Launch of Music PAL Access Scheme
The launch of COLICO’s Music PAL (Pathways to Learning) initiative took place on 8 March in the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin.
Music PAL provides information, through the RASCAL database, on significant music collections in libraries and other institutions throughout Ireland and the Music PAL Access Card, available from any of the 27 participating libraries, will allow readers and researchers to consult collections that might otherwise be available to them.
The scheme was launched by novelist Deirdre Purcell who hosts All ABout Music on Lyric FM. Deirdre made gentle fun of librarians’ attachment to acronyms and demonstrated her considerable creative skills in weaving a story which managed to incorporate all of the many acronyms associated with the Music PAL. She gave a warm welcome to the scheme and congratulated all the participants.
Contribute to international survey on orphan works
The deadline for this survey is 26 February at 18.00 GMT and the Strategic Content Alliance is urging anyone who still has not responded to please have a read through and respond on behalf of their organisation. As noted below, the issue of orphan works is vital to organisations across the public sector from universities, archives, libraries and museums to health services and public service broadcasters.
‘In from the Cold Europa’
Experts who create and curate digital content from public sector organisations across Europe, are invited to contribute to JISC’s international survey on ‘orphan works’ called ‘In from the Cold Europa 2010’.
There are millions of so-called ‘orphan works’ – photographs, recordings, texts and other ephemera from the last 100 years – which risk becoming invisible because rights holders are not known or easy to trace.
Now this topic is the focus of this survey commissioned by the JISC-led Strategic Content Alliance in conjunction with the Association of European Research Libraries (LIBER), the European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations (EBLIDA) and the Wellcome Trust.
The survey aims to establish how much time, effort and money is spent on orphan works across Europe by people working in the public sector and to find out the effect orphan works have on cultural heritage preservation at an international level.
Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Information Society and Media, said: “If we do not reform our European copyright rules on orphan works and libraries swiftly, digitisation and the development of attractive content offers will not take place in Europe, but on the other side of the Atlantic.”
Organisations such as universities, archives, libraries, museums, health services and public service broadcasters are invited to participate. Although no particular technical knowledge is required, the survey does ask participants to fill in relatively detailed information about the collections (digital and analogue) held or licensed by your organisation.
In May 2009 over 500 organisations took part in the UK only orphan works online questionnaire which showed that rich primary resources are being ‘warehoused’ at public expense – with little or no prospect of them being delivered online to the public without additional costs and/or risks being imposed on the public purse.
Take part in the international survey to help provide real comparisons between European countries on the impact of orphan works. Closing date 26 February 2010 at 18.00 GMT.
Find out more about the issues surrounding this topic by reading the ‘In From The Cold: An assessment of the scope of ‘Orphan Works’ report. This report shows how the UK is in real danger of losing 20th century materials due to the current copyright laws, the levels of resources needed to trace the rights for each orphan work and the potential lock down of access to these important works.
Please feel to disseminate as widely as possible.
Successful Social Media Seminar
AIM, The Association of Information Managers’ AGM and Seminar held on Friday 12 February attracted a capacity audience. The main event of the morning was Anne Peoples’ presentation on Engaging Strategically with Social Media covering not only the main social networking tools but stressing how they can be used effectively to further an organisation’s objectives. Among the comments from members of the audience were ‘it was a very clear presentation and she really told a story’ and ‘we’re already using Facebook and Twitter so I didn’t think I would learn much but it was really useful, especially with regard to the need for a policy’.
Anne’s presentation included many useful links and you can follow these up from http://delicious.com/webhow2/?page=1
Boost for library and information education in Northern Ireland
News issued by CILIP on 25 January 2010
A professionally recognised library and information degree is now available in Northern Ireland after a gap of many years. The MSc and Postgraduate Diploma programmes offered by the University of Ulster have recently been granted accreditation by CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals.
CILIP accreditation means students can graduate with a professionally recognised library and information degree. This will significantly enhance their career opportunities. In the longer term it will also help raise the status of library and information work in Northern Ireland.
Patricia McAdams, a student who works in the Derry Central Library explained that CILIP accreditation meant, “recognition of the work I have put in so far, and encouragement to finish the Masters.”
CILIP accreditation is only awarded after an in-depth and rigorous review of all aspects of the programmes. It assures students and employers that accredited courses meet the standards of the profession they are about to enter. The programmes are already attracting students from all sectors of the library and information management workforce.
Successful completion of a programme accredited by CILIP is the first step for candidates who intend to proceed towards Chartered membership of CILIP. Chartered membership means graduates can continue to develop the highest standards of professionalism in whichever aspect of librarianship, knowledge management or information science they practice.
Dr Ian Lovecy, Chair of the CILIP Accreditation Board explained the value of accreditation, it“indicates that students who successfully complete the course have been introduced to the full range of knowledge and skills required for information work.”
CILIP in Ireland is among the supporters of the accredited programmes and can provide a limited number of bursaries for CILIP members, to help with course fees.
The MSc and Postgraduate Diploma programmes could not have been developed without the support of library staff at the University of Ulster and the Library and Information Services Council (NI) Library Education Advisory Group. Students are drawn by the wide-ranging curriculum and the accessible and flexible nature of course delivery, much of which is via video-conference and brings together students at the University’s Coleraine, Jordanstown and Magee campuses.
Google Books settlement
JISC has sent out a notification that it has created a space to keep the higher and further education communities abreast of news and events relating to the Google Books settlement. It is not only aimed at offering up-to-date developments, but also offers the opportunity to comment on issues which encroach on surrounding debates such as the use and re-use of digital content and Intellectual Property Rights more broadly, as well as issues around the moneterisation of digital content.
Notably, this is aimed primarily at gauging the views of universities and colleges primarily, but it is also a great way for JISC to be able to gauge the views of the public-sector holistically. The site is:
http://writetoreply.org/googlebooks/
As you may know, the US Google Book Settlement and its potential implications, has captured the attention and imagination of a range of people- from those working within higher and further education to publishers, authors, libraries, museums and archives. Interest has grown as developments have slowly unfolded, which have seen approximately seven million books digitised by Google through partnerships with libraries, publishers and authors.
There is also an interesting discussion of the issues on Episode 48 of George mason University’s Digital Campus which is well worth a listen.
New Guide for People with Problems Reading Print
The LISC (NI) Vision Panel in collaboration with Calibre Audio Library and the Royal National Institute of Blind People has produce a new guide, Carry on Reading, for people with problems reading print.
The guide lists the services provided by a range of organisations and is available from libraries and other centres in Northern Ireland or can be downloaded here.
Research Information Network – e newsletter issued
Follow this link to get the first edition of RIN’s new look monthly e-newsletter.
Items include a piece on RIN’s recent report: Overcoming barriers: access to research information content. The report’s key finding is that access is still a major concern for researchers. Although researchers report having no problems finding content in this age of electronic information, gaining access is another matter due to the complexity of licensing arrangements, restrictions placed on researchers accessing content outside of their own institution and the laws protecting public and private sector information. This means that research into important information resources can be missing. Researchers report that they are frustrated by this lack of immediate access and that this slows their progress, hinders collaborative work and may well affect the quality and integrity of work produced.
Digital Preservation training and outreach event
Digital Preservation – The Planets Way : 9 – 11 February 2010
The British Computer Society, London
Registration is now open for the Planets training and outreach event on digital long-term preservation in London .
Find out how to plan and execute your digital preservation plan for the future!
Presentations and workshops include:
· introductions to preservation planning, preservation actions and useful software tools
· practical case studies as examples of successful long-term preservation at prestigious European institutions
· hands-on experience applying the Planets tools and services to authentic corpora
· a possibility to exchange ideas and best practices for digital preservation with experts from various countries and institutions across Europe
Register now for day 1 only at a cost of EUR95 or for the whole three-day event at a cost of EUR199 at: http://www.tcp-events.co.uk/planets2010/.
Places are limited and registration will close on 1 February 2010.
For more information on Planets and on the outreach event and to see the full programme, please visit: http://www.planets-project.eu/events/london-2010/ or send an email to trainingevents@planets-project.eu.
Planets (Preservation and Long-Term Access through Networked Services) is a four-year project co-funded by the European Union and delivered by 16 national libraries, national archives, universities and technology companies across Europe .
Public consultation on the legal deposit of UK offline and online non-print publications
The Department for Culture Media and Sport has launched a consultation on the legal deposit of UK offline and online non-print publications which are available free of charge and without access restrictions. The Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003 allows for publications to be deposited with Trinity College, Dublin (subject to provisions in Section 13), which is why responses are sought from interested parties in the Republic of Ireland as well as the UK.
Legal deposit is a legal requirement that a person or group submit copies of their printed publications to the British Library and, on their request, the other deposit libraries (the National Library of Scotland; the National Library of Wales; the Bodleian Library, Oxford; the University Library, Cambridge; and the Library of Trinity College, Dublin) so that they can to be preserved for the benefit of future generations and become part of the national heritage.
The consultation will be of interest to professional and amateur writers who are the author of online publications that are available to the public free of charge and accessible without restriction.
Further information, including the consultation document (a Welsh language version will be available shortly), can be found on the DCMS website: http://www.culture.gov.uk/reference_library/consultations/default.aspx
Please respond before the closing date of 01 March 2010 using the questionnaire at Annex G of the document, to deposits.consultation@culture.gsi.gov.uk. If you do not have access to e mail, please respond to: Frances Love Libraries and Archives Team, Culture Directorate 2-4 Cockspur Street London SW1Y 5DH
University of Ulster’s professional library qualification gets CILIP approval
For the first time in many years a locally delivered route to a recognised professional library and information qualification is available. Ulster’s Post Graduate Diploma in Library and Information Management received approval for a period of three years at the CILIP Accreditation Board on 15 December.
LISC has worked closely with Ulster’s School of Education in developing the initial School Library Management Certificate which was later expanded to a full generic Masters programme.
LISC congratulates all those involved in the development of the programme and wishes the University continued success in its delivery.
To find out more about the course go to http://www.socsci.ulster.ac.uk./education/library.html
Add to any feed reader
