Table of contents: issue42

Assessing the Impact of the Freedom of Information Act on the FE and HE Sectors

editor — Sun, 30 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0000

Steve Bailey describes how the FE and HE sectors have prepared for the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act and what challenges still lay ahead.

As with the rest of the public sector, the Further Education (FE) and Higher Education (HE) sectors have had over four years to prepare for the introduction of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). Much has been achieved during this period in terms of assigning responsibility for overseeing preparations, raising awareness and putting a framework of policies and procedures in place to move towards compliance. However, it is also true to say that for most institutions there is still much to do.

Freedom of Information in University College Dublin 2001-2004

editor — Sun, 30 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0000

Rena Lohan outlines how access rights conferred by FOI legislation have affected administrative operations in University College Dublin.

University College Dublin is the largest single university institution in Ireland, with a student population of approximately 22,000.

Advanced Collaboration With the Access Grid

editor — Sun, 30 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0000

Michael Daw describes the Access Grid system and its claim to be an Advanced Collaboration Environment.

Collaboration between institutions based in different cities, countries or continents is becoming the norm in both commercial and academic worlds. The ability to attend meetings and interact with people effectively without incurring all the negative implications associated with travel - such as cost, expense, environmental impact and reduction in productivity - is a truly worthwhile goal.

Software Choice: Decision-making in a Mixed Economy

editor — Sun, 30 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0000

Randy Metcalfe considers the role of free and open source software in UK Further and Higher Education.

Imagine a world where software is free. For the moment, let's not split hairs about this. In this imagined world software costs virtually nothing to obtain. And you are free to do things with this software - free to study how it works (which means getting access to the underlying code, not just the binaries or executables); free to modify that code to suit your needs and/or improve it; free to re-distribute that modified code. And everyone else is free to obtain, study, modify, and redistribute software as well as you.

This is not the world you live in.

The National Centre for Text Mining: Aims and Objectives

editor — Sun, 30 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0000

Sophia Ananiadou, Julia Chruszcz, John Keane, John McNaught and Paul Watry describe NaCTeM's plans to provide text mining services for UK academics.

In this article we describe the role of the National Centre for Text Mining (NaCTeM). NaCTeM is operated by a consortium of three Universities: the University of Manchester which leads the consortium, the University of Liverpool and the University of Salford. The service activity is run by the National Centre for Dataset Services (MIMAS), based within Manchester Computing (MC).

Tracing Help With Copyright: New AHDS Case Studies on Copyright Issues

editor — Sun, 30 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0000

Alastair Dunning provides an overview of case studies published by the Arts and Humanities Data Service in that persistent minefield of respecting copyright.

The Web statistics tool which measures hits on the Arts and Humanities Data Service (AHDS) Web site [1] provides some telling information. The most common search engine keyword by which users discover the AHDS is not 'computers', 'humanities', 'research' or 'arts', but that old bugbear 'copyright'. Although the Arts and Humanities Data Service advises on a wide range of issues, such as data capture, metadata and funding proposals, copyright is just as popular a reason for users to arrive at the Web site.

Making the Case for a Wiki

editor — Sun, 30 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0000

Emma Tonkin examines wikis and considers the feasibility of their deployment - and the danger of the 'tumbleweed' syndrome.

Introduction: What is a Wiki?

Software use cases are necessarily incomplete, a failing which seems to intensify in reverse proportion to the degree of simplicity in the software in question. Complex software responds to a given set of requirements, simple software as a partial solution to a much broader problem set. More concisely put, certain ideas just seem to catch on, particularly the simple, brilliant, 'now why didn't I think of that' class of ideas.

A Librarian's Experience of E-Government

editor — Sun, 30 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0000

Jane Inman describes the route she has taken as a librarian through the expanding landscape of e-government and highlights the skills librarians can bring to this arena.

E-Government is essentially about improving service delivery in central and local government. Our customers expect a level of service and access to services, which is effective, efficient and convenient. They want to be able to make contact with government at a time and in a way which fits in with their lives. In order to deliver excellent public services in customer-focused ways we have to use the available technology to its very best advantage.

Fast-Forward on the Green Road to Open Access: The Case Against Mixing Up Green and Gold

editor — Sun, 30 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0000

Stevan Harnad provides a summary of his critique of Jean-Claude Guédon's views on the green and gold roads to Open Access.

This article is a critique of: The "Green" and "Gold" Roads to Open Access: The Case for Mixing and Matching by Jean-Claude Guédon [1].

Open Access (OA) means: free online access to all peer-reviewed journal articles.