Joint Information Systems Committee Research Articles

Survey assessing foot trimmer involvement in managing lameness in UK beef cattle.

Cattle lameness is a significant welfare and economic problem facing the livestock industry. Published research has investigated foot trimming practices in dairy herds, but little is known about the practices in beef herds. Therefore, the objective of this study was to obtain information about the current practices of professional cattle foot trimmers concerning beef cattle within the UK. An online survey comprising 16 questions was created using the Joint Information Systems Committee platform. The survey was open for 3 months. There was a significant difference (p<0.05) between the proportions of dairy cattle and beef cattle receiving preventative foot trims. Digital dermatitis was the most commonly recorded cause of lameness when a lame beef animal was trimmed by the respondents, followed by white line disease. A thematic analysis of foot trimmers' opinions of barriers to engagement on beef farms is presented, in addition to their opinions on veterinary involvement with beef lameness. Distribution bias may have affected the results, as the survey was distributed online with support from the Cattle Hoof Care Standards Board and the National Association of Cattle Hoof Trimmers. The percentage of foot trimmers not affiliated with either professional body is not known. Further research on the impact of lameness on suckler and finishing cattle, including investigations into preventative actions to reduce lameness in beef systems, is warranted.

Impact of ICT Proficiency on Teachers' Work Performance in Distance Learning

This study investigated the impact of Information and Communication Technology Proficiency (ICT-P) on teachers' work performance (WP) within distance learning contexts. Employing a quantitative design, a cross-sectional survey was administered to assess the ICT-P and WP of teachers working in distance learning institutes; Virtual University and Allama Iqbal Open University. Using stratified sampling, data was collected from 237 teachers through two online self-administered questionnaires, involving ICT-P and WP. Both questionnaires consist of a 6-point semantic differential scale. The ICT-P was framed around the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) model of digital literacy, examining constructs such as the use of ICT-P based devices, digital applications, software, services, and digital proficiency. The WP construct, sourced from an extensive literature review, is divided into seven primary areas. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, correlation, and regression techniques. The research found an affirmative impact of ICT Proficiency on teachers’ work performance.

A Study of Information Literacy Initiatives between Secondary Schools and Universities in the UK

This paper discusses the nature and conclusions of the second phase of a two-part project, CrossEd, undertaken between autumn 2004 and autumn 2005 and funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee in the UK. The study investigated collaborations taking place between secondary schools and universities in the provision of information literacy skilling relating to the use of e-resources. A survey of all university libraries in the UK was undertaken using an e-mail questionnaire to identify the incidence of current collaboration. The data from that survey provided information on the types of collaboration taking place. These were categorised and used to select the survey population of six university libraries for the qualitative study. Data collection was by means of face-to-face and telephone interviews with university librarians, using semistructured interview schedules. Six types of training for school pupils were identified, and the research revealed at least seven distinct positive aspects of cross-sectoral collaboration for school pupils. A fundamental lack of understanding of the respective roles of secondary school and university librarians was evident, and a range of issues to be addressed by librarians in both educational sectors was identified. A strategy for enhancing collaboration in the UK is also discussed.

Beyond description: in search of disciplinary digital capabilities through signature pedagogies

The development of digital capabilities has received significant attention in higher education (HE) in recent years, with various attempts made to develop digital frameworks to support curriculum design. However, few studies have articulated these generic capabilities in terms of specific disciplines. This paper addresses the gap by exploring how digital capabilities are planned in HE curricula in two professional disciplines, engineering and management, at the two UK universities. Originality of the study is achieved in part through a newly proposed conceptual framework that weaves Shulman’s notion of signature pedagogies together with Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC)’s Digital Capability Framework (DigiCap). This study employed a multiple-case study methodology, drawing on documentary sources and academic, professional and student perspectives via interviews and focus groups. This study offers insight into the digital capabilities in engineering and management education, as well as the digital practices of engineers and managers. Findings report on which DigiCap elements are prioritised, and how, in the two professions, followed by a discussion of their most distinct ‘signature digital capabilities’. These indicate that the development of digital capabilities is aligned with the respective discipline’s signature pedagogies. This study argues that, simply just using a descriptive, typological framework is not sufficient to identify signature digital capabilities of a subject without tending to their disciplinary aspects. It is the combination of a typological DigiCap framework through the lens of signature pedagogies, which can be effective in identifying disciplinary digital capabilities. This approach is one of the major outcomes of this study.

Embedding Digital Capability into the Higher Education Curriculum: The Case of Ghana

In this paper, we report on the digital experiences of students at a dual-mode, higher education institution in Ghana. Recognizing the role of digital technologies in an increasingly globalized and competitive economy, Ghanaian authorities have embarked on several initiatives to support the development of the digital skills and capabilities of its students to enhance learning and to improve their employability in the job market. However, evidence exists that despite these initiatives and the massive investment into digital skills development, students in Ghana are still grappling with the acquisition of the skills needed for the workplace of the 21st century. The question thus arises whether Ghanaian higher education institutions (HEIs) are sufficiently developing the digital capabilities of their students. This study used the ‘Digital at course level’ dimension of the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) - UK Digital Experience Insight Survey to determine the digital experiences of students in their chosen academic discipline to prepare them for their careers. Census sampling targeted all final-year students at a selected higher education institution. The online survey reached 14,286 students and 800 students (5.6%) responded. The results show that students use personal devices to support learning outside the classroom, despite limited attempts to embed the development of digital skills into academic disciplines. Therefore, digital technologies are rarely used to communicate and collaborate, to solve problems or to create digital artefacts in the classroom. The findings also revealed that gender and mode of study did not influence the students’ digital experiences. The limitation of the study is that the results for only one institution are reported.

News from the Historic Collections Library, Institute of Naval Medicine

I am delighted to say that, after a protracted period of negotiation with the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), the consortium which provides digital solutions for United Kingdom (UK) education and research, INM’s Historic Collections Library catalogue has been added to JISC’s

The Impact of Embedded iPad Use on Student Perceptions of Their Digital Capabilities

Digital capabilities are recognized as key skills that students must possess to learn and work in our increasingly digital world and have been the subject of a growing focus over recent years. Similarly, smartphones and, to a lesser degree, tablets are now ubiquitous within the student body, and many academics are beginning to leverage these devices for the purposes of learning and teaching in higher education. To further explore the possibilities of mobile technology, the iPilot project was created to explore the effects that embedded iPad use had on undergraduate students’ creativity, ability to collaborate with their peers and their perception of their digital capabilities. Focusing on the digital capabilities aspect of the project, this paper explores the results gathered. While the results are mixed, when combined with data taken from the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) Digital Experience Tracker, it does appear that using iPads in the university classroom can have a positive impact on certain digital behaviors and students’ perceptions of their digital skills.

Understanding the digital legacy of the World War I: Cymru1914

ABSTRACTThis research paper evaluates the use and impact of the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC)-funded Cymru1914 online digital archive of primary sources relating to World War One (WWI) from Libraries, Special Collections and Archives across Wales. Commemoration of WWI has seen a boom in project funding, including digital activity, funded through disparate initiatives. However, there has been little formal research or analysis of the use and impact of these digital outputs or their implications for funding policy. This research, therefore, seeks to answer two key questions: what is the use and impact of the Cymru1914 digital resources and secondly, what are the implications for evaluation methods and funding policy for similar projects?

学術情報基盤から知識情報基盤へ : JISC(Joint Information Systems Committee)の変遷

学術情報基盤から知識情報基盤へ : JISC(Joint Information Systems Committee)の変遷

Current status of scientific data curation research and practices in mainland China

INTRODUCTIONWith rapid growth in activities and resulting body of scientific data, have become as important a strategic resource as natural resources and human resources. Scientific depends more and more on finding theories and knowledge from scientific data, and thus data-intensive scientific discovery has become fourth paradigm of scientific research. Therefore, it is urgent to develop and adopt methods to support collection, collation, preservation and utilization of scientific data, which are referred to as scientific curation.The term was first coined by Zorich (1995) in his paper on museum future collection management, to refer to maintenance and of museum objects and specimen information. At Digital Curation: Digital Archives, Libraries and e-Science Seminar, sponsored by Digital Preservation Coalition and British National Space Centre and held in London in 2001, term and with their modern meanings were proposed in context of e-Science which requires management, preservation, and sharing of a wide range of scientific (Beagrie & Pothen, 2001). However, specific definitions of these two terms were not mentioned at time.In 2002, Gray, Szalay, Thakar, Stoughton and Vandenberg (2002) mentioned term in their technical report about scientific publication and preservation. However, they also did not give a clear definition and only listed some related activities, such as recording gathering process, archiving all versions of programs and event logs, and keeping notes, memoranda and experimental data.In 2003, U K. Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) gave a clear definition to term for first time in its e-Science report: the activity of, managing and promoting use of from its point of creation, to ensure it is fit for contemporary purpose, and available for discovery and reuse (Lord & Macdonald, 2003). Here, refer to digital primary generated in academic and scientific research (Lord & Macdonald, 2003).After examining various definitions of from 2003 to 2007, Yakel (2007) concluded that digital has increasingly become an umbrella concept that includes preservation, curation, electronic records management, and asset management. However, he did not give clear definitions to these two terms.The Digital Curation Center (DCC), a U.K.-based center with a focus on building capacity, capability and skills for management, gives a formal definition to digital curation as maintaining, preserving and adding value to throughout its lifecycle (Digital Curation Centre, 2004). It also made a subtle distinction between data curation and digital curation as follows: both of them refer to looking after and adding value to data, and moreover latter also implies creating some new from existing to ensure its current and future usefulness (Digital Curation Centre, 2008). In 2011, Walters and Skinner (2011) distinguished between these two terms according to their application scope and deemed that is applied most often in science, engineering and social science fields whereas is used more frequently to describe humanities and arts environment.In China, some researchers also had discussions about intension and extension of these two terms. It has been generally recognized that is often used in U K. whereas is often used in USA (Wang, 2014; Xia, 2013; Yang, 2016). Data is also often used in natural science disciplines whereas is often used in libraries, archives and other social science disciplines (Wang & Shen, 2014). No matter how these two terms are defined, they do not have essential differences and can be used interchangeably in most cases. …

Exploring Ideology in the Adoption of Socio-Technical Assemblages

In this paper the authors explore ideological influences on the organizational adoption and development of the Managed Learning Environment (MLE), an enterprise level approach to information systems development in Higher Education, that was advocated by UK national agencies such as the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC). The authors present three detailed longitudinal case studies. To capture the ideological dimension of MLE we use the concept of Technology Action Framing. They find that the ideological dimension of the technology has a significant impact on organisational socio technical processes by shaping strong and often conflicting attitudes to the adoption of MLE. The findings contribute to better understanding of this pattern of socio technical adoption and development.

The impact of e-lib: the emerging paradoxes

An earlier edition of LIRN outlined the aims and progress to date of the IMPEL Project (IMPEL1) based at the University of Northumbria at Newcastle (UNN). The study which ran from&#x0D; 1993 to 1995 focused on the impact of the electronic environment on qualified Library and Information Services (LIS) staff in the Higher Education (HE) sector. Successful completion of case studies in six UK university LIS for the IMPEL Project was followed by an expanded study funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) as a Supporting Study under the e-lib programme. This project, IMPEL2 : Monitoring Organisational and Cultural Change, adopts a similar qualitative case study approach, retaining at its core the human aspects of electronic library development in a rapidly changing educational and technological environment.

Research data sharing: Developing a stakeholder‐driven model for journal policies

Conclusions of research articles depend on bodies of data that cannot be included in articles themselves. To share this data is important for reasons of both transparency and reuse. Science, Technology, and Medicine journals have a role in facilitating sharing, but by what mechanism is not yet clear. The Journal Research Data (JoRD) Project was a JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee)‐funded feasibility study on the potential for a central service on journal research data policies. The objectives of the study included identifying the current state of journal data sharing policies and investigating stakeholders’ views and practices. The project confirmed that a large percentage of journals have no data sharing policy and that there are inconsistencies between those that are traceable. This state leaves authors unsure of whether they should share article related data and where and how to deposit those data. In the absence of a consolidated infrastructure to share data easily, a model journal data sharing policy was developed by comparing quantitative information from analyzing existing journal data policies with qualitative data collected from stakeholders. This article summarizes and outlines the process by which the model was developed and presents the model journal data sharing policy.

Economic impacts of open access in Europe and the United States

The release of the UK Joint Information Systems Committee report Economic implications of alternative scholarly publishing models (Houghton and Oppenheim et al. 2009) generated considerable interest, particularly in the methods used to explore the benefits of open access publishing models, as well as their costs. During 2009, there were a number of follow-on studies. These included national studies in The Netherlands and Denmark, and a three-country comparison, which explored the impacts of alternative scholarly publishing models on one of the larger (United Kingdom), a mid-sized (Netherlands), and one of the smaller European countries (Denmark). This year there have been three further projects. The first focuses on Germany, and brings the German National Licensing Program (NLP) into the mix of alternative scholarly communication models. The second focuses on the United Kingdom, and uses the JISC EI-ASPM model to examine the cost impacts of alternative scholarly publishing models for a sample of UK universities. The third involved further application of some of the underlying methods to exploring the cost-benefit implications of the proposed US Federal Public Research Access Act (FRPAA). This presentation will examine what the methods developed, studies conducted and debate engendered tell us about the viability and sustainability of alternative publishing models, and their potential impacts on research, research infrastructure and the communication and application of publicly funded research findings.

Economic impacts of open access in Europe and the United States

The release of the UK Joint Information Systems Committee report Economic implications of alternative scholarly publishing models (Houghton and Oppenheim et al. 2009) generated considerable interest, particularly in the methods used to explore the benefits of open access publishing models, as well as their costs. During 2009, there were a number of follow-on studies. These included national studies in The Netherlands and Denmark, and a three-country comparison, which explored the impacts of alternative scholarly publishing models on one of the larger (United Kingdom), a mid-sized (Netherlands), and one of the smaller European countries (Denmark). This year there have been three further projects. The first focuses on Germany, and brings the German National Licensing Program (NLP) into the mix of alternative scholarly communication models. The second focuses on the United Kingdom, and uses the JISC EI-ASPM model to examine the cost impacts of alternative scholarly publishing models for a sample of UK universities. The third involved further application of some of the underlying methods to exploring the cost-benefit implications of the proposed US Federal Public Research Access Act (FRPAA). This presentation will examine what the methods developed, studies conducted and debate engendered tell us about the viability and sustainability of alternative publishing models, and their potential impacts on research, research infrastructure and the communication and application of publicly funded research findings.

Electronic peer review? (A report of the Electronic Libraries Programme ESPERE project).

The Electronic Submission and Peer Review project is one of approximately 60 projects funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) of the Higher Education Funding Councils, as part of its Electronic Libraries Programme (eLib). ESPERE is particularly concerned with the possibility of using electronic methods for peer review, initially for biomedical articles. The project is jointly run by the University of Ulster and the Society for Endocrinology and has seven learned&#x0D; society publishers as its partners.

Manuscripts Online

Manuscripts Online Angela R. Bennett Segler Written Culture 1000–1500. Dir. by Michael Pidd and Orietta Da Rold. <www.manuscriptsonline.org> Manuscripts Online: Written Culture 1000–1500 is a meta-database apparatus developed by the Universities of Sheffield, Leicester, Birmingham, York, Glasgow, and Queen’s University Belfast and funded by Jisc (the former Joint Information Systems Committee). The website operates as a specialized search engine that provides integrated access to electronic content already online; it performs three basic functions: first, it allows broad searchability across many databases specifically covering later medieval English literature and culture; second, it gives background information for each of the resources to which it is linked, painlessly introducing users to what is available online and linking users to those sites; finally, it creates an online platform for both individual and collaborative work. The project overall is a useful and exciting development in digital manuscript studies, though in its early stages it still has a few technical hiccups to work out. The foundation of the website is currently its expansive and seamlessly integrated access to twenty-one online manuscript and medieval text resources available through either the thumbnails at the bottom of the home page or through the “Resources” tab in the menu at the top of each page. The “About” page indicates that several new resources are being added in the summer of 2013, though mention is not made of what those resources are or specifically when they will be available. For more detail on the extant resources, the “Resources” tab in the navigation bar brings users to a hotlinked table of contents that lays out in three columns the name of the resource, a brief description, and a “source type” specifying what kind of document the resource contains. Indeed, there are a wide variety of source types—ranging from manuscripts to official documents, printed books (in Early English Books Online), maps, and works of art—so it is worth taking the time to point out what Manuscripts Online brings together for users. For the most part, source types seem intuitively associated and the site contains a sufficient breadth of these. “Official Documents” are usually historical archives tracking church and government documents. The “Manuscript” category varies the most widely and includes: the single source Auchinleck resource; resources that access categories [End Page 307] of manuscripts determined by space (e.g. the West Midlands), by library (the British, Australia, and Parker libraries), or by text (Pseudo-Bonaventuran Lives of Christ or Blake editions of the Canterbury Tales); databases that access pieces or aspects of objects broken down by codicological information (Late Medieval English Scribes); or full texts online (TEAMS). There are, however, several resources classified as “Literary Manuscripts” that seem to actually be corpus resources for linguistic information, such as the Middle English Dictionary, the Middle English Corpus of Verse and Prose, and the Middle English Grammar Corpus; creating a “Lexical” category might better reflect what users are actually accessing through links to these sources. More detail on the contents and methods of each resource, and its URL, can be found on each one’s descriptive page, accessible by clicking the name of the resource. The primary function of this accumulation of resources under one virtual roof is to facilitate broad-spectrum searches in a single online location, thus allowing for a rich and practical cross-referencing of keywords, works, or authors throughout manuscripts, the lexicon, historical documents and early printed books. Users can conduct searches refined in a myriad of different ways including by date, type of source, and even resource all while being able to search all the Middle English variants for an entry by selecting “include variants” on the search menu. For a more specific or filtered search, the “Custom Search” page allows a user to conduct complex Boolean searches and restrict results by dates, categories, resources, formats, and access type. Search results are organized by resource and provide options to view the top five or all sources from a particular resource. The “view all” option, however, has the inconvenient flaw of not allowing the user to access beyond the first twenty sources returned since it lacks a corresponding button. Selecting any source from...

Learning through projects: identifying opportunities for individual professional learning and development

This article is based on findings from the evaluation of a project established to enhance learning and teaching in higher education. This project took place within the University of Hertfordshire School of Education in England through the Change Academy for Blended Learning Enhancement (CABLE) project, the university version of the UK Higher Education Academy and Joint Information Systems Committee Pathfinder programme. The purpose of the project within the school was to increase the support for students’ reading at master’s degree level. The evaluation approach for the project was based on RUFDATA, which provides a framework for evaluation activity. Stakeholders’ reflections on the process and outcomes of the project included the contribution it had made to teaching and learning, and the opportunities it had provided for personal and professional learning and development. The CABLE project is one example of the many funded projects that are a common feature in higher education settings; all potentially of value for individual, team and organisational learning. In this article, the findings from the evaluation are used to suggest some questions that might be asked in future projects to prospectively and proactively identify opportunities for individual professional learning and development.

Digitised Diseases

Over the past year RCS museum staff have been working on a project called Digitised Diseases. This Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC)-funded project is a collaboration with the university of Bradford and Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA). Digitised Diseases aims to bridge the gap between modern clinical medicine, historic medical collections and archaeological assemblages in the study of osteological pathology. The project will produce an archive of 3D case studies of exemplar specimens that can be studied virtually.

Developing the Concept of Digital Literacy in the Context of Schools and Teacher Education

AbstractThis paper draws on initial findings of a project ‘Digital Futures in Teacher Education’ (DeFT) undertaken in 2011–12 as part of the third phase of the JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) UK Open Educational Resources (OER) programme. It discusses issues emerging from the claim that the open source movement is a form of collaboration and considers this in the context of attempts to embed OER practice in the UK within the teacher education sector and to develop guidance on practice in teaching and learning in the school sector involving digital literacy. Accordingly, the project team, based at Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) and The University of Sheffield (TUOS), worked towards release of OERs, in the form of an Open Textbook (Connexions 2009: What are open textbooks? Available from: http://cnx.org/content/m15226/latest/), which address the opportunities and challenges of creative and innovative uses of digital literacy in the context of the school and teacher education sectors. Working w...