Changing Trains at Wigan: Digital Preservation and the Future of Scholarship

This paper examines the impact of the emerging digital landscape on long term access to material created in digital form and its use for research; it examines challenges, risks and expectations.

Appraising the Digital Past and Future

Archivists, and others working in the digital realm, need to reconsider archival appraisal approaches and concepts as a means of exercising rational and strategic control over what they select for digitization and select from the digital documentary universe. Control has been a defining aspect of the contemporary Information Age, and it is not something archivists and digital curators should shun. This paper briefly discusses the notion of archival appraisal and several contributions it might make to the digital curation schema

What's the 'big deal', and why is it bad deal for universities?

At first sight the “big (or all-you-can-eat) deal” seems excellent value for libraries and their users, and represents the shining possibilities of the electronic age. A more thorough-going evaluation, however, exposes dangers for universities, their funders and publishers. This paper examines the big deal in the light of fundamental market conditions and suggests alternative models for procuring electronic resources. The roles and strengths of the players in the information supply chain are defined and traditional hard-copy procurement is analysed in terms of these roles and the concepts of authority, branding and monopoly. The fundamentals of procuring electronic resources and prevalent purchasing models are discussed in terms of the same roles and concepts. The advantages of the big deal are laid out - access to resources, low unit costs etc. The dangers are also discussed. These arise mainly from the publishers’ position as monopolists. The possible long-term effects, on library budgets and academic publishing, of dealing with monopoly suppliers are examined. Means of avoiding or minimising these dangers – consortia, alternative publishing methods, new economic models to promote competition – are examined

The Impact of Information Security Technologies Upon Society

This paper's aims are concerned with the effects of information security technologies upon society in general and civil society organisations in particular. Information security mechanisms have the potential to act as enablers or disablers for the work of civil society groups. Recent increased emphasis on national security issues by state actors, particularly 'anti-terrorism' initiatives, have resulted in legislative instruments that impinge upon the civil liberties of many citizens and have the potential to restrict the free flow of information vital for civil society actors. The nascent area of cyberactivism, or hactivism, is at risk of being labelled cyberterrorism, with the accompanying change of perception from a legitimate form of electronic civil disobedience to an abhorrent crime. Biometric technology can be an invasive intrusion into citizens' privacy. Internet censorship and surveillance is widespread and increasing. These implementations of information security technology are becoming more widely deployed with profound implications for the type of societies that will result

Video game preservation in the UK: a survey of records management practices

Video games are a cultural phenomenon; a medium like no other that has become one of the largest entertainment sectors in the world. While the UK boasts an enviable games development heritage, it risks losing a major part of its cultural output through an inability to preserve the games that are created by the country’s independent games developers. The issues go deeper than bit rot and other problems that affect all digital media; loss of context, copyright and legal issues, and the throwaway culture of the ‘next’ game all hinder the ability of fans and academics to preserve video games and make them accessible in the future. This study looked at the current attitudes towards preservation in the UK’s independent (‘indie’) video games industry by examining current record-keeping practices and analysing the views of games developers. The results show that there is an interest in preserving games, and possibly a desire to do so, but issues of piracy and cost prevent the industry from undertaking preservation work internally, and from allowing others to assume such responsibility. The recommendation made by this paper is not simply for preservation professionals and enthusiasts to collaborate with the industry, but to do so by advocating the commercial benefits that preservation may offer to the industry

Market Analysis of Textile Products Protecting Against UV Radiation (Used for Equipping Interiors, Construction and in Protective Clothing)

The aim of this article is to present the results of our analysis of the European market in the field of protective textile products, based on the EUROSTAT database and our own research. The market volumes of curtains and inner roller blinds, marquees and anti-solar curtains, male clothing accessories and female clothing accessories are presented and analyzed. Initial research of supply and demand in the Polish market of textile products protecting against UV radiation is also presented and discussed.Celem artykułu jest zaprezentowanie wyników analizy rynku europejskiego w obszarze tekstyliów ochronnych opartej na bazie danych EUROSTAT. Zaprezentowane i przeanalizowane są wolumeny rynkowe zasłon i rolet wewnętrznych, markiz i zasłon przeciwsłonecznych oraz damskich i męskich dodatków odzieżowych. Przedstawione i omówione jest także wstępne badanie popytu i podaży na polskim rynku produktów tekstylnych chroniących przed promieniowaniem UV

Scholarly communication in an electronic environment: problems and challenges

Thanks to remarkable feats of international cooperation over the last 50 years librarians have produced and maintained a string of standards which collectively have made the identification of almost any published item a straightforward task (UBC), and have changed interlibrary document supply from a peripheral operation to a core activity (UAP). The system runs so smoothly that it is taken for granted and its lessons are not being used to inform discussions on the emergence of exactly the same issues in the electronic environment. The Internet is seen as a great and liberating development, but it is not a neutral one, and it requires very substantial international effort if it is to be made usable for sustained scholarly communication rather than short-term gratification. The preservation and archiving of electronic information has only just begun to surface as a very complex issue. An electronic environment is being created which is inimical to scholarship and which is largely being ignored by commercial and entertainment forces that are irrelevant to the scholarly process. A much more active approach from the library profession is required

Safeguarding in schools : best practice

"This report illustrates and evaluates the features of best practice in safeguarding, based on inspection evidence from the 19% of all maintained primary, secondary and special schools, residential special schools and pupil referral units inspected between September 2009 and July 2010 where safeguarding had been judged outstanding. It also draws on a more detailed analysis and evaluation of safeguarding practice in a small sample of outstanding schools visited by Her Majesty’s Inspectors" -- front cover