This two year project aims to establish the Glasgow Digital Library as a virtual co-library of the majority of public institutions in Glasgow. The long term aim is to create a wholly digital resource to support teaching, learning and research at all levels in the city. The project will significantly enhance existing collaboration within the city and will bring together material currently separated by ownership and physical location.
The Glasgow Digital Library has start-up funding of £99,900 over two years from the Research Support Libraries Programme, with project staff starting work in January 2000. Further funding is being sought to ensure the long term future of the service.
An initial consultative structure has been set up to facilitate strategic and day-to-day management during the planning and implementation phase of the project. An evaluation group has been convened to monitor the effectiveness of the structure and, if necessary, to recommend a revised structure for the management of the operational service.
Work is ongoing to establish the GDL as a shared public access point for digital information in Glasgow, and to define the role of the GDL relative to other public library services and digital information providers within the city. Details are available on the GDL website at http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/
A series of task groups has been set up, charged with putting in place the policies and procedures needed to develop high quality digital collections. One group is drawing up a collaborative collection development policy for the GDL, which focuses on providing information about Glasgow, improving access to resources held within Glasgow and meeting the information needs of those who live, work or study within the city. Another group is investigating the issues surrounding collaborative purchasing and consortial licensing of electronic information products and services. A third group is piloting collaborative approaches to the provision of online reference services.
In addition, the GDL has initiated a number of content creation projects:
A comprehensive gateway to information resources on the history of Red Clydeside and the Scottish Labour Movement of the early 20th century. This Website will also provide access to digital copies of original source materials form the period - photographs, election ephemera, pamphlets and personal correspondence - drawn from a number of different collections in various Glasgow institutions. Provision of a full range of aids to enable further research and study on the rise of radical socialism on Clydeside will also be provided including annotated links to selected information available on the web and elsewhere eg bibliographies, relevant organisations, hard copy collections.
During the summer of 2000 when it became apparent that the future of Springburn Community Museum was under immediate threat, a race began to try to ensure that important elements of the museum’s rich collection of local photographs would still be accessible to the wider public.The GDL was able to secure a small amount of funding from SCRAN to develop an online exhibition of photographs and related materials from the former Community Museum. Images from the collection have been chosen to help convey important elements of the social and industrial history of Springburn, with particular emphasis on both the railway industry and community and tenement life in Springburn.
The ASPECT Project aims to create a digital archive of the ephemera - leaflets, flyers, postcards, newsletters - produced by the candidates and political parties for the first Scottish Parliamentary elections in May 1999. The archive will be accessible via a Web-based gateway within the GDL and will include digital reproductions of the original materials, some text transcriptions and supplementary information on electoral regions, political parties, the electoral process and results of the election. The archive will be based on Strathclyde University Library’s existing collection of election ephemera, which is acknowledged to be an important and unique record of a key event in Scottish history. The creation of a digital archive will significantly improve the accessibility and usability of the information contained within the collection whilst conserving the original materials
The GDL has been awarded funding by the Resources for Learning in Scotland consortium to create an online exhibition marking the centenary of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition of 1902-04 and a web-based gateway to information resources in the wider subject area of Antarctic exploration and research. The online exhibition will present photographs, artefacts, maps and documents from the collections of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society in the form of an illustrated account of the life and work of Dr.William Bruce and his scientific expedition to the Antarctic on board the Scotia in 1902-04.
The technical infrastructure is being developed in close collaboration with information systems staff in the partner organisations. It is based on a distributed model, both for content and for metadata, adheres to recognised standards relating to interoperability and web design, and implements several of the deliverables of the SCONE and HILT projects.
Initially, the public information programme was aimed at information services staff and managers from partner institutions. An awareness-raising event was held early in the project, and a web site and closed mailing list were set up to facilitate communication within the partnership. The project is now moving towards wider dissemination for end users and library staff.
In addition to the ongoing process of finding funding for content creation projects, the GDL is involved in a number of funding bids which originate with one of the project partners and are in line with the long term aims of the project. Some of these seek to further develop the technical infrastructure and functionality of the GDL, whilst others focus on the provision of resources and services in support of lifelong learning and research. Possible financial models for the development and delivery of the GDL beyond the initial project phase are being investigated; recommendations will take into account the funding situation in the closing stages of the project.
Tel: 0141 548 2379
Fax: 0141 548 2102
E-mail: michael.p.byers@strath.ac.uk
Content: Gill Davenport
Last updated 28 March 2003