The Hybrid Library and the DNER: a Discussion
Stephen Pinfield
DNER: overview
Distributed National Electronic Resource• Umbrella for the informational activity of JISC
(Joint Information Systems Committee)• Two main components:
– managed collection of information resources
– coherent information environment
• Supported by – advisory services
– preservation services, etc.
DNER: definition
“… a managed environment for accessing quality information resources on the Internet which are available from many sources.”
DNER: aspirations
• To provide the world’s high quality information to staff and students in higher and further education at any time and anywhere.
• To be the leading innovator in UK education in the field of digital information provision of information and take an influential role in developing the UK’s learning and research agenda.
• To take a leading role in stimulating development both here and overseas.
Context
• Incremental development– content– structures
• Under-developed consultation & market research
• ‘Information brandscape’ - incoherence• Need for systemic coherence• Need to engage with learning and teaching
c.f. Hybrid Library projects
Global
Personal
Community
Strategic
Institutional
General information environment
Resource spaces
“The DNER challenge is to weave rich information and learning resources in the fabric of the web.” (Lorcan Dempsey)
• A managed strategic resource• A ‘leveraged’ institutional and community
resource • A discovered resource
Collections
• scholarly journals• monographs• textbooks • abstracts• manuscripts• maps • music scores
• still images• geospatial images • vector and numeric
data• moving picture
collections• sound collections
Architecture
Middleware
Content/service delivery
Fusion services
Presentation
Hybrid Library projects
Have investigated:
• Authentication (‘middleware’)
• Presentation layer
• ‘Fusion’ technologies
• Content creation
• Personalisation
DNER technical review: need to contribute
Technical review
• Technologies– Z39.50– LDAP– OpenURLs– Other protocols / APIs– etc.
• In-house v. commercial– VDX (Fretwell-Downing)– MetaLib/SFX (Ex Libris)– WebExpress (OCLC)– etc.
Digital Library of North Rhine Westphalia
http://www.hbz-nrw.de/DigiBib/
National and local
• Is the DNER a national hybrid library?– Similarities of approach– Similar technologies
• Institutional and national services– National services - economy of effort, market power– Institutional ‘portal’ still required– Institutional users and national services
• Working together– DNER as service provider– DNER as service enabler...
e.g. RDN-i
DNER strategy
• Collection development and management
• Service delivery
• Development
• Preservation
• Communications
Investigations
• Content mapping study – procedures, practices, actors - completed
• Collections subject mapping exercise – collections against subject benchmarks to identify gaps - being
commissioned
• Service delivery framework– pattern, governance and coherence of service - commissioned from
CHEMS
• Technical architecture– identify broad architecture and technologies - commissioned from UKOLN
• Presentation requirements– being specified
DNER Office
DirectorLorcan Dempsey
Assistant Director Collections and communication
Alicia Wise
Assistant Director Development
(Vacant)
Assistant Director PreservationNeil Beagrie
Collections Groups
Communications Group
Programme Management / Development
Group
RDNC Resources and Admin
Group
Preservation
Names
eLib Hybrid Library DNER
DNER: Suggestions for a new name please!