revealing changes in medical practices, celebrations and cultural behaviours. Highlights include:
Jane Winters, head of publications and IHR Digital, Institute of Historical Research, University of London, says:
“Researchers have benefited enormously from the digitisation of historical sources over the past couple of decades, by universities, archives, libraries and commercial organisations. However, varying access arrangements and methods of production have meant that many of these resources are under-exploited and the opportunities of the digital have not yet been fully realised. Connected Histories is conceived as a means of overcoming some of the barriers to access, by offering a simple route in to a huge and varied corpus of research materials. With a single search, the precedents and historical context for any major public event, such as a royal birth, can easily be discovered, in both image and text.”
Paola Marchionni, programme manager, Jisc, says:
"When Jisc funded Connected Histories to offer a unified entry point to a range of diverse historical collections, we didn't know it would become one of our ‘jewels in the crown’. Since then the site has grown from strength to strength doubling the number of collections it now cross searches and establishing itself as a key online resource for the study of British history. "
via Jisc news
It was the conundrum that baffled some of the greatest and most eccentric experts of the 18th century - and captivated the British public during an era of unprecedented scientific and technical transformation.
Now, for the first time, the full story of attempts to solve the longitude problem - unravelling the lone genius myth popularised in film and literature - will be made freely available to everyone via Cambridge University’s Digital Library.
Launched today, the complete archive of the Board of Longitude, held by Cambridge University Library and associated National Maritime Museum collections, will take their place alongside the works of Charles Darwin and Isaac Newton on the Cambridge Digital Library site.
Treasures of the Longitude archive, available to view in high-resolution for the first time, include accounts of bitter rivalries, wild proposals and first encounters between Europeans and Pacific peoples. This includes logbooks of Captain Cook’s voyages of discovery, the naming of Australia and even a letter from Captain Bligh of HMS Bounty, who writes to apologise for the loss of a timekeeper after his ship was ‘pirated from my command’.
The university’s Digital Library project was launched in June 2010 following a £1.5m gift from the Polonsky Foundation. University librarian Anne Jarvis said:
“With the digitisation of this incredible collection, we have taken another important step towards realising our shared ambition of creating a digital library for the world.”
The Board of Longitude collection is the largest project undertaken to date by the Cambridge Digital Library team, comprising more than 65,000 images. Funded by Jisc, a charity which provides digital services for UK education and research, the collection has been developed in partnership with a wider five-year research project by Cambridge’s department of history and philosophy of science and Greenwich’s National Maritime Museum.
In July 1714 an act of parliament established a £20,000 prize, worth about £1.5 million today, for the discovery of longitude at sea: determining a ship’s position east and west from a fixed meridian line.
Cambridge historian Professor Simon Schaffer said:
“The problem of longitude could be a lethal one. The act of parliament established the Board of Longitude – think the X Factor, only much more money and much more important – that would reward anyone who could solve the problem of longitude.
“The longitude story is a spectacular example of expert disagreement and public participation. As well as attracting the greatest scientific minds of the day, the board enticed people who belong to one of the most important traditions in British society; the extreme eccentric.”
The hugely significant archive preserves detailed minutes from the first recorded meeting in 1737 right through to the Board of Longitude’s dissolution in 1828.
Royal Museums Greenwich’s Dr Richard Dunn said the archive proves that John Harrison, while a towering figure in the story, is not the start and end point for all things longitude.
"The archive places the familiar story of Harrison in its richer context. He was a crucial figure but the story is much broader. It takes in the development of astronomy, exploration and technological innovation and creativity during the period of the Industrial Revolution, the work of the first government body devoted to scientific matters, and public reactions to a challenge many considered hopeless.”
As the schemes for longitude needed to be tested on long voyages, the archive includes much detail on Britain’s maritime interests, explorations and encounters with other cultures. It also played a major role in plans for voyages by James Cook and successors into the Pacific in the 1770s - and into the Arctic in the opening decades of the 19th century. The archive includes four eyewitness accounts of Cook’s Second Voyage and contains the first Western maps and descriptions of many Pacific places and peoples.
The Board’s work continued long after longitude was effectively solved and its many interests and long duration makes the archive a hugely important primary source on the development of science and technology in the 18th and early 19th centuries. It also provides valuable insight into the social history of the era with thousands of names featuring in its files; from Isaac Newton, to eccentric inventors who berated the Board for not following up on their ideas.
Indeed, the archive contains two volumes of ‘impractical’ schemes submitted in the hope of finding a reward. They were later bound and prefaced with title pages such as ‘wild proposals resulting from dreams’. They came via a diverse cross-section of society, from prisoners seeking release in return for their ‘solutions’ to citizens like Mr William Lester, who proposed solar experiments to find longitude that involved igniting points on a globe with a lens. The board underlined his statement that if the globe is correct and properly adjusted ‘you will set fire to London’.
Peter Findlay, programme manager, Jisc, said:
“The Longitude collection has much to tell us about the effects of scientific discovery on society and many of its themes and concerns are still relevant today. The collaboration between Cambridge University Library and the National Maritime Museum - and the close interaction with the AHRC’s research project – exemplifies the researcher-led rich data approach Jisc takes to content creation. While this digital collection supports a major current research project, it also lays a foundation for future research and teaching.”
via Jisc news
A £1 million project to digitise BT’s historical collection of photos and documents has brought 165 years of UK telecoms heritage to the public’s fingertips today, with the launch of an interactive online archive.
BT has teamed up with Coventry University and The National Archives to create a searchable digital resource of almost half a million photographs, reports and items of correspondence preserved by BT since 1846. The project has been funded by Jisc, which provides digital services for UK education and research.
The remarkable collection showcases Britain’s pioneering role in the development of telecommunications and the impact of the technology on society, and will be freely available to the public under a Creative Commons licence to encourage sharing and the use of the material in school curricula and for research.
Users anywhere in the world will be able to log on to www.bt.com/btdigitalarchives and explore 50 terabytes worth of images and documents detailing how Britain laid the foundations for global telecommunications, including the first telephone exchange in 1879 and the Queen making the first automatic long distance telephone call in the fifties.
The project and its new website – which has been built by Coventry University’s Serious Games International in collaboration with BT – aims to demonstrate the breadth and depth of the archive, and to highlight the positive impact that telecommunications has had on social issues such as gender and race equality in the workplace.
The organisations involved expect the archive – which is recognised by UNESCO and Arts Council England as being of international importance – to appeal to a wide range of audiences including teachers, students, researchers and the general public, who for the first time will have easy access to an archive of cultural and technological significance to the UK.
David Hay, head of heritage at BT Group, said:
“BT’s archive documents over a century of the achievements of British telecommunications engineers and scientists in pushing the boundaries of communications technology. I’m constantly fascinated by the photographs and documents in the archive- it’s fantastic that the public can now enjoy it so easily, using our technology and networks”.
Professor Neil Forbes, director of research at Coventry University, said:
“It is a great pleasure to be able to launch the BT digital archives. Teams of experts from across the partners involved have worked together to produce an extraordinarily rich and important online archive. It’s a magnificent achievement.”
Chris Mumby, head of commercial delivery at The National Archives, said:
“Our renowned expertise in creating and preserving digitised records ensures that this important collection is accessible to more people now and in the future.”
Paola Marchionni, programme manager, Jisc said:
“We’re very proud at Jisc to have funded the digitisation of this internationally recognised archive. The strength of this project lies in a partnership that goes beyond the higher education sector and which has made openly available 100,000s of digital resources for just anybody to enjoy. At the same time, the academic team has produced fascinating case studies which show how digitised archival material can be used to explore new avenues both in research and teaching in a wide range of subjects, from design to linguistic and cultural studies.”
Highlights from the BT digital archives include:
via Jisc news
Jisc and Wikimedia UK are collaborating on a project to bring the academic world and Wikipedia closer together. This will create opportunities for researchers, educators, and the general public to contribute to the world's freely available knowledge.
Jisc is supporting this initiative so that the widest possible audience will benefit from the world-leading projects that it supports. These include open educational resources, online repositories of research, and collections such as the 19th century newspapers archive and Manuscripts Online, which holds British written and early printed materials from 1000 to 1500AD.
Wikimedia UK is the national charity supporting Wikipedia and its sister projects such as Wiktionary and Wikiversity. It works with professionals in universities, museums, libraries, and other institutions to improve the knowledge that those projects make freely available. It is investing in this project to involve more of these experts in improving Wikimedia projects for everyone's benefit. This project is part of the charity's wider commitment to higher education, shown through efforts such as their annual EduWiki conference and participation in the global Wikipedia Education Program. The charity recently appointed its first education co-ordinator in order to gain greater focus on higher education.
This is a national project, based at the University of Bristol. It will train experts in their workplaces and also run ‘editathon’ events which will be open to the public. Dr Martin Poulter, who is a Wikipedia editor as well as a professional creator of educational materials in the University, will be an ambassador between the two communities. This will include working with Jisc’s communities to identify specific topics for development.
Peter Findlay, Jisc programme manager said:
“We at Jisc are delighted to be working in partnership with Wikimedia UK to allow people to take full advantage of Wikipedia’s sophisticated open publishing systems. Our communities have worked hard to develop academic rigour but equally Wikimedia’s community has developed a rigorous approach to publishing crowd-sourced knowledge; it makes perfect sense for us to join forces for the advancement of teaching, learning and research.”
Jon Davies, chief executive of Wikimedia UK, said:
“I’m pleased that we are working with Jisc on the Wikimedia Ambassador project. Both the academic and Wikimedia communities are committed to the pursuit and sharing of knowledge. Bringing the two communities together can help demystify Wikipedia to people who work in higher education, and at the same time create and improve Wikimedia content by encouraging more experts to edit.”
The project is jointly funded by Wikimedia UK and Jisc and will run for around nine months.
via Jisc news
Iconic buildings of the past and present are being brought to life thanks to their architectural drawings going online through Architectus.
The Architectus archive contains unique student designs from the 1930s to the 1950s and work from famous post-war architects like John Madin (who designed Telford as a new town, Pebble Mill and Birmingham Central Library amongst others in the 1960s and 1970s). Buildings featured in the resource range from New Selfridges Birmingham, to an edible gingerbread house and the iconic THE CUBE.
Developed by the Birmingham City University and made possible by Jisc, the resource contains over 5,000 assets. It is useful to students studying architecture, allowing investigation into new and old techniques, period styles and the building of scale models.
Bev Cole, project manager for the Architectus Project, Birmingham City University, says:
“One of the key directives of the Architectus initiative was to provide students with the detailed, high quality drawings needed to further their education. This is probably the best open educational resource of original, primary sourced, contemporary design and building plans for the wider educational community available on the web. The projects couldn’t have been possible without Jisc’s support.”
Content has been both digitised and centralised to develop this wealth of information and includes video interviews with building designers complemented by suggestive learning activities, plans, drawings, elevations, sketches and photographs. The resource also contains maps which you can click on to see the buildings from a street view. Alongside this, users can rate the resources, add comments and submit new building designs to help grow the archive.
Luke Nagle, student engagement mentor, Birmingham City University, explains previous difficulties when searching for information:
“My personal experience is that sourcing detailed and high quality architectural drawings has always been troublesome. More often than not this is due to financial constraints, a general lack of information available on the web and commercial intellectual property rights.”
Following a model making workshop, with first year architect students, to test the usefulness of the resource academic tutor, Jim Sloane from Birmingham City University said:
“The results of the model-making workshop reflected the effectiveness of the Architectus project sourced drawings. The models were far more accurate in both scale and detail. Interestingly, the students that used the Architectus drawings required less input from the tutor due to the quality of the Architectus content.”
The content was sourced from dozens of commercial architectural practices and the RIBA West Midlands (Birmingham and Five Counties Architectural Association Trust) archive. You can search for resources by practice or archive name, architect, building project, sector, category, materials used or date.
Paola Marchionni, digitisation programme manager at Jisc, says:
"This project represents another excellent partnership that Jisc is proud to have supported. It's great to see the Birmingham team work with a variety of commercial architectural practices to bring their drawings and models to life. Buildings old and new have now been turned into high quality digital resources to fill a gap in architectural studies and support students in improving their skills and experience. Luckily, these resources are freely accessible and can also be enjoyed by the public at large."
You can find more information on the Architectus blog.
View a selection of images made available via our Flickr slideshow.
via Jisc news
The winner of the ICT initiative of the year award, sponsored by Jisc, was announced last night in London at the Times Higher Leadership and Management Awards 2013.
The awards, hosted by comedian Dara O Briain, covered everything from international strategy to student services, from fundraising to HR and estates to admissions. The event showcased the extraordinary innovation, teamwork and commercial acumen of UK higher education institutions.
Robert Haymon-Collins, Jisc’s executive director of customer experience, said:
“At Jisc we believe in making the UK the most digitally advanced education and research nation in the world and this year’s winner is most certainly contributing to making this happen.
This year’s award goes to the National Union of Students (NUS), for their creation of UnionCloud, which is their own cloud computing platform, to create the NUS Digital project. NUS Digital enables students’ unions across the UK to interact more effectively with their members at a local level. Among other services, it offers membership communication management, targeted marketing, election functions and resources for student clubs and societies.”
NUS president Liam Burns said:
“We are really honoured to have won this award. There has never been a non-institution winner at these awards before and the shortlist had some serious initiatives to compete with.
As with all these things, it's the effort everyone has put into promoting NUS Digital and its potential that has made it an award winning initiative. So a genuine thank you to everyone in the NUS Group. What the platform will mean for our campaigning and ability to talk to students is really exciting and being nationally recognised this early on is exceptional.”
Chris Cobb, chief operating officer and university secretary at the University of London, was one of the category’s judges. He said that NUS Digital was
"...an example of what can be achieved through collaboration.
The core infrastructure and suite of tools in the UnionCloud are innovative, timely and relevant as evidenced by the very strong buy-in from local students’ unions.
What is particularly interesting is how the NUS has harnessed the power of social networking as a core means of communication within its membership.”
See the full list of award winners on the Times Higher Leadership and Management Awards 2013 website.
via Jisc news
A major survey of UK academics released today examines the attitudes of researchers and practitioners working within higher education. It sheds light on their behaviours, including their reliance on digital technologies, the Internet and open access.
The survey of academics, funded and guided by Jisc and RLUK and conducted on their behalf by the not-for-profit research organisation Ithaka S+R, received 3,498 responses, (a response rate of 7.9%). The survey covers a range of areas from how academics discover and stay abreast of research, to their teaching of undergraduates. How they choose research topics and publication channels, to their views on learned societies and university libraries, and their collections.
Overarching themes are an increasing reliance on the Internet for their research and publishing activities and the strong role that openness is playing in their work. Key findings include:
Rachel Bruce, innovation director for digital infrastructure, Jisc, explains:
“Across the findings, this survey confirms that the open web is the first port of call for academics starting research. If an article is not available through the library the majority of academics will go straight to the web to look for a free copy, suggesting that open access is becoming a critical component of the research process. It also confirms our expectation that libraries have an important role to play in both surfacing open content on the web and ensuring open content is accessible through library systems.”
Chair of RLUK, Stella Butler, commented:
“University libraries have long ceased to be passive repositories of information. Our role as gateways to research findings and as curators of knowledge, including data, is clearly expanding. The results of this survey will help all libraries explore the changing needs of one of our key customer groups and help RLUK re-define the research library model.”
Deanna Marcum, managing director, Ithaka S+R, added:
“Across the UK, organisations are deeply focused on the development of new policies and their implementation to transform research and higher education in the wake of emerging technologies and the charge to deliver the impact that the public expects. We hope this survey provides meaningful insight and will help in strategic decision-making as the future unfolds.”
Higher education leaders will gather at a workshop in London on the 20 May to discuss the survey results and consider the ways in which their organisations can align their efforts more closely with what academics say they need.
via Jisc news
A new survey of colleges across Scotland shows that social media, and particularly YouTube, has firmly entered the learning environment as teaching and learning tools, with its use growing significantly year on year.
In the 2012 ETNA (Enhanced Training Needs Analysis) survey, carried out by the Jisc Regional Support Centre (RSC) in Scotland and launched today at their annual conference in Edinburgh, nearly three quarters of academics in further education agree that social media tools enhance the quality of the learning experience. YouTube is by far the most popular tool, while Facebook and particularly Twitter, lag well behind. However, the survey also identifies a strong need for staff training in the use of social media.
The 2012 ETNA survey is the fifth of its kind in Scotland, with ETNA surveys having been carried out for more than a decade across Scottish colleges, analysing technology in further education and able to show trends over time. In 2012, 1,700 staff took part, including more than 700 academics across 40 of the 43 colleges. Together with responses from admin and support staff, managers, learning resource staff, learning technologists, and technical and network staff, it provides a comprehensive picture of technology in the learning landscape.
Of those surveyed:
Of the media channels:
Celeste McLaughlin, advisor: staff development at Jisc RSC Scotland said: "It's clear from the survey that social media is now here to stay in colleges as learning tools. They offer a familiar environment for students and, at the same time, teaching staff clearly like them. In particular, the ability to share videos online has made YouTube a clear favourite. But training is patchy, so Jisc RSC Scotland aims to help college staff improve their social media skills.”
The 2012 ETNA survey, Growth and Development – an analysis of skills and attitudes to technology in Scottish further education, is to be launched at today's Jisc RSC Scotland annual conference, Bring Me That Horizon!
Further reading: Social media use in Scottish universities - blog post from Celeste McLaughlin, RSC Scotland.
via Jisc news
A new survey of colleges across Scotland shows that social media, and particularly YouTube, has firmly entered the learning environment as teaching and learning tools, with its use growing significantly year on year.
In the 2012 ETNA (Enhanced Training Needs Analysis) survey, carried out by the Jisc Regional Support Centre (RSC) in Scotland and launched today at their annual conference in Edinburgh, nearly three quarters of academics in further education agree that social media tools enhance the quality of the learning experience. YouTube is by far the most popular tool, while Facebook and particularly Twitter, lag well behind. However, the survey also identifies a strong need for staff training in the use of social media.
The 2012 ETNA survey is the fifth of its kind in Scotland, with ETNA surveys having been carried out for more than a decade across Scottish colleges, analysing technology in further education and able to show trends over time. In 2012, 1,700 staff took part, including more than 700 academics across 40 of the 43 colleges. Together with responses from admin and support staff, managers, learning resource staff, learning technologists, and technical and network staff, it provides a comprehensive picture of technology in the learning landscape.
Of those surveyed:
Of the media channels:
Celeste McLaughlin, advisor: staff development at Jisc RSC Scotland said: "It's clear from the survey that social media is now here to stay in colleges as learning tools. They offer a familiar environment for students and, at the same time, teaching staff clearly like them. In particular, the ability to share videos online has made YouTube a clear favourite. But training is patchy, so Jisc RSC Scotland aims to help college staff improve their social media skills.”
The 2012 ETNA survey, Growth and Development – an analysis of skills and attitudes to technology in Scottish further education, is to be launched at today's Jisc RSC Scotland annual conference, Bring Me That Horizon!
via Jisc news
