Supporting further and higher education

Discovering Resources:the JISC and portals

Chris Awre

EUUG Conference, September 2003

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Who am I?

• JISC Programme Manager– Portals programme– FAIR (Focus on Access to Institutional

Resources) programme

• Was a Unicorn system administrator for 7 years

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What is JISC?

• Joint Information Systems Committee

• Promotes and disseminates best practice on the use of ICT in Higher and Further Education– Development, advice, network,

content

• Serving >600 UK institutions• Feedback and dialogue welcome!

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Introduction

• Background to JISC and portals• The JISC Information Environment• Portals

– Library portals

• The wider world• Users

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Background

• Digital collections built up – the DNER– Many collections, many interfaces

• Development of technologies– the eLib Programme– Hybrid library projects

• Clear need to enhance discovery of and access to content

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The JISC Information Environment

• Many different resources• Few or just one interface• Increased ease of access and use• Built around the Information

Environment Technical Architecture– Developed for JISC by UKOLN– Based around the use of open

standards for interoperability

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The JISC IE Technical Architecture

JISC-fundedcontent providers

institutionalcontent providers

externalcontent providers

brokers aggregators catalogues indexes

institutionalportals

subjectportals

learning managementsystems

media-specificportals

end-userdesktop/browser pr

esen

tatio

n

fusion

prov

isio

n

OpenURLresolvers

Sharedinfrastructure

authentication/authorisation (Athens)

JISC IE service registry

user preferences services

resolvers

institutional preferencesservices

metadata schema registries

terminology services

• http://www.jisc.ac.uk/ie/

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Interoperability through the use of Standards

• Z39.50– Bath Profile recommended– SRW (Search/Retrieve Web Service) is on

the horizon

• OAI-PMH– Open Archives Initiative – Protocol for

Metadata Harvesting– Based around Dublin Core

• RSS – Really Simple Syndication!• OpenURL

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The Information Environment Strategy

• Seamless and integrated access to digital collections through a common point of access– Connecting with wider activities,

including e-science and e-learning

• Distinct building blocks under development– Integration now and in the future

through the use of open standards

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Why Portals?

• Means for achieving seamless access through e.g., multiple searching, news feeds

• Means for enhancing the discovery of information

• Means for bringing information to the user

• Means for delivering high-quality content to users

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JISC Portals

• Discovery tools• Hold no content locally• Common means of access using

open standards, e.g., Z39.50, OAI• Presentation of information• User access via different routes

– Dedicated web site– Integrated functionality in known web

environment

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A Definition

• Technically, a portal is a network service that brings together content from diverse distributed resources using technologies such as cross searching, harvesting, and alerting, and collates this into an aggregated form for presentation to the user, usually via a website.

• For users, a portal is a, possibly personalised, common point of access where searching can be carried out across one or more than one resource and the amalgamated results viewed. Information may also be presented in other ways, for example, via alerting services and conference listings or through access to e-prints and learning materials.

– JISC Portals FAQ, http://www.jisc.ac.uk/ie_portalsfaq.html

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Portal Projects

• Subject-based Portals– Subject Portals Project (SPP)– Subject view onto information– Portlet model of development

• Cross-search, authentication, user profiling, news

• Format-based Portals– Geospatial data portal - Go-Geo!– Uses geo-referencing to allow users

to ask ‘where?’ as well as ‘what?’

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Portal Projects (2)

• Format-based Portals (contd.)– Pixus Image Portal– Linking content to its use in learning

& teaching• User Community-based Portals

– Learning & Teaching Portal– Supporting a distinct but disparate

user community• Includes discussion facility

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Integrated Services

• How can portal functionality be integrated in other environments?

• An integral part of portal developments– Avoid ‘yet another portal of choice’

scenario

• Integrating in local environments– Institutional portals/VLEs– Contextualisation through location

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Library Portals

• Focussed on digital library resources

• Extension to library management system– Integrated or standalone

• One-stop shop to all library, and other, resources

• TechWatch report 2002

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Library Portal Review and Survey

• Six-month study• LISU at University of Loughborough

– What is taking place within academic sector

– Assessment and implementation– User views– Relationship of library portals to other

systems, internal and external– Future trends

• Will report in Spring 2004

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Sirsi Rooms

• OpenURL Resolver and SingleSearch are elements of a portal

• Contextualisation a step towards personalisation

• Mix of open and hidden web access

• Configuration issue

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Content Issues

• Portals are only as good as the content you can discover through them

• Portals use different means to discover resources

• Therefore, content must be discoverable using these means

• Standards vs. proprietary

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Linking to the Wider World

• Internal– Institutional repository/portal, VLE,

Finance system, Registry, Security– Library as part of a Managed

Learning Environment

• External– Integrating content– Integrating functionality

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Back to Standards

• Essential for full interoperability• Ability to add to existing systems

and integrate• Flexibility in the long-term• Ownership by the community for

the community

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How do Users Search?

• Many techniques and tools to facilitate searching

• How much do these developments actually match what users want to do or what they really do?

• Largely unknown• More evidence needed to assist

with assessment and implementation

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Personalisation

• Explicit– Services based on information

provided by user– Need users to want such

personalisation – anecdotal evidence suggests not

• Implicit– Based on information already known

and available elsewhere– Groupisation?

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What’s in a Name?

• “That which we call a portal would deliver information to users as well by any other name”

• The word ‘portal’ can be misunderstood

• Portal functionality, though, is central to delivering services wherever they are required

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Conclusions

• Portals and portal functionality will play a key part in presenting information to users

• Open standards will provide interoperability and flexibility

• Library cannot exist alone, but must work with other systems

• User needs must be the main driver

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Ask the Question

• Why have a portal?• “Let’s not build portals just because we

can – let’s build them because they contribute to organisational strategies, because they meet the needs of target user groups, and because the benefits outweigh the costs.” Anderson, 2003

• The JISC Portals Programme is exploring these points for the IE

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Thank you

Chris AwreJISC Programme Manager

c.awre@jisc.ac.ukhttp://www.jisc.ac.uk/people_awre_c.html

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Useful URLs: Background

• DNER– http://www.jisc.ac.uk/dner_adding_value.html

• eLib– http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/services/elib/projects/

• Information Environment Technical Architecture– http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/distributed-systems/jisc-ie/a

rch/

• JISC Portals Programme– http://www.jisc.ac.uk/programme_portals.html

• JISC Portals FAQ– http://www.jisc.ac.uk/ie_portalsfaq.html

• TechWatch report on library portals– http://www.jisc.ac.uk/techwatch_report_0203.html

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Useful URLs: Standards

• Z39.50– http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/bath/ap-bath-e.htm

• SRW– http://lcweb.loc.gov/z3950/agency/zing/srw/backgro

und.html

• OAI-PMH– http://www.openarchives.org/

• RSS– http://www.eevl.ac.uk/pressrelease/pressrelrssprim

er.htm

• OpenURL– http://library.caltech.edu/openurl/

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Useful URLs: Portals

• Subject Portals Project– http://www.portal.ac.uk/spp/

• Go-Geo! geodata portal– http://hds.essex.ac.uk/Go-Geo/

• Pixus image portal– http://www.scran.ac.uk/jisc/

• Learning & Teaching Portal– http://www.ltsn.ac.uk/portal

• PORTAL project– http://www.fair-portal.hull.ac.uk/

• FAIR Enough– http://www.fairenough.ac.uk/index.html

• Library portal survey and review– http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/dils/lisu/portals.html