Information Studies Research

FOSTER is a coordination initiative that aims to support different stakeholders, especially young researchers, in adopting open access in the context of the European Research Area (ERA) and in complying with the open access policies and rules of participation set out for Horizon 2020 (H2020).

Dates: February 2014-February 2016

The 3D-COFORM consortium aimed to establish 3D documentation as an affordable, practical and effective mechanism for long term documentation of tangible cultural heritage.

This AHRC-funded project, A History of Working-Class Marriage, 1855-1976, based in the School of Social and Political Sciences, aims to offer an historical understanding of family structure. HATII is responsible for developing the project's web presence and making research data available online.

A designated data centre of the AHRC until 2008, AHDS-PA promoted the collection and use of digital data resources to support research, learning and teaching in the performing arts and screen media.

BlogForever is a collaborative project involving twelve partner organisations, including Information Studies, University of Glasgow. It is co-funded by the European Commission Framework Programme 7 (ICT No. 269963). Its key objective is to develop robust digital preservation, management and dissemination facilities for weblogs. The outcome of the research is aimed to capture aspects of the dynamic and continuously evolving nature of weblogs, their network  and social structure, and the exchange of concepts and ideas that they foster.

The main scientific and technical objectives are to:

• study weblog structure and semantic
• define a robust digital preservation policy for weblogs
• implement a weblog digital repository prototype
• and carry out specific case studies to validate the outcomes

Dr Yunhyong Kim is the Co-Principal Investigator and is leading the development of BlogForever weblog preservation strategies and policies.

CARDIO is a benchmarking tool to help organisations develop their data management strategy. HATII developed the method and tool on behalf of the DCC and has been supporting its use within the JISC Managing Research Data community.

Cultural, Artistic and Scientific knowledge for Preservation, Access and Retrieval (CASPAR) aimed to address the challenge of ensuring digital data could still be used and understood in the future by implementing, extending and validate the OAIS reference model. HATII was involved in designing the training courses and developing the cultural heritage testbed.

The Collaboration to Clarify the Cost of Curation (4C) project helped organisations across Europe to more effectively invest in digital curation and preservation.

This three-year Celtic & Gaelic project, Commemorations of Saints in Scottish Place-Names, funded by The Leverhulme Trust, will collect and analyse as comprehensively as possible the hagiotoponyms (place-names incorporating names of saints) of Scotland. HATII is developing the underlying research database and staff and public interfaces.

Developing the Contemporary & Historical Census Collection (CHCC) into a major learning and teaching resource.

See: CHCC Project

Data Audit/Asset Framework (DAF) provides organisations with the means to identify, locate, describe and assess how they are managing their research data assets. It was developed and piloted by 4 universities in 2008 and has since been used by projects in the Managing Research Data programmes and elsewhere.

Network of excellence on digital libraries (DELOS) conducted a programme of activities to integrate and coordinate the ongoing research activities of major European teams working in Digital Libraries.

Digital Culture (DigiCULT) monitored and assessed existing and emerging technologies that provide opportunities for the preservation and access of Europe's rich cultural and scientific heritage  

Digital Curator Vocational Education Europe (DigCurV) addressed the availability of vocational training for digital curators in the library, archive, museum and cultural heritage sectors. HATII has led the development of a curriculum framework for continuous professional development in digital curation.

(A JISC/NPO Study within the Electronic Libraries (eLib) Programme on the Preservation of Electronic Materials)

The Digital Archaeology: Rescuing Neglected and Damaged Data Resources JISC/NPO Study was prepared as part of a programme of studies resulting from a workshop on the Long Term Preservation of Electronic Materials held at Warwick in November 1995. It considers ‘digital archaeology’ as an approach to digital preservation.

Digital Library Interoperability, Best Practices & Modelling Foundations (DL.org) created a network for digital library projects to collaborate, share experiences and expertise. The project focused on increasing awareness and understanding of interoperability of digital libraries systems.

Digital Preservation Europe (DPE): a follow-on to Erpanet, DPE facilitated the sharing of digital preservation expertise that exists across the academic research, cultural, public administration and industry sectors in Europe. HATII co-ordinated the project and drove the development of a series of DigiMan cartoons.

Developed jointly by the Digital Curation Centre (DCC) and DigitalPreservationEurope (DPE), the Digital Repository Audit Method Based on Risk Assessment (DRAMBORA) represents the main intellectual outcome of a period of pilot repository audits undertaken by the DCC throughout 2006 and 2007. It presents a methodology for self-assessment, encouraging organisations to establish a comprehensive self-awareness of their objectives, activities and assets before identifying, assessing and managing the risks implicit within their organisation.  The toolkit facilitates internal audit by providing repository administrators with a means to assess their capabilities, identify their weaknesses, and recognise their strengths. HATII developed the methodology and online tool on behalf of the DCC and DPE projects.

Electronic resource preservation and access network (ERPANET) provided a virtual clearinghouse and knowledge-base on state-of-the-art developments in digital preservation. It brought together memory organisations, ICT industry, research institutions, government organisations, entertainment and creative industries, and commercial sectors.      

The espida project was completed in January 2007. The model that espida has developed can help make business cases for proposals that may not necessarily offer immediate financial benefit to an organisation, but rather bring benefit in more intangible spheres. While it was designed initially to be used within the area of digital resource management, it has potential for far wider application (decision making, performance measurement, change management). The espida project was directed by James Currall and included input from HATII colleagues Claire Johnson, Lesley Richmond and Seamus Ross.

The French Emblems at Glasgow project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council under the Resource Enhancement Scheme, provides access to all the French Emblem Books of the 16th century, along with their Latin versions when appropriate. While the seed of the emblem as a genre was sown in Germany in 1531, it flowered and developed in France during the 16th century, and it was from there that it spread throughout Europe. Of the 27 Emblem Books on the site all but two are from the Stirling Maxwell Collection in Glasgow University Library.

The Games for Communication project explored the use of commercial video games and associated networks and communities to develop players’ communication skills. The work was funded by RCUK Digital Economy via the Communities and Culture Network+ seed fund.  A final report was published in volume six of the Working Papers of the Communities & Culture Network+.

Funding Information & Communications Technology in the Heritage Sector Digital Archaeology: Rescuing Neglected and Damaged Data Resources (A JISC/NPO Study within the Electronic Libraries (eLib) Programme on the Preservation of Electronic Materials).

Background

The JISC-funded Incremental project was run in collaboration with Cambridge University Library, as part of the JISC's Managing Research Data programme.  We worked together to develop accessible institution-specific research data management training materials for our two institutions, but the outputs of the project are freely available and are highly reusable across the UK university sector.

We at Glasgow undertook some digital preservation scoping studies in 2009, which laid a foundation for the Incremental work.  The teams at Cambridge and Glasgow ran comparative studies to investigate what support researchers need to manage their data. 

Our comprehensive research data management guidance resource for the University of Glasgow is openly available at http://www.glasgow.ac.uk/datamanagement and provides advice for researchers in all disciplines working at the University of Glasgow.

News

- April 2011 -

The work of the Incremental project is now complete.  More information is available on the project website, hosted by University of Cambridge, at http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/preservation/incremental/.  This site also provides the various outputs of the project work including the final report and training materials.

The project's blog can be read at http://incrementalproject.wordpress.com/ - this provides an informal narrative from the project team, and is a good place to leave thoughts or feedback. 

- February 2011 -

We are holding a seminar on Thursday 17 February 2011 for researchers and postgraduate students working in the live and performing arts.  The event will be free and in Glasgow, and there's even a lunch included!

Please click here for more information and to sign up - but be quick, as registration closes on 14 February 2011.

Please email Laura Molloy with any queries - email address is below.

- July 2010 -

In July 2010, we released a joint report on our scoping study findings and implementation plans. We are working to:

1. Produce simple, accessible, visual guidance on creating, storing, and managing data

2. Offer practical data training with discipline-specific examples and local champions

3. Connect researchers with support staff who offer one-to-one advice and partnering

4. Work towards the development of a comprehensive data management infrastructure

To read more about this please see our blog.

If you're interested in our work, have ideas to share or want to take part - please get in touch.

Project team                                                                                 

This six-month pilot tested possible approaches to a UK-wide registry or catalogue of research data held in UK HEIs and established subject-focused data centres.

For the re-development of the displays and visitor facilities at the Museum and Art Gallery, Kelvingrove (prepared for Glasgow Museums in June 1999)

This follow-on to the original Mapping Sculpture project, Mobilising the Mapping of Sculpture, saw the development of a mobile interface to the database, facilitating in situ sculptural research, and the addition of unique personalisation features to support individual research.

Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951 (2007-2010) 
The first authoritative study of sculptors, related businesses and trades investigated in the context of creative collaborations, art infrastructures, professional networks and cultural geographies. The database - developed by Information Studies - is the main outcome of the research and contains over 50,000 records about sculptural practice.

The First Edition of the National Initiative for a Networked Cultural Heritage Guide (NINCH) was published in November 2002. The guide is based on extensive field research by HATII on current good practice in the planning, creation, management, delivery and preservation of digital material in the cultural heritage sector.

This project aimed to identify every repository of digital content that is free to UK HE institutions and hosted within the UK, whether it is presented as an archive, Content Management System, repository, or Web-based collection.

OurGlasgowStory

OurGlasgowStory is an extension of TheGlasgowStory project. It enables users to write their own stories and recollections of Glasgow, illustrate them with images and post them online.

Digital preservation, research and technology (Planets) developed a number of tools, approaches and training courses to address the challenge of preserving access to digital cultural and scientific knowledge. HATII led the delivery of training courses and developed the testbed environment. The work is being continued through the Open Planets Foundation.

This longitudinal research project examined how historians search for primary sources; how they teach and advise their students to do so; and how archivists can best facilitate such information discovery through online services.

Sustaining Heritage Access through Multivalent Archiving (SHAMAN) developed and tested a next generation digital preservation framework including tools for analysing, ingesting, managing, accessing and reusing information objects and data across libraries and archives.

TheClydebankStory

TheClydebankStory follows the successful template of The Glasgow Story providing images and stories of Clydebank people and places set in their historical contexts.

TheGlasgowStory website tells the story of Glasgow in words and pictures. With text by some of Scotland's best writers, it is illustrated with thousands of images from the collections of the city's world-famous libraries, museums and universities. From football to fashions, Auchenshuggle to Yoker, you'll find it all there. It has been widely praised not only for its content and ease of navigation, but also for the impressive technical facilities developed in its construction. Funded under the New Opportunities Fund digitise project, it was signalled out for special praise in the end of grant report commissioned by NOF, by then the Big Lottery Fund. The project was managed from within HATII and completed on time and to budget. A paper on the evaluation of the project was published by Ian Anderson as 'Pure Dead Brilliant? Evaluating the Glasgow Story', Program: Electronic Library and Information Systems, October 2007, Volume: 41(4)

ISSN: 0033-0337 DOI: 10.1108/00330330710831585

This speculative research, funded by the AHRC, tested the technical viability and utility of providing an innovative, multidimensional visualisation to EAD finding aids.    

Feasibility and pilot study for the digitisation of 90,000 wills kept at the Wiltshire and Swindon Record Office.

See: Wiltshire Wills Album