The European digital information landscape: how can LIBER contribute?

This paper looks at a snapshot of the current state of digitisation in the information landscape. It then looks at what LIBER can contribute to that landscape through portal development, funding, identifying and documenting best practice, lobbying at a European level, and managing the transition from paper to digital delivery, including the issue of digital preservation. The paper ends by trying to identify how the user will use the digitised resources which are increasingly being made available by libraries

Guidance for selecting materials for digitisation

28-30 September 199

New wine in old bottles: current developments in digital delivery and dissemination

The purpose of this paper is to identify and assess current developments in scholarly publishing in Europe. Current models for disseminating content have limitations and Open Access models of publishing have been endorsed by the European Universities Association. The Harvard mandate for the deposit of materials in Open Access repositories is a bold new development, and the community is watching it with interest. It is possible that e-books may be the next large form of content to be made available to the user. Users certainly express interest in using this form of material. However, current library systems need to be developed in order to cope with this mass of new content. E-theses, available in Open Access from institutional repositories, are a form of content that is made much more visible than the paper equivalents. The DART-Europe portal, supported by LIBER (Association of European Research Libraries) currently provides access to 100,000 research theses in 150 European Universities. At an institutional and academic level, however, much remains to be done to embed Open Access into the landscape: the current situation is described in a new report for UCL (University College London), produced by RAND Europe

LIBER's involvement in supporting digital preservation in member libraries

Digital curation and preservation represent new challenges for universities. LIBER has invested considerable effort to engage with the new agendas of digital preservation and digital curation. Through two successful phases of the LIFE project, LIBER is breaking new ground in identifying innovative models for costing digital curation and preservation. Through LIFE’s input into the US-UK Blue Ribbon Task Force on Sustainable Digital Preservation and Access, LIBER is aligned with major international work in the economics of digital preservation. In its emerging new strategy and structures, LIBER will continue to make substantial contributions in this area, mindful of the needs of European research libraries

Information strategy development in the UK and Ireland: a role for Aleph

This paper looks at the role of the Ex Libris Strategy Group of UK and Irish Chief Librarians. It then analyses the role of Information provision at a strategic level in Universities in the UK. The paper identifies a Top Ten Wish List for development and partnership working with Ex Libris, comprising: Back to Basics, the Corporate Context, E-Journals, E-Books, Open Access, OAI compliance, the Catalogue, Management Information, Virtual and Managed Learning Environments, and international developments in information provision. The paper concludes that libraries must: support the institutional Mission, be seen to deliver, support their customers, and be cost-effective. Ex Libris software and products have an important role to play in delivering this agenda

Continuity and change in diocese and province: the role of a Tudor bishop

Thomas Cranmer's register is important in shedding valuable shafts of light on the nature of the episcopal office in Tudor England. Despite the government's break with Rome in the 1530s, much of the archbishop's routine administration continued unaltered. Nonetheless, there were profound changes in Cranmer's role. Royal commissions, proclamations, injunctions, letters missive and acts of parliament all served to modify Cranmer's position as principal minister of the king's spiritual estate. When the crown issued a commission to the archbishop for the exercise of his jurisdiction, the prelate's position as a royal official was clear for all to see. It is sure, however, that the impact of Christian humanism and reformed theology also did much to shape Cranmer's work. The enforcement of the English Litany and, most notably, of the 42 Articles reveal the changing nature of the episcopal office at this time. In contrast to received orthodoxy, it is now clear that the bishops mounted a widespread campaign at the end of Edward VI's brief reign to secure use of this reformed formulary. There can be little doubt that Thomas Cranmer's years at Canterbury were of great significance in reshaping the role of the episcopate in early modern England

LIBER-EBLIDA digitisation workshop

95 participants from 23 countries attended a Workshop on the Digitisation of Library Material in Europe, from 24 to 26 October 2007 in the Royal Library, Copenhagen, Denmark. The Workshop was jointly organised by LIBER and EBLIDA. In a full report on the Workshop on the JISC website, the JISC highlighted that ‘high on the agenda were moves towards a European Digital Library – the delivery of integrated access to the digitised collections of libraries, archives and museums across the EU.’ At a global level, this was indeed one of the main aims of the Workshop. As the Chair of the breakout groups, and the final session of the Workshop, I gave an interview for the JISC immediately after the final session where I looked at what I thought were some of the issues to be identified by the Workshop. The purpose of this paper is to describe some of these issues in a little more detail and outline what work LIBER and EBLIDA have undertaken in the wake of the significant momentum which the Workshop has engendered for European digitisation activity

The EU-funded EuropeanaTravel project

EuropeanaTravel is a targeted project for cultural content in the target area digital libraries of the eContentplus 2008 Work Programme funded by the European Commission.1 Its overall objective is to digitise content on the theme of travel and tourism for use in Europeana2 as requested by the EDL Foundation.3 The themed content will come from the wonderful collections of major university libraries and national libraries. The project is supported by CENL4 and LIBER,5 two founder members of the EDL Foundation, and by the Foundation itself. A secondary objective of the project is further to strengthen collaboration between CENL and LIBER by extending their experience of joint working, thus increasing human interoperability in support of Europeana. Other objectives include creating a LIBER closed access aggregation service to aggregate material from LIBER members for Europeana, continuing to mobilise support for Europeana amongst university libraries in a systematic way, and supporting the spread of best practice in digitisation by libraries. The consortium’s 19 members include 17 library members providing content from 16 countries drawn roughly equally from the membership of CENL and LIBER and from all European regions. The project will run for two years and work closely and flexibly with the Europeana team. The EuropeanaTravel project was launched in Tallinn on 11 May 2009 and this article has been compiled to celebrate that event

A LIBER passport?

The Bologna Process started on 19 June 1999, when 29 European Ministers responsible for Higher Education signed the Bologna declaration, in which they undertook to create a European Higher Education Area. The creation of the European Higher Education Area should be completed by 2010. The main objectives of the Bologna declaration are to increase the mobility and employability of European higher education graduates, thus ensuring competitiveness of European Higher Education on the world scale

The NHS-HE Forum

This paper discusses the formation of the NHS-HE Forum by Professor Roland Rosner in 2001. It looks at the aims and objectives of the Forum and maps current progress. The second part of the paper looks particularly at the NHS-HE Procurement Group and the later JISC NHS-HE Procurement Group, which are part of the Forum. These groupings have been partially successful in conducting joint procurement activity across the NHS and HE sectors. The publication of Dr Ian Gibson?s Parliamentary Report Scientific Publications: Free for All? is seminal in progressing this joint activity. As of 1 February 2006, joint membership of the Public Library of Science has been achieved, but one joint procurement activity of commercial content has failed. Further joint procurement is planned, along with a mapping study of procurement activities and work on an Athens Account Linking Project. The library and informatics research components are coming to the fore with the use of a community-wide survey to establish the current situation and future plans for NHS-HE network connectivity and similarly the Mapping Study of Procurement Practices in the NHS and HE for content such as e-journals. This is moving to a more systematic approach than previously. The attempted joint procurement of selected journals has two joint aims: to support both research and clinical practice in the NHS and HE. This paper discusses the formation of the NHS-HE Forum by Professor Roland Rosner in 2001. It looks at the aims and objectives of the Forum and maps current progress. The second part of the paper looks particularly at the NHS-HE Procurement Group and the later JISC NHS-HE Procurement Group, which are part of the Forum. These groupings have been partially successful in conducting joint procurement activity across the NHS and HE sectors. The publication of Dr Ian Gibson?s Parliamentary Report Scientific Publications: Free for All? is seminal in progressing this joint activity. As of 1 February 2006, joint membership of the Public Library of Science has been achieved, but one joint procurement activity of commercial content has failed. Further joint procurement is planned, along with a mapping study of procurement activities and work on an Athens Account Linking Project. The library and informatics research components are coming to the fore with the use of a community-wide survey to establish the current situation and future plans for NHS-HE network connectivity and similarly the Mapping Study of Procurement Practices in the NHS and HE for content such as e-journals. This is moving to a more systematic approach than previously. The attempted joint procurement of selected journals has two joint aims: to support both research and clinical practice in the NHS and HE