JISC Podcast

Podcast 131: New business model for National Centre for Text Mining

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Fri, 4 May 2012 11:30:00 GMT

Jisc funded the National Centre for Text Mining for 7 years between 2004 and 2011. The Centre, based at the University of Manchester, is now independent of Jisc funding, but what does that mean for the researchers who rely on its services? And what can others learn from their new business model? Nicola Yeeles from Jisc caught up with centre director Sophia Ananiadou to find out.

Podcast 130: How important are open ebook standards to universities?

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 10:00:00 GMT

For universities and colleges looking to bring their teaching resources online, many are using the new EPUB3 standard, which is what underpins Apple's new iBooks and is become the defacto standard for ebooks. Linking to a JISC report to help universities understand the benefits of EPUB3, JISC programme manager Ben Showers speaks to Nicola Yeeles via Skype to explain what universities and colleges can do to help their people use the standard.

Podcast 129: New guidance for using medical recordings in teaching

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 5 Dec 2011 10:00:00 GMT

Healthcare professionals have long used clinical recordings to teach students. JISC has been funding a project to guide those professionals in best practice for recording, storing and using those recordings ethically. In this podcast, project manager Debra Hiom from the Institute for Learning and Research Technology at the University of Bristol, talks to Nicola Yeeles about the challenges involved in making recordings and how this new guidance can help.

Podcast 128: Public? Private? Personal? Navigating the open data landscape

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:00:00 GMT

Building upon JISC's research integrity conference earlier this year, the UK's Digtial Curation Centre (DCC) will be hosting an international conference in December. The event will discuss the issues surrounding the importance of managing data - public, private or personal and the challenges facing researchers and universities around the world.

Podcast 127: Sustainable funding for online resources

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Thu, 6 Oct 2011 09:00:00 GMT

In recent months, numerous funders have produced a raft of 'business know how' reports with the aim of assisting their grant recipients adopt new business models for web-based resources. A new body of work highlights 'real world' case studies that show the true costs associated with sustaining digital resources and the revenue being generated through a range of business models. In this podcast, Nancy Maron, programme manager at Ithaka S+R, joins JISC's Rebecca O'Brien to discuss this work. Nancy explains the sticking points in research funding and shares the lessons learnt from organisations based in Egypt, France, Germany, the UK and the USA to see which strategies have been adopted in order to sustain their online digital resources over the long term.

Podcast 126: Facing up to Facebook

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Wed, 5 Oct 2011 16:00:00 GMT

At the beginning of the new academic year, colleges and universities will be re-examining their policies - including their students' use of social media. JISC's Nicola Yeeles spoke to John X Kelly and Lynn McHugh from JISC Legal about their new legal guidance and how it can help.

Podcast 125: Success factors for work-based learning

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 11:00:00 GMT

Work-based learning has different definitions depending upon which area of education you work within. JISC's Rebecca O'Brien chats with Stan Unwin, an advisor on work-based learning at JISC Advance Regional Support Centre East Midlands based at Loughborough College, about what it means for vocational learning and apprenticeships while at work.

Podcast 124: Sharing expertise on OER

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Fri, 2 Sep 2011 13:00:00 GMT

Open educational resources are materials for teaching, learning and research which are freely available online for anyone to use. OER is ten years old this year but what is the value of using them and how can their adoption be increased? JISC's Rebecca O'Brien talks with David White, Senior Manager of Development Technology-Assisted Lifelong Learning at the University of Oxford, about the findings from his recent JISC and Higher Education Academy commissioned report 'the value of reuse' for OER.

Podcast 123: Quality data underpins research excellence

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 14:30:00 GMT

Ahead of JISC's research integrity conference, about the importance of good data management being held on 13 September, JISC's Rebecca O'Brien talks with Professor Kevin Schürer, Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research and Enterprise) at the University of Leicester, about how the university has developed a strategy for managing their data, and they also talk about what people attending and watching the conference online will see from his keynote.

Podcast 122: The social life of data

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Thu, 4 Aug 2011 09:00:00 GMT

The importance of good data management has increased in profile over the past 18 months due to the Government's open data campaign, academic research being misinterpreted and the future research excellence framework. JISC's Rebecca O'Brien chats to Professor David De Roure, Professor of e-Research at the University of Oxford e-Research Centre and the UK's National e-Social Science Strategic Director with the Economic and Social Research Council, on his views on data management and he shares a taster of the keynote he will be delivering at JISC's Research Integrity Conference on 13 September 2011.

Podcast 121: New infoKit gives UK researchers the opportunity to reduce admin burden

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 14:30:00 GMT

There are more than 30,000 researchers in the UK from doctoral students, research fellows and research staff within universities. Research carried out by JISC infoNet suggests that only twenty-two percent of institutions have an end-to-end ICT system covering the research life cycle and where systems do exist; the integration between them is very often weak or non-existent. Steve Bailey, senior advisor at JISC infoNet, and Josh Brown, digital infrastructure programme manager at JISC, join Rebecca O'Brien to explain the benefits of adopting a research information management system, and how a new JISC/JISC infoNet infoKit will help with the decision making process.

Podcast 120: JISC announces a new online experience for JISC11

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 7 Mar 2011 10:00:00 GMT

JISC is delighted to announce that this year's live-streaming partner Sonic Foundry will make JISC11 its most interactive conference to date. With over 600 delegates expected to attend JISC11 on 14 and 15 March in Liverpool, those unable to attend will still have the opportunity to participate in the conference thanks to a new online experience through Sonic Foundry's Medasite. Sean Brown, Vice-President of Education, Sonic Foundry says, "Mediasite is the first of its kind to bring real-time picture capture. We take video, audio and visual and join all of that data together to bring it to your browser in real-time."

Podcast 119: The international view now

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Fri, 4 Feb 2011 09:00:00 GMT

What does internationalisation mean for universities now and how should they respond? Ahead of the Leadership Foundation summit on 11 February 2011, JISC spoke to their chief executive Ewart Wooldridge to find out why the global perspective is so important for institutions and where their senior managers can look for inspiration and guidance.

Podcast 118: New licensing tool for open content

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 09:00:00 GMT

Licensing and rights have become a key issue for the creation of open content. Maike Bohn speaks to IPR expert Naomi Korn via Skype about how to make the right decisions when creating open content.

Podcast 117: From ideas to innovation

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 09:00:00 GMT

In this podcast JISC's Maike Bohn talks to Anne Miller, an authority on creativity, one of the world's most prolific female inventors and Director of The Creativity Partnership, and also one of the keynote speakers at this week's JISC e-Learning online conference, about how to sustain innovation in times of economic uncertainty.

Podcast 116: The future of education - are we having the right conversation?

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 09:00:00 GMT

The theme of JISC's 2010 e-Learning Online Conference will be 'Bringing innovation to life: From adversity comes opportunity'. In this podcast, Maike Bohn talks to the opening keynote speaker, Professor Keri Facer, about the future role of educational institutions and what it means to live in 'interesting times'.

Podcast 115: New thinking on academic publishing and communication

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 09:00:00 GMT

JISC has teamed up with Taylor and Francis to produce the first Open Access issue of the 'New Review of Academic Librarianship'. We spoke to the editor, Graham Walton, about new thinking on open access, academic publishing and scholarly communication.

Podcast 114: Research series 4: Interdisciplinary research

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 09:00:00 GMT

At the Future of Research event this week we will explore taking risks with research. Professor Mike Brady and Professor Alan Bowman are two eminent researchers, one from the sciences and the other from the humanities, who came together to explore how techniques from medical imaging could support the analysis of ancient documents. Nicola Yeeles spoke to Professor Mike Brady about how his own research in hospitals had impacted on the study of manuscripts and what the implications are for interdisciplinary collaboration.

Podcast 113: Research Series 3: It's the people that matter

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 09:00:00 GMT

Research ratings and the calibre of academic staff are crucial to the public face of a university, but how can institutions maintain their reputation in the current economic climate? Ahead of the Browne review Sarah Mowl spoke to the Research Conference keynote speaker, Professor Julia Goodfellow, vice chancellor of the University of Kent, to discuss those challenges and what she planned to gain from next Tuesday's conference.

Podcast 112: The Research Series 2: Collaboration in research

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Tue, 5 Oct 2010 16:00:00 GMT

Professor Paul Webley is director and principal of the School of Oriental and African Sciences at the University of London and we are pleased to welcome him to chair the debate at JISC's Future of Research conference. As research funding hits the headlines, Maike Bohn spoke to Professor Webley about the priorities for universities and how technology can support the UK's researchers.

Podcast 111: The Research Series 1: Arts and humanities researchers and technology

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Fri, 1 Oct 2010 15:00:00 GMT

Ahead of JISC's research conference, Nicola Yeeles spoke to Professor David Robey about how technology can support researchers working in the arts and humanities - and where the funding for that support should come from. Professor David Robey is currently arts and humanities consultant at the Oxford e-Research Centre. Until recently he was director of the Arts and Humanities Research Council's ICT in arts and humanities research programme.

Podcast 110: Effective Assessment in a Digital Age

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 6 Sep 2010 13:00:00 GMT

Assessment is one of the most important parts of learning and teaching and whether institutions get this right or wrong has a huge impact on students' lives and careers. Ros Smith, the author of JISC's new guide, Effective Assessment in a Digital Age, explains to Maike Bohn how technology can significantly improve the experience of assessment and feedback.

Podcast 109: Digital Economy Act advice for universities and colleges

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 09:00:00 GMT

The controversial Digital Economy Act 2010 has generated much public debate, and the implications for colleges and universities remain unclear. The Act aims to tackle online copyright infringement by giving Ofcom, the communication industry regulator, new powers to deal with it. JISC is advising all institutions to consult the Ofcom codes by 31 July 2010 and to start preparing now to understand the implications of the law. Nicola Yeeles from JISC spoke to Kirsty McLaughlin, legal information specialist at JISC Legal, to find out what the new Act could mean for those who work and learn in universities and colleges.

Podcast 108: What does the digital information seeker look like?

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 5 Jul 2010 15:00:00 GMT

New research from JISC suggests that the way people look for information in libraries and online is changing. JISC recently commissioned a report from the OCLC to bring together a number of different studies in the area. Senior research scientist Dr Lynn Silipigni Connaway at OCLC Research in the US talks to Nicola Yeeles about how researchers 'bounce' and 'whirl' and what that means for the library of the future.

Podcast 107: How virtual research environments are opening doors for researchers

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Thu, 1 Jul 2010 14:00:00 GMT

JISC held a reception at the recent British Academy workshop on the arts and humanities, where researchers studying documents and manuscripts explored how virtual research is transforming the way they work and the discoveries they make. Nicola Yeeles spoke to Frederique van Till, JISC programme manager, and Alan Bowman, Camden Professor of Ancient History at the University of Oxford, about the benefits for researchers in using virtual research environments (VREs) and what JISC is doing to innovate in the area.

Podcast 106: Cloud Computing - a US perspective

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 09:00:00 GMT

As global markets report a cloud computing boom, JISC is preparing to announce the results of this year's studies into how this kind of virtual computing can support research. It's just one of the topics on the agenda for the JISC/CNI conference in Edinburgh this week which explores strategies, technologies and infrastructure to manage research and teaching data in a fast changing environment. Ahead of his conference session tomorrow, Professor Greg Jackson, vice president of policy and analysis at EDUCAUSE, shares his views with Nicola Yeeles from JISC on what the UK can learn from the USA about cloud, and why experts in the States are also looking across the Atlantic for solutions.

Podcast 105: Virtual Research Environments - the next steps

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 13:00:00 GMT

Researchers in different locations can now work online together and collaborate with access to all kinds of resources, through what is known as a virtual research environment (VRE). Last week, in the spirit of international co-operation, a workshop on VRE's was run by the Knowledge Exchange, a partnership of four national organisations for technology in higher education which includes JISC from the UK alongside ICT bodies from Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. Delegates from around the world attended the Rotterdam workshop to gain an overview of the current state of affairs for VRE's, draw conclusions from the firsthand experience of the delegates, and share ideas for future cooperation on practical as well as strategic levels. We asked some delegates what their backgrounds were in the area of VRE's, what they were looking forward to learning and what they had already learnt from the workshop.

Podcast 104: Efficiency and effectiveness in public and private education

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 16:00:00 GMT

As the financial situation that universities face looks increasingly likely to be difficult, collaboration is becoming crucial as a way of improving effectiveness and efficiency. At this week's JISC sponsored HEPI (Higher Education Policy Institute) Westminster breakfast briefing Professor Sir Tim O'Shea, Principal of the University of Edinburgh and Chairman of JISC, and Carl Lygo, Principal of BPP Law School and CEO of BPP Holdings, presented public and private models of sharing services and streamlining processes. In this podcast JISC's Maike Bohn spoke with both Carl and Tim to highlight the main points from the seminar.

Podcast 103: Should business engage more with universities?

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 09:00:00 GMT

With challenging times ahead for the UK's higher education sector, the role of business and industry in higher education moves to centre stage in the debates about funding, international competitiveness and employment. This week's JISC sponsored HEPI (Higher Education Policy Institute) Westminster breakfast briefing saw a passionate discussion between Sam Laidlaw, Chief Executive of Centrica, and Chair of the CBI Higher Education Task Force, and Professor Tim Wilson, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hertfordshire, to explore why and how business should engage more with universities, both financially and intellectually.

Podcast 102: Making the business case for digital preservation

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 13:00:00 GMT

The Blue Ribbon Task Force is an international group that has been looking at the current situation of preserving and accessing digital information not only in the UK but also in the US. JISC's Rebecca O'Brien caught up with Chris Rusbridge, director of the JISC-funded Digital Curation Centre, who has been part of the taskforce, on why it is important to preserve digital information within the UK and what needs to be done in the future to organise research data.

Podcast 101: JISC Conference Keynote speaker talks Green ICT

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Thu, 4 Mar 2010 16:00:00 GMT

Bill St. Arnaud is the President of a Green-IT consulting firm St. Arnaud-Walker and Associates Inc. He was formerly the Chief Research Officer for CANARIE Inc.2 Canada's Advanced Internet Development Organisation and he is one of the keynote speakers for JISC's 2010 Annual Conference which takes place on the 12th and 13th April in London. In this podcast via Skype with JISC's Rebecca O'Brien, Bill shares what he will be talking about in his speech and his thoughts on the importance of greening technology for colleges and universities.

Podcast 100: The Financing of Higher Education

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Tue, 2 Mar 2010 09:00:00 GMT

At the recent Higher Education Policy Institute and JISC seminar Nicola Dandridge, Chief Executive of Universities UK, and Nicholas Barr, Professor of Public Economics at the London School of Economics, gave their views on the topic of the financing of higher education as a starting point to generate discussion and debate with an invited audience. JISC's Rebecca O'Brien spoke with both Nicholas and Nicola about how higher education is currently funded, how the current system could be changed in response to the increasing pressure on universities to reduce costs and the value that universities contribute to the UK economy.

Podcast 99: How to build a business case for an Open Access policy

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:00:00 GMT

A new report published by JISC highlights the cost benefits, impact on society and the benefits to researchers as well as their universities in distributing their research through open access routes. For the first time, universities will have the evidence to be able to build their own business case for adopting an open access policy. In this podcast JISC's Clare Groom talks via Skype with Alma Swan, author of the report, and Neil Jacobs, programme manager for JISC's open access work, about the report's findings and its implications for universities, researchers and publishers.

Podcast 98: Sharing and re-using catalogue records in a Web 2.0 world

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 09:00:00 GMT

Web 2.0 applications are making it easier for librarians to share their library catalogue records for re-use, but this comes with a new raft of legal and contractual issues. JISC has just published guidance for librarians to help them navigate these challenges, so JISC's Nicola Yeeles spoke to Curtis and Cartwright's Claire Davies and Max Hammond, who carried out the research for the guidance, to find out what librarians should be looking out for.

Podcast 97: Are standards and quality comparable?

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 09:00:00 GMT

HEPI, the Higher Education Policy Institute is the UK's only independent think tank devoted exclusively to higher education and runs a series of policy seminars to improve higher education in the UK by creating a better informed policy environment. This year's seminar series is being organised jointly with JISC, and JISC's Rebecca O'Brien speaks with Bahram Bekhradnia director of HEPI to talk through the topics which are raising concern among higher education leaders.

Podcast 96: Maximising motivation: how JISC is improving student retention

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:00:00 GMT

For new students, December saw the end of their first academic term within further education and many colleges and universities will now be trying to predict which students will not be returning this January. In this podcast Nicola Yeeles speaks to Lawrie Phipps, one of JISC's programme managers, to find out what JISC is doing to help improve student retention and motivation.

Podcast 95: Low Carbon Computing: a fresh approach to new technology

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:00:00 GMT

TechWatch is launching a new report called Low Carbon Computing which looks at how UK colleges and universities can reduce their carbon emissions to meet government targets. In this podcast interview JISC's Rebecca O'Brien is joined by Gaynor Backhouse, director of TechWatch and co-author of the report.

Podcast 94: Getting to grips with the Innovating e-Learning online conference

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:40:00 GMT

With JISC's Innovating e-Learning 'online conference' fast approaching, the phrase may conjure up images of faceless avatars communicating over complicated web technology. In this podcast Nicola Yeeles speaks to the guest blogger at the conference, James Clay of Gloucestershire College, and finds that the online conference is much more accessible than that, as well as getting some top tips on how delegates can get the most out of the event.

Podcast 93: Minister David Lammy speaks to JISC about the new HE Framework - Higher Ambitions

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Tue, 3 Nov 2009 15:40:00 GMT

In 2008 John Denham, Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills launched a consultation called the Higher Education Debate, to seek expert thinking, fresh ideas and comments on the future of higher education for the next ten to fifteen years. Today, the new HE Framework was launched by David Lammy (Minister of State for Higher Education) and in this podcast interview with JISC's Rebecca O'Brien, he explains the Government's vision of the future for UK higher education and shares his thoughts on the future of learning, teaching and research.

Podcast 92: Professor David Baker discusses JISC and the new Chairs' committee

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:00:00 GMT

In this podcast Professor David Baker, Deputy Chair of JISC and Chair of JISC's Chairs' Committee, talks with Nicola Yeeles about JISC and his aspirations for the Chairs' Committee's work.

Podcast 91: Open Access - Harvard's Success Story with Robert Darnton

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:00:00 GMT

In October 2008 Harvard University in the US adopted an open access policy for all its research papers to be made available in their university repository, in an opt out basis. 12 months on, since the policy was adopted, JISC's Rebecca O'Brien speaks with Professor Robert Darnton, Director of Harvard University Library and trustee of New York Public Library and the Oxford University Press (USA), about the cultural change that is taking place at Harvard and the background to why professors at the university decided to share their knowledge in this way.

Podcast 90: JISC's online logbooks make waves

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Wed, 7 Oct 2009 10:00:00 GMT

Climate change and global warming are recognized as key areas of importance to the research community and the wider population. JISC has opened up historical naval logbooks to enable researchers to use these resources for untapped data about historic weather, to help make predictions about the future of climate change. Among the 300 logbooks are those of HMS Victory, the Beagle and the Bounty, as countless historic moments of the 18th century are now preserved online. In this podcast Nicola Yeeles speaks to project leader Dr Dennis Wheeler about how JISC is helping to set the course for climate change research.

Podcast 89: JISC launches enriched digital resources

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Wed, 7 Oct 2009 09:00:00 GMT

From 18th century ships' logbooks, through modern contemporary design to an online Olympics 2012 archive, JISC's latest online content programme is preserving the past, present and future for UK universities and colleges. These enriched resources for UK universities and colleges are the result of a £1.8m investment, so Nicola Yeeles spoke to JISC programme officer Ben Showers to find out why this is taking place and discuss the programme highlights. How can enriching digital resources make life better for teachers, researchers and students?

Podcast 88: Mixed messages: researchers' perceptions of research assessment affects what they publish and why

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 09:00:00 GMT

JISC and The Research Information Network (RIN) have been investigating how, why and what influences UK researchers in publishing and disseminating their findings. The report also looked at citation behaviour (how researchers reference other published work) and the perceived influence this has had on the research assessment and the future research excellence framework. Rebecca O'Brien from JISC is joined by Michael Jubb (RIN Director) via Skype, and Neil Jacobs (Programme Manager for Information Environment at JISC), to talk through why the research was undertaken and what the findings mean for researchers, policy makers and funders.

Podcast 87: E-books provide 'safety valve' for librarians

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:00:00 GMT

For a year, 26 e-coursetexts across four subject areas (Medicine, Business, Engineering and Media Studies) were made available to 127 UK universities who took part in a National E-books Observatory Project funded by JISC and carried out by JISC Collections. The largest study of its kind, it has seen the behaviours of over 50,000 participants and observed to see how they use a selection of academic electronic textbooks. In this podcast Rebecca O'Brien is joined by Caren Milloy, the project's manager at JISC Collections, and her co-author of the National e-books Observatory Project report, Ian Rowlands from CIBER who carried out the study.

Podcast 86: What are your views on the Digital Revolution?

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 09:00:00 GMT

The internet has opened up the way people communicate, learn, teach and research. With the increase in social networking and collaboration over the internet, a unique production for BBC Two is underway which is looking at how the web is changing our lives. The documentary, with a working title of 'Digital Revolution', is starting with how the web started and is looking at its journey to the present day. As much of JISC's work focuses on open source, collaboration and how digital technologies are used in teaching, learning and research Rebecca O'Brien from JISC caught up with Dan Biddle and Dan Gluckman from BBC Two's production team to find out more about the project.

Podcast 85: Mobile Learning: Telling Tales

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:00:00 GMT

Mobile or handheld learning is already changing the way students learn, both in the classroom and on the move and JISC is looking to guide future developments in this area. At a MIMAS organised conference Westminster University in July this year, delegated explored the topic 'Mobile Learning: Telling Tales' and Nicola Yeeles, JISC's PR Officer, went along to the to find out more.

Podcast 84: Effective Practice in a Digital Age

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:00:00 GMT

In a world where we are surrounded by technology, where boundaries between our personal and professional lives merge, JISC's e-Learning team have been looking at how to support teachers, researchers and academics with best practice advice and guidance for working in a 'digital age'. In this podcast with Rebecca O'Brien, Sarah Knight, a JISC e-Learning programme manager, shares the success of the team's Effective Best Practice guide series and launches a new publication 'Effective Practice in a Digital Age'. This new guide puts the teacher and learning at its centre and takes those new and experienced in using Web 2.0 technologies on a journey to enhance their practices and illustrates through case studies how practitioners are opening up their practice and enhancing the learner experience as well as their own.

Podcast 83: The Edgeless University - Minister announces new £20m open learning innovation fund

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:00:00 GMT

At the launch event of the Edgeless University publication, a report produced by Demos and commissioned by JISC, David Lammy Minister for Higher Education and IPR announced a new £20m open learning innovation fund for UK universities.

Podcast 82: Virtual Research Environments 3 - bridge the gap for researchers

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 09:00:00 GMT

As JISC launches a new suite of work in virtual research environments (VRE), Frederique Van Till programme manager in e-Research running JISC's VRE3 programme, talks to Rebecca O'Brien about how these environments can not only bring people together within universities but how projects are connecting outside their institution, with industry and business too.

Podcast 81: 'In From the Cold', a report on Orphaned Works

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 8 Jun 2009 09:00:00 GMT

The Strategic Content Alliance (SCA) and The Collections Trust have produced a report called 'In from the Cold' which looks at the issues surrounding problematic usage of Orphaned Works. In this interview to discuss the report, JISC Press & Public Relations Manager Rebecca O'Brien is joined via Skype by Naomi Korn, the SCA's Intellectual Property Rights consultant, who is the author of the report.

Podcast 80: 'HE in a Web 2.0 World' report

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Tue, 12 May 2009 09:00:00 GMT

The Committee of Inquiry into the Changing Learner Experience report, 'HE in a Web 2.0 World', considers the impact that Web 2.0 and the collaborative, social web are having on higher education in the UK. In this podcast interview (recorded via Skype) Kerry O'Neill talks to Sir David Melville, Chair of Lifelong Learning UK and of the committee; Ellie Russell, committee member and a student at the University of Leeds; and Adrian Godfrey, Director, Internet Business Solutions Group, Cisco Systems Inc, to get their opinion on the report's findings.

Podcast 79: A self-confessed geek on JISC's 'Developer Happiness' event

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 09:00:00 GMT

In this podcast Kerry O'Neill talks, via Skype, to digital libraries and e-learning Programme Manager David Flanders who speaks about the benefits of Web 2.0 technologies, as well as the aspirations and outcomes of a JISC-supported event for web developers called 'Developer Happiness Days'.

Podcast 78: How JISC opens up resources for education

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 09:00:00 GMT

In this podcast Kerry O'Neill talks with e-learning Programme Manager David Kernohan about what JISC is doing in the Open Educational Resources (OER) arena.

Podcast 77: University of Oxford and Harvard University talk the future of libraries

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Tue, 7 Apr 2009 09:00:00 GMT

In this podcast Michelle Pauli speaks with Sarah Thomas (The Bodleian's Librarian and Director of Oxford University Library Services) & Professor Robert Darnton (Director of the Harvard University Library) about their views on the library of the future. Sarah and Robert are two of six panellists who took part in the 'What is the library of the future?' debate in Oxford during April.

Podcast 76: What is the library of the future? with Chris Batt

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 09:00:00 GMT

Welcome to the JISC Podcast in which Michelle Pauli talks to Chris Batt, of Chris Batt Consulting, about the Libraries of the Future debate being held at Oxford University at the beginning of April 2009.

Podcast 75: Mashing up research and connecting with learners through social media

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 09:00:00 GMT

Ewan McIntosh, Digital Commissioner for 4iP, talks with Rebecca O'Brien from JISC via Skype about mobile gaming, how thinking from the learner's perspective is key, and how universities have a virtual role in mixing logical thinking with inspiring creativity. Ewan will be delivering one of the keynote speeches at JISC's annual conference in Edinburgh on March 24th, 2009.

Podcast 74: JISC Conference Keynote talks IT innovation and inspiration

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 09:00:00 GMT

In this podcast Rebecca O'Brien is joined by Professor Lizbeth Goodman who is Professor of Creative Technology Innovation, Director of SMARTlab Digital Media Institute and MAGIC (Multimedia and Games Innovation Centre) at the University of East London and also Director of FutureLab. Professor Goodman will be giving one of the keynote speeches at the JISC 2009 Conference in Edinburgh.

Podcast 73: OCLC's Vice President talks libraries, the future and learning

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 9 Mar 2009 09:00:00 GMT

The not-for-profit Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) is the principal sponsor of JISC's 2009 annual conference in Edinburgh. In this podcast interview OCLC's Vice President Karen Calhoun talks to Robert Haymon-Collins, JISC's Director of Communications and Marketing, to discuss what her organisation does in the field of providing digital content for learning and research, and how improved access to this well-catalogued knowledge can help improve the student experience - a key theme of this year's JISC conference. Calhoun also clarifies OCLC's recent proposed policy changes concerning the use of OCLC records, an issue that has generated lively debate within the library and information communities both in the UK and further afield.

Podcast 72: Theatre Archive now live online

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Tue, 3 Mar 2009 09:00:00 GMT

Over 15,000 rare photographs, posters and press cuttings charting the history of East London theatre are now freely available online as part of the East London Theatre Archive (ELTA), a digitisation project spearheaded by the University of East London and funded by JISC. In this podcast, project manager Yvonne Klein talks to Kerry O'Neill to describe what makes this rich digital archive so unique, and how opening up online access to these documents - which would otherwise be too fragile to handle - will add value and interest to the learning and teaching experience.

Podcast 71: Information literacy the 'democratic right' of every learner, say Scottish experts

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 9 Feb 2009 09:00:00 GMT

Information literacy has become a key concern of many in the education sector and beyond. In this podcast interview John Crawford and Christine Irving, of the Scottish Information Literacy project, talk to Philip Pothen about their work in the education sector, in the workplace, with libraries, and with government agencies and argue that information literacy is the 'democratic right' of every learner, and a central element of lifelong learning.

Podcast 70: New Build - Zeroing in on Carbon Footprints

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 09:00:00 GMT

In this podcast Kerry O'Neill from JISC talks with Ann Thunhurst, manager of JISC Regional Support Centre South East, about the "New Build - Zeroing in on Carbon Footprints" event held at JISC's London offices in January 2009. Ms Thunhurst then explains why senior managers within education need to consider their carbon output in every new build, and why they must show vision today in order to future-proof their buildings for tomorrow.

Podcast 69: Green ICT for Further and Higher Education

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:00:00 GMT

In this podcast Rebecca O'Brien from JISC talks with Peter James, Professor of Environmental Management at the University of Bradford and head of the JISC-funded SusteIT project, about the recently published Green ICT report. In the interview Prof Peter James talks through how further and higher education institutions can make small changes to save money and reduce their carbon footprint.

Podcast 68: JISC and the higher education sector: challenges and opportunities

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 09:00:00 GMT

John Selby is HEFCE's Director of Education and Widening Participation, with responsibility for a number of key policy areas including HEFCE's links with JISC. In this podcast interview, given at JISC's Innovation Forum in July 2008, he talks about JISC's activities, how it links with HEFCE's work and the wider challenges of higher education in this country.

Podcast 67: JISC's new chairman looks to the future

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Tue, 6 Jan 2009 09:00:00 GMT

Universities need to 'work together' and 'pool their IT talents' to maintain the UK's position of global leadership in technology. So says Professor Tim O'Shea, Principal of Edinburgh University, in a podcast interview released today to mark Professor O'Shea's chairmanship of JISC which begins this month.

Podcast 66: The importance of innovation to the future of higher education

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 09:00:00 GMT

Sarah Porter is JISC's Head of Innovation, responsible for leading JISC's work to support innovation across the higher education sector. In this podcast interview, given at JISC's Innovation Forum in the summer, Sarah talks about the importance of innovation and why investment in innovation is crucial to the future of the sector.

Podcast 65: An interview with Lynne Brindley

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 09:00:00 GMT

The British Library is a national institution, a rich store of both British and world treasures and a place where students, researchers, business people and many others come to access a collection of resources that's pretty much unmatched throughout the world. But the library is more than this...it's also for some years been embracing technology in a variety of ways and in doing so helping to redefine the concept of the library in the digital age. Dame Lynne Brindley is the CEO of the British Library and she has led the way in its engagement with the digital environment and in a way that, as she makes clear in the following interview, has particular significance for the education and research sectors.

Podcast 64: Listening to students - Changing the learner experience

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 09:00:00 GMT

In this podcast Jane Charlton was at the JISC CNI Conference in Belfast and spoke to Sir David Melville who is Chair of the UK Committee of Inquiry into Changing Learner Experience.

Podcast 63: Listening to students - Innovative responses

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 09:00:00 GMT

In this podcast Jane Charlton was at the JISC CNI Conference in Belfast and spoke to Betsy Wilson, Dean of University Libraries at the University of Washington in Seattle, about the student learning experience.

Podcast 62: Two Nations - the Small Business & the Digital Divide

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Wed, 5 Nov 2008 09:00:00 GMT

Jane Charlton and Simon Whittemore from JISC attended the ALT-C pre-conference workshop on small businesses and the digital divide. The workshop was attended by conference delegates and representatives from Yorkshire and Humberside's business community. Yorkshire Forward, Yorkshire and Humberside's Regional Development Agency, gave some context to the workshop discussions by presenting the findings from their 2008 ICT Regional Benchmarking Study report. Digital 20/10 is an initiative of Yorkshire Forward, responsible for the successful development of digital skills in the region. Its successor, Digital 20/20 is a collaboration between major ICT businesses, the public sector and skills providers in the region tasked with increasing ICT adoption across all sectors from the public sector through to business and the general public. In this podcast Jane Charlton speaks to Robert Ling from Yorkshire Forward, David Kay of Sero Consulting who manages the Digital 20/10 initiative and Simon Whittemore, the Programme Manager of Business and Community Engagement for JISC.

Podcast 61: Work Related Learning

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 3 Nov 2008 09:00:00 GMT

Work-related learning is increasing its importance in the curriculum landscape. There is evidence that it helps students relate their learning to their current and future working lives. While also offering employers an opportunity to contribute directly to education and training. Work-related learning is involved in a wide range of activities. These include developing awareness of the local and broader economy, seeing connections between the national curriculum and other topics, careers education and learning about the world of work. In this podcast Rebecca O'Brien from JISC talks to experts in this field who provide examples of the types of support being provided by JISC and the Academy in this fast developing area.

Podcast 60: 'Outstanding ICT initiative of the year' 2008 winner announced

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 09:00:00 GMT

In this podcast Philip Pothen speaks to the winner of the 2008 'Outstanding ICT initiative of the year' Times Higher Award, University of Westminster lecturer Russell Stannard who created websites which build upon pioneering work using video to mark students' work.

Podcast 59: Updates on the SCA

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 09:00:00 GMT

The Strategic Content Alliance (SCA) works with public sector bodies across the UK to develop a framework to share and access information. The SCA is currently running a series of workshops in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland to incorporate the regional challenges into this framework. In this podcast Rebecca O'Brien catches up with Stuart Dempster, Director of the SCA, about the alliance's achievements and what the next steps will be.

Podcast 58: Student Learning Experience

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 09:00:00 GMT

Supporting the student's learning experience is key to helping students find their full potential and enhance the quality of their learning. Working with partners, JISC is looking to guide future developments in this area and from October 2008 will be running a series of national workshops. These workshops will discuss the issues around supporting the student learning experience to help institutions and services devise their own strategic responses to supporting learners. In this podcast Rebecca O'Brien talk to Helen Beetham, a consultant supporting the learning experience work at JISC.

Podcast 57: Supporting Academic Staff

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 09:00:00 GMT

A plethora of resources exist to support and enhance academic staff in their learning and teaching practices. With developing technologies, new learning approaches and changing expectations of learners, academic staff face added time-pressure in their quest to keep ahead in the learning and teaching practices and innovations. Themed syntheses of resources offer suitable avenues to the range available, providing openings to a wealth of information while recognizing the time limitations of today's academic staff. In this podcast Rebecca O'Brien provides examples of the range of resources available to academic staff in their practice in learning and teaching developments, giving some examples of the wealth of information in an area which is often raised as limiting developments in the sector.

Podcast 56: Library spaces for the 'Google Generation'

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 1 Sep 2008 09:00:00 GMT

As investment continues to be made into new build and refurbishment projects across the country, librarians are playing a key role in the design of buildings more suited to current styles of teaching and learning. In this podcast interview with Philip Pothen, Tim Giles, Librarian at the Norwich School of Art and Design, talks about a major refurbishment project at his college and how it's supporting the needs of a new generation of learners.

Podcast 55: Uncovering the social and economic benefits of open access

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 09:00:00 GMT

Professor John Houghton's work to explore the social and economic impact of open access has had a significant impact on debates in his native Australia. Currently working for JISC to investigate the UK experience in this area, he talks to Philip Pothen about his work, the wider benefits of institutional repositories and why he thinks the open access argument is now won.

Podcast 54: Theses go digital

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 09:00:00 GMT

As part of the JISC funded Digitisation Programme a new system is being developed called EThOS which will enable researchers and higher education institutions to access and share theses online. In this podcast with Rebecca O'Brien from JISC, Kevin O'Leary, project manager of EThOS, shares how valuable this new system will be when it is fully launched later in the year.

Podcast 53: Beyond the Google Generation report - next steps

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 09:00:00 GMT

The Google Generation made a major impact when it was published in January of this year. In this podcast interview one of its authors Ian Rowlands of University College London talks to Philip Pothen from JISC about some of the implications of the report, while Rachel Bruce, JISC programme director, gives her views on the report and possible next steps.

Podcast 52: The Future is Green

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Tue, 5 Aug 2008 09:00:00 GMT

JISC is funding a number of projects on reducing the environmental impact of information and communications technology in institutions. Case studies are being complied on current environmentally sustainable practices in the education sector, one of which focuses on work at Cardiff University. In this podcast interview, Xanthe O'Donnell speaks with Dr. Hugh Beedie, the Chief Technology Officer at Cardiff University about a recent sustainable IT workshop.

Podcast 51: IPR for the SCA

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Fri, 1 Aug 2008 09:00:00 GMT

As technology enables us to share information across the Internet, the subject of Intellectual Property Rights is increasing in its profile. In particular to help address who owns, creates and publishes these works. The Strategic Content Alliance is a project funded by JISC and is working in partnership with the BBC, NHS, Betca, The British Library, Museum Libraries Archives Council and the National e-Science Centre to create a framework within which public sector organisations can share information and create best practise. In this podcast Rebecca O'Brien speaks to Naomi Korn, the SCA's Intellectual Property Rights consultant about why IPR is important and the progress of the Strategic Content Alliance.

Podcast 50: Supporting users with disabilities - challenges and opportunities

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 09:00:00 GMT

Susan Smith is a learning support officer for Leeds Metropolitan University and Isabel Arreola is one of the students Susan supports. In this podcast interview, they talk to Philip Pothen about the very different challenges they face - for Susan, in mainstreaming support services for disabled students and staff, and for Isabel, as a blind student, in accessing the resources she needs to ensure a level playing-field with her classmates.

Podcast 49: Higher education a 'national success story', says President of UUK

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:00:00 GMT

Thanks to significant and continued investment ion learning, teaching, research - and ICT - the UK higher education sector is well placed to weather uncertain economic times. So says Professor Rick Trainor, Principal of King's College London and President of Universities UK in this exclusive podcast interview with Xanthe O'Donnell for JISC Inform.

Podcast 48: Mainstreaming accessibility - getting it right the first time

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 09:00:00 GMT

The library service at Nottingham Trent University is at the forefront of mainstreaming the issue of accessibility across the institution. In this podcast interview with Philip Pothen, Sue McKnight, director of library and knowledge resources talks about the difference her work is making to the university as a whole and why she believes this work is so important.

Podcast 47: Creating 21st century learning spaces

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:00:00 GMT

Richard Everett is responsible for the IT infrastructure for a £100m new build project at Oaklands College. In this podcast interview with Philip Pothen he talks about some of the challenges involved in such a massive project, the support he has received from JISC services and the difference the new buildings will make to learners at his college.

Podcast 46: Equality for all - a new initiative brings publishers on board

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 09:00:00 GMT

JISC TechDis has been at the forefront of supporting the needs of students and staff with disabilities or learning difficulties for many years. In this podcast interview, JISC TechDis director Sal Cooke talks to Philip Pothen about a new initiative that's set to make a significant difference to the support available in this area to colleges and universities around the country.

Podcast 45: Community engagement in e-Research

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:00:00 GMT

Limited take-up by researchers of new (and not so new) technologies is a challenge that JISC and other organisations are seeking to get to grips with. As JISC's e-research programme gains momentum, Matthew Mascord, Acting Programme Manager for the community engagement strand of the programme, talks to Alice Gugan from JISC about the work of three projects endeavouring to get to the bottom of researchers' motivations and by extension encourage them to take a keener interest in how they might work and collaborate more effectively.

Podcast 44: Licensing across borders - A round table discussion

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 09:00:00 GMT

A partnership of four national ICT bodies - from Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK - recently announced the successful publishers under its multinational licensing initiative which is seeing online resources made available across national borders. In this roundtable discussion, representatives of the Knowledge Exchange organisations speak about the initiative and about how this work fits in with their wider mission to create a layer of scholarly content for education and research sectors.

Podcast 43: Great Expectations

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 09:00:00 GMT

Great Expectations of ICT: how HE institutions are measuring up? Is a new report that is being published by JISC and Ipsos Mori. The research follows an initial study carried out with sixth form students about their expectations about the use and availability of technology when entering higher education. This new research shows what their experiences were like during their first year and in particular their use of web 2.0 technologies. In this podcast Rebecca O'Brien speaks firstly to Charles Hutchings, market research manager at JISC, about the report and then later to one of the students who took part in the study.

Podcast 42: The benefits of federated access management

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Fri, 2 May 2008 13:00:00 GMT

Membership of the UK Access Management Federation has doubled in around six months as colleges, universities and other organisations adopt new technologies that give students and staff simplified, more flexible and more secure access to resources of all kinds. In this podcast Masha Garibyan of JISC's Access Management Outreach team talks to Philip Pothen about why a rapidly increasing number of colleges and universities are adopting federated access management.

Podcast 41: Timeline to the future

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 09:00:00 GMT

Newly published case studies are giving real-life examples of how ICT can help widen participation and support learner progression. In this podcast for Inform Plus, JISC programme manager Sarah Davies talks with Philip Pothen about e-portfolios and how they're supporting students in making vital decisions about their learning, their work and their careers.

Podcast 40: Managing identity in education

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 09:00:00 GMT

Thanks to identity cards and certain high-profile cases of data loss, the issue of identity management is never far from the headlines. In this podcast with Philip Pothen for Inform Plus, JISC programme manager James Farnhill unravels some of the complexities involved in managing identity in further and higher education and explains how JISC's work is supporting colleges and universities.

Podcast 39: Towards the research library of the future

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 09:00:00 GMT

Research Libraries UK has a central role in meeting the research community's information and resource needs. In this podcast interview with Philip Pothen for Inform Plus, its new Executive Director Anne Poulson talks about RLUK's role, the value of research libraries and why they provide a vital support for the wider research community.

Podcast 38: How green is our ICT?

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:00:00 GMT

With concern for the environment and fears about climate change never far from the headlines, our use of ICT is coming under increasing scrutiny. In this podcast for Inform Plus, Rob Bristow, JISC programme manager, talks to Philip Pothen about JISC's work in this area and why the coming months will be particularly important for this new area of activity.

Podcast 37: Keynote speaker hails the collaborative power of wikis

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 7 Apr 2008 09:00:00 GMT

Angela Beesley is the chair of the Wikimedia Foundation and a champion for the power of wikis in encouraging collaboration in a range of contexts. A keynote speaker at the JISC conference next week, she gives an exclusive podcast interview for JISC in which she explains to Philip Pothen some of the uses of wikis in education and research and defends wikis such as Wikipedia against the charge that they lack the quality and provenance needed for educational use.

Podcast 36: Transatlantic collaboration in the field of digitisation with UK's JISC and US' NEH

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:00:00 GMT

JISC and the National Endowment for Humanities (NEH) recently announced that they would be awarding transatlantic grants to foster collaborative digitisation projects between the UK and the US. To celebrate the move JISC and the NEH held an event at Kings College London in January 2008 to discuss issues relating to international digitisation. Later on in the podcast we'll be hearing an excerpt from one of the presentations from the event, but first Michelle Pauli, working for the JISC Digitisation Programme, took the opportunity to put some questions to the key organisers of the event.

Podcast 35: The e-Framework for international education and research

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 09:00:00 GMT

The e-Framework for Education and Research is an international initiative that provides information to institutions on investing in and using information technology infrastructure. The primary goal of the initiative is to facilitate technical interoperability within and across education and research through improved strategic planning and implementation processes. In this podcast Sara Hassan speaks with Wilbert Kraan, a member of the e-Framework working group, about the e-Framework's aims, knowledge base, services and major achievements to date.

Podcast 34: Libraries are 'absolutely critical to academic success'

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 09:00:00 GMT

Libraries are 'absolutely critical to academic success'. So says John MacColl, a European Director at international library organisation OCLC, in this interview with Philip Pothen to mark OCLC's sponsorship of the JISC Conference 2008.

Podcast 33: How digitisation can bring a nation's heritage to the desktops of all

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 09:00:00 GMT

One of the projects in JISC's digitisation programme, the Welsh Journals project is set to add to a growing body of materials dedicated to Welsh, culture, history and language. In this podcast, director of the project Arwel Jones talks about how digitisation can promote wider efforts to make a nation's culture and heritage available to all.

Podcast 32: Find your way around e-Assessment

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 09:00:00 GMT

The internet provides a host of opportunities to enrich the learning, teaching and assessment process. This podcast looks at examples of approaches used in assessment and the resources provided by JISC and the Higher Education Academy.

Podcast 31: Technology is a 'phenomenal asset' to education, says Lord Puttnam

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 09:00:00 GMT

Lord Puttnam of Queensgate is a champion for education. Chancellor of the Open University, Founder of the National Teaching Awards and former chair of NESTA - the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts - he has strong and fascinating views on education, on creativity in learning and teaching and the importance of technology to UK science and research. In this exclusive interview he talks about UK higher education, the importance of ICT and looks forward to the JISC annual conference in April at which he will be one of the keynote speakers.

Podcast 30: The Strategic Content Alliance with Emma Beer

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 09:00:00 GMT

The Strategic Content Alliance (SCA) is a three year JISC-funded initiative committed to delivering a co-ordinated framework of principles and best practice for the provision of online e-content for UK citizens. Its aim is to build a common information environment where users of publicly funded e-content can gain best value from those resources. Emma Beer is the manager for the SCA and in this interview she speaks with Robert Haymon-Collins at Online Educa in Berlin about the SCA, business models & sustainability and e-content alliance partnerships in general.

Podcast 29: The open access argument is won, says leading advocate

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 4 Feb 2008 09:00:00 GMT

A petition organised by JISC, European partners and SPARC Europe attracted nearly 25,000 signatures in 2007, including a number of Nobel Prize winners, as well as more than 800 education and research organisations. SPARC Europe's director David Prosser talks about what the petition achieved and why he thinks the open access argument has finally been won.

Podcast 28: Meeting the winners of the Times Higher ICT award...

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Fri, 1 Feb 2008 09:00:00 GMT

For the first time last year JISC sponsored one of the Times Higher Awards - for Outstanding ICT Initiative of the Year. In this podcast for Inform Plus, Philip Pothen meets the winners of the award and discovers why the judges found their initiative quite so innovative and imaginative.

Podcast 27: Digitisation is opening library doors to the whole world, says SCONUL's secretary

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 09:00:00 GMT

The library of the future is a digital one, says Toby Bainton, and digitisation is at the forefront of ensuring that important scholarly resources are made more widely available and at the same time of presenting a vision for academic libraries in a digital age. The secretary of SCONUL, the body that represents national and university libraries in the UK and Ireland, talks here about that vision and why he thinks that libraries which aren't delivered to the desktop are going to be invisible in the future.

Podcast 26: 'The Google Generation' - myth or reality?

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 09:00:00 GMT

A new report, commissioned by JISC and The British Library, counters the common assumption that the 'Google Generation' - young people born or brought up in the internet age - is the most adept at using the web. Philip Pothen was at the launch of the report and spoke to the authors about a report that is already making waves.

Podcast 25: Mobile education is the way of the future...

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 09:00:00 GMT

The 'Mobiles Enhancing Learning and Support' e-Learning project has been being run from The University of Wolverhampton by John Traxler, who recently spoke about the potential and possibilities of mobile learning at the recent Online Educa conference in Berlin. Robert Haymon-Collins from JISC managed to speak to John after his presentation and to hear his, and the project's, plans and projections for 2008.

Podcast 24: Reflections on Online Educa Berlin

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 09:00:00 GMT

In November 2007 JISC and their international partnership company SURF had a large promotional stand at the Online Educa conference in Berlin. Robert Haymo-Collins, head of communications and marketing within JISC, took this opportunity to speak with the event's organiser, Sally Reynolds, about the conference's growth and success, and the developments within the education sector and how the conference programmed sessions to meet the international delegates' expectations.

Podcast 23: A study of 'In Their Own Words'

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 7 Jan 2008 09:00:00 GMT

Listening to what learners themselves have to say about their learning is becoming more and more important to ensuring that they have access to the services and the technologies they need for their studies, their work and social lives. In this podcast, Philip Pothen looks at a publication - 'In Their Own Words' - and research into student expectations which attempt to listen to what learners themselves have to say.

Podcast 22: Online Conferencing tips from the JISC e-Learning team

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 09:00:00 GMT

The JISC e-Leaning team have held two online conferences which have brought together a selection of key innovators within e-learning to discuss the current and future impact of using technology to support learning and teaching. In this podcast Lou McGill speaks to Judith Mole & Geoff Minshull, both of whom have worked within the education field for many years, and who now run Direct Learn Services, the company that hosted and supported both of the e-Learning online conferences. In this podcast they discuss the main differences of staging a major international conference totally online.

Podcast 21: Why is Google showing us the way forward in digitisation? asks senior UK librarian

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:00:00 GMT

A recent European digitisation conference explored some important challenges facing national and university libraries across the continent as they attempt to join together to deliver a 'European Digital Library'. In this podcast interview Paul Ayris, librarian at University College London and a senior figure in these European developments, asks a number of challenging questions of the library community.

Podcast 20: Open source - an open and shut case?

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 09:00:00 GMT

Procuring and developing IT systems which can meet the needs of colleges and universities requires a full consideration of open source software. So says OSS Watch manager Ross Gardler who, in this interview, explains to Philip Pothen why open source is so important and how most of us use it even without knowing it.

Podcast 19: Going geographical with Go-Geo!

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 09:00:00 GMT

Go-Geo! is a portal which brings together a number of key geographically related resources. In this podcast for Inform Plus, Robin Smith, an analyst at the University of Sheffield and a regular user of the service, talks to Philip Pothen about how important changes to Go-Geo! are making a significant impact on learners, teachers and researchers in a range of subject areas.

Podcast 18: How VizNet can help UK researchers

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 09:00:00 GMT

Alice Gugan talks to Roy Kalawsky, Director of the Advanced VR Research Centre at Loughborough University, about the role visualisation plays in displaying today's research information, and specifically about the work of the UK National Visualisation network VizNet, and how it can help researchers.

Podcast 17: Breaking down the e-books barrier

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 09:00:00 GMT

e-Books are as yet an untapped and underused resource - a resource which could have a major impact on access to key texts particularly for undergraduates. In this podcast for Inform Plus, Anne Bell, Librarian at Warwick University, and Caren Milloy, JISC e-books project manager, talk with Philip Pothen about the national e-books observatory project and how it is beginning to realise the enormous potential of an underexploited resource.

Podcast 16: Promoting open access - how JISC is supporting the development of repositories

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 09:00:00 GMT

Repositories are being established and developed across the UK to help make research papers and other resources freely available to all who want to use them. In this podcast, JISC programme manager Andy McGregor speaks with Philip Pothen about the recent developments in this area and how JISC's work is beginning to impact on further and higher education.

Podcast 15: Membership of the UK Access Management Federation reaches a landmark

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 09:00:00 GMT

Membership of the UK Access Management Federation recently reached 100. In this podcast Mark Williams, a member of JISC's access management outreach team, talks to Philip Pothen about the work of the federation and what benefits the growing number of members can expect from federated access management.

Podcast 14: JISC IPR consultants address issues and challenges facing Web 2.0 users within education

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 09:00:00 GMT

The JISC IPR Consultancy was started in October 2005 to provide expert advice to JISC in the area of intellectual property rights. IPR Consultants Naomi Korn and Charles Oppenheim talked to Sara Hassen, JISC Communications Manager, in a Skype interview about the interesting challenges we will face related to IPR in the education sector associated with the use of Web 2.0 & Social Software, and issues we need to consider and address.

Podcast 13: The JISC Digitisation Programme - five centuries of unique resources

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 09:00:00 GMT

The £22m JISC digitization programme is making available a wide range of vital scholarly resources to UK education and research. One of its programme managers is Alastair Dunning who, while talking to Philip Pothen for this podcast, discusses what the programme is delivering and why the international conference in Cardiff represented an important landmark both for the programme and for wider attempts to make available scholarly resources of national importance.

Podcast 12: AHRC's David Robey talks about the importance of e-Science for the Arts & Humanities

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 09:00:00 GMT

David Robey is contracted as Director of the AHRC's ICT in Arts & Humanities Research programme, a 5-year programme running until 2008 to build on AHRC's groundwork in ICT provision. David has recently authored JISC's brand new 'Research in the Arts & Humanities' briefing paper, and in this interview he chats to Alice Gugan via Skype where he outlines his views on the issues arts & humanities researchers face, initiatives they should be aware of, and the importance of e-Science.

Podcast 11: Ithaka's Kevin Guthrie gives the US perspective on digitisation

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 09:00:00 GMT

Kevin Guthrie is president of the US-based Ithaka, an organisation which supports innovation in the use of ICT, providing shared services and national initiatives for the benefit of US higher education. Here he talks to Philip Pothen about why international collaboration is important to the digitisation of scholarly resources and what the US and the UK can learn from each other.

Podcast 10: Digital content is a vital part of e-infrastructure, says US's Joyce Ray

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 09:00:00 GMT

Joyce Ray is Associate Deputy Director for Library Services at the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a US-based funder of digitisation and other programmes. Speaking at the recent international digitization conference at Cardiff, she was able to give an international perspective to some of the challenges facing funders in the digitization of high-quality content for education and other sectors. During the conference she took time to speak to Philip Pothen about some of these challenges.

Podcast 9: Librarians say Google can support international education and research

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 09:00:00 GMT

Google has quickly become a key player in the digitization of scholarly resources. In this podcast two librarians - Richard Ovenden of the Bodleian Library at Oxford University and Mike Keller at Stanford University - who are both working with Google to digitize large parts of their collections, talk to Philip Pothen about the opportunities and the challenges of working with the private sector to digitize important scholarly resources.

Podcast 8: Public sector is crucial to national digitisation efforts, says MLA's Chris Batt

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 09:00:00 GMT

Chris Batt is the Chief Executive of the Museum Libraries and Archives Council, a key partner of JISC's in the Strategic Content Alliance, a cross-sectoral body looking to widen access to online content for all citizens of the UK. In this podcast he talks about the work of the MLA, the Strategic Content Alliance and why the public sector is crucial to any attempts to create an information landscape that has quality and the needs of its users at its heart.

Podcast 7: What is Web 2.0 and how is it impacting on education and research?

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 09:00:00 GMT

Students are increasingly becoming familiar with using social networking and other interactive web services such as Facebook, MySpace, Flickr and YouTube. This phenomenon has important implications for educational institutions as students increasingly expect such services - or at least aspects of such services - to be mirrored in the delivery of courses. In this podcast, JISC's Lawrie Phipps and Dave White from the University of Oxford speak about the impact such technologies - commonly gathered under the umbrella term 'Web 2.0' - are having on education and research and how institutions can harness them meaningfully and effectively in support of their students.

Podcast 6: TechWatch's Gaynor Backhouse talks about Web 2.0

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 09:00:00 GMT

The JISC-funded TechWatch service recently published a major - and hugely popular - report on Web 2.0 and its implications for education and research. In this Podcast Philip Pothen speaks to TechWatch's director Gaynor Backhouse about the work of the service and why the report has been so successful.

Podcast 5: Steve Bailey talks about the future for records management

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 09:00:00 GMT

An article in the new JISC Inform by Steve Bailey, senior Adviser at JISC infoNet, talks about the management of electronic information by administrators and records managers. In this podcast Philip Pothen speaks to Steve Bailey who goes into further detail about how new technologies are presenting new opportunities as well as new challenges in the management of information.

Podcast 4: Put in the depot! says EDINA's Peter Burnhill

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 09:00:00 GMT

Launched at a major conference in Manchester on June 5th, the Depot is a national repository for all UK researchers to deposit their research papers into under terms of open access. The Depot is being hosted by EDINA at the University of Edinburgh and in this podcast Philip Pothen asks EDINA's director Peter Burnhill about his vision for the Depot and why UK researchers should, as the advice goes, 'Put it in the Depot'.

Podcast 3: Ale de Vries of Elsevier ScienceDirect talks about The UK Access Management Federation

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 09:00:00 GMT

The UK Access Management Federation launched in November 2006 and provides the UK Schools, Research, Further and Higher Education sectors with a secure way of accessing online learning materials and services using federated access management technology such as Shibboleth. Elsevier ScienceDirect was an early adopter of Shibboleth and took park in the UK pilot federation. For this Podcast Jane Charlton from JISC spoke via Skype to Ale de Vries from Elsevier ScienceDirect about some of the issues around adopting this new technology and what the main benefits and challenges are for publishers and service providers.

Podcast 2: Professor Drummond Bone of Universities UK gives his backing to JISC's repositories work

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 09:00:00 GMT

As President of Universities UK and Vice Chancellor of Liverpool University, Professor Drummond Bone's thoughts on how UK education and research can maximise its impact across the world carry particular weight. In this podcast Philip Pothen reports on JISC's 2007 national repositories conference in Manchester where Professor Bone outlined his views on the importance of repositories to the UK.

Podcast 1: Wales' Leader of the House opens international digitisation conference

web@jisc.ac.uk (JISC) — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 09:00:00 GMT

A major international conference on digitization took place in Cardiff last week. Opened by Carwyn Jones, now Counsel General and Leader of the House in the Welsh Assembly Government, the conference attracted around 150 senior figures from around the world. At the time of this interview, Carwyn Jones was Minister for Education, Culture and the Welsh Language. In it he gives his thoughts on the importance of ICT to Welsh education and how the Welsh Assembly Government is working to widen access to digital resources to support education and the promotion of Welsh culture and language.