Project ACORN: Watching those oaks grow...
Elizabeth Gadd and Paula Kingston report on progress with Project ACORN.
A description of the ACORN training programme can also
be found in this issue.
This article appears in the Web, and not the Print, version of Ariadne.
Project ACORN (Access to Course Readings via Networks) is one of eLib's
electronic reserve
projects. It is a partnership between Loughborough University, Swets &
Zeitlinger B.V., and
Leicester University.
Acorn Launch
Having gained permission to digitise 211 (66%) of the journal articles
requested from 54 (60%) of the
publishers approached, ACORN is now preparing to launch on April 21st.
Library staff training was
undertaken in the week beginning March 3rd. Six sessions were offered and,
in all, 67
library staff attended, which is apparently a record! Evaluations were very
positive, but indicated that
some staff would like more time for hands-on practice nearer the launch date.
The week beginning 10th March was devoted to student training. Eleven
sessions were arranged in
students lecture periods with the permission of academic staff, covering
students on 11 of the 24 target
modules. In all about 300 students attended these sessions, 50% of the
total target group for the
Acorn service. The majority of student training sessions had to be done by
overhead projector as
lecture rooms did not have computer equipment readily available.
Consequently, there were some
pleas from students on the training evaluation forms for hands-on sessions.
We are learning that there
is no substitute for hands-on training.
We are having an official launch ceremony on April 24th where Loughborough
University's Vice
Chancellor, Professor David Wallace, is to 'press-the-button'. Major
stakeholders in the project -
including publishers - have been invited.
Publishers' Seminar
On June 11th ACORN is holding a seminar for participating publishers and
other invitees in London.
The purpose of the seminar is to gather important information on publishers'
views on electronic
'short-loan' charges, document security, the role of an intermediary, and
digitisation issues and costs.
It is hoped that this will provide a valuable forum for publishers to air
their views and concerns, while
also being a stepping stone to increased co-operation between publishers,
libraries and intermediaries
for the provision of such electronic services.
Web pages update
We have recently updated our Web pages with a number of items which appear
to be in great demand.
These include a document on the Acorn System Design, a Manual of Procedures
on Copyright
Clearance, our Acorn user guide and flier, a permissions update and an
overall progress report. Do
come and visit our Web site [1].
Copyright permissions list
Elizabeth Gadd, ACORN's Liaison Officer and Andrew Brown, Project Officer
for the University of
Derby Electronic Library, have recently joined forces to set up a new
mailbase list for copyright
permission seekers. Seeing the need for a 'safe environment' in which
permission seekers could share
copyright owner contact information, prices and policies, they have set up
Lis-copyseek to provide just
that. To join please send a message to
lis-copyseek-request@mailbase.ac.uk
stating your email
address, name, job title, organisation, telephone, and a brief description
of your involvement with
copyright permission seeking. It should be stated that this is a closed
list, for obvious reasons, and the
owners reserve the right to refuse membership.
References
- Project ACORN Web Site,
http://acorn.lboro.ac.uk/
Author Details
Elizabeth Gadd,
ACORN Project Officer
email:
E.A.Gadd@lboro.ac.uk
Tel: 01509 222403
Fax: 01509 223993
Address:
Project Acorn,
Pilkington Library,
Loughborough University,
Loughborough,
Leicestershire.
LE11 3TU
Material on this page is copyright
Ariadne/original
authors.
This article last updated/links checked on 18-May-1997