66 Bibliothek 23. 1999. Nr. 1 Robinson/Tanner - Higher Education Digitisation Service Brian Robinson/Simon Tanner Higher Education Digitisation Service: access in the future, preserving the past - the U K perspective 1 This paper will introduce HEDS and our Services, with focus on how HEDS fits into the overall digital libraries initiatives of UK higher education. Higher Education Digitisation Service: Zugang in der Zukunft, Bewahrung der Vergangenheit - die Perspektive des Vereinigten Königreiches Der Beitrag stellt HEDS und seine Dienstleistungen vor, vor allem im Hinblick darauf, wie HEDS sich in die gesamten Digitalisierungsinitiativen der Hochschulen des Vereinigten Königreiches einpaßt. Higher Education Digitisation Service: accos ä l'avenir, preservation du passe - la perspective du Royaume Uni La contribution presente HEDS et ses Services, surtout sous l'aspect comment HEDS s'insere dans l'ensemble des initiatives de bibliotheques numerisees des universites du Royaume Uni. Introduction The aim of the Higher Education Digitisation Service (HEDS) is to establish a ränge of core and value-added Services available through a single point of contact to support the conversion of high volumes of learning, teaching and scholarly materials into electronic forms for increased availability in the higher education Commu- nity. HEDS has been established by the University of Hertfordshire by bringing together a wide ränge of ex- pertise and specialisms with project funding from the Electronic Libraries Programme (eLib). This project fun- ding was initially granted for 2 years from September 1996. HEDS was established and funded because of a definite requirement within the UK higher education Community for digitisation Services. The driving force behind the de- velopment of such Services came out of the recommen- dations of the Higher Education Joint Funding Councils' Libraries Review Group (Follett Report) published in De- cember 1993 for the exploitation of IT in future higher education library Provision. The conversion of printed texts into electronic form was seen to have potential par- ticularly in three areas: space-saving, preservation and for improved access. As a result of the Follett Report's ränge of recommendations for exploitation of IT, the na- tional Electronic Libraries Programme (eLib) with a bud- get of £15 million was set up under the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC). It comprises many projects in key areas such äs document delivery, on-demand pu- blishing, electronic Journals and access to networked in- formation resources. Some projects aim to investigate the feasibility of alternative ways of working and provi- ding Information. Others, like HEDS, have Initiation fun- ding for what is intended to become an established long term Service. Many of the Electronic Libraries Pro- gramme projects have experienced difficulties, not in creating digital library resources, but in populating those resources with large enough amounts of source Infor- mation. Larger scale conversion infrastructure could only be effectively achieved by a centrally resourced na- tional Service HEDS. HEDS has already worked with the majority of the current eLib projects either providing technical advice or offering conversion Services. The HEDS project plan has three phases: to establish and then offer digitisation Services, followed by phased transition to a seif supporting Service. In Year 1, from September 1996, HEDS was established, equipped and staffed. A number of digitisation projects, also funded by eLib, are progressing well to ,pipeclean' the HEDS pro- cesses and Services. HEDS has been able to establish effective business processes and test our technical ca- pabilities through these projects. In Year 2, HEDS is now open for business and ready to accept digitisation work by request from a ränge of Clients, both from higher edu- cation institutions and from other sources. In Year 3, HEDS will begin the transition to a seif supporting ser- vice through the implementation of a business plan ag- reed with the JISC. Services The main objective in the HEDS Service plan is to pro- vide a total management package so that our Clients have a single point of access to a ränge of co-ordinated and interlocking Services. HEDS will work with Clients to agree and deliver a complete package, including all the issues identified in Figure 1 below. At this stage in the Service development, HEDS is focu- sing on the following core Services. - Advice and consultancy to Clients on the feasibility of digitising defined collections of materials. - Guidance on selecting the most cost-effective me- thods for realising your digitisation aims. - To manage the complete Job, from problem definition to final product delivery and acceptance. - To prepare functional and technical conversion speci- fications for the digitisation work. - To provide quality assurance procedures to validate the end product. 1 Paper for the Workshop „Retrospektive Digitalisierung von Bi- bliotheksbeständen", 26-27 January 1998, Göttingen. Unauthenticated Download Date | 3/5/20 6:40 AM