Spotlight

Its always fun getting up to speed with a new agenda. Working with new people and organisations; understanding new drivers and obstacles; learning about new technologies and processes and, of course, trying to get your head around new acronyms.
And so it has been with research information management over the last few months as I have begun supporting JISC’s ongoing major programme of work in the area of Research Information Management.

For most institutions the forthcoming implementation of the HEFCE Research Excellence Framework is providing the impetus for making a strategic assessment of their current provision and future requirements when it comes to ‘Research Information Management’ whilst maximising organisational efficiency and research potential continue to be key drivers for investment in this area for many HEIs.

Of course for all that may appear immediately different about the research information management agenda there is also enough similarity and overlap with the records and information management area that is my particular background to give a pleasing and potentially useful sense of symmetry.

For example, both records management and research information management:
- are strongly influenced and driven by external regulatory factors
- have an important part to play in increasing organisational efficiency
- require a consistent, strategic and organisation-wide response
- involve the effective management of information throughout its ‘lifecycle’
- require an understanding and rationalisation of business processes
- are change management activities which cannot be successfully tackled purely through the introduction of new technology alone

But records management isn’t the only agenda with strong links to Research Information Management. Flexible Service Delivery, Business and Community Engagement and Open Educational Resources are, amongst others, also of related interest and all areas that we at JISC infoNet are actively engaged with.

And so, as the first part of JISC infoNet’s support programme we have tried to reflect both these facets of Research Information Management on our new homepage for this agenda. So our RIM page attempts to start to define a little of what is unique to this area and provide links to the specific initiatives and agendas which are driving it whilst also placing it firmly in the broader context of these related areas of work.

Through the new Digital Repository infoKit, also available from this page and created in association with the Repositories Support Project, we also have a practical ‘how to’ guide to setting up and running digital repositories. The kit contains information on a broad range of topics running from the initial idea of a digital repository and the planning process, via detailed sections on repository set up and promotion, through to the maintenance and ongoing management of the repository.

Both these resources will continue to be added to and updated as the outcomes from our Research Information Management support and synthesis programme start to emerge over the coming months and as further information on the implications of the Research Excellence Framework become available.

Enjoy!

Doesn’t time fly? It doesn’t seem many months since we were announcing the results of our annual Information Legislation & Management Survey for 2008 and here we now are, launching the same for 2009.

This will be the 5th year we have run the survey, covering every year that the sector has been coping with the full implications of the Freedom of Information Act. But although the introduction of FOI specifically and the impact it was having on institutions may have been the initial stimulus for this work its scope has broadened considerably over the years to include a more rounded coverage of the other legislation (both old and new) which directly determines the way in which our organisations must manage their information.

With there soon to be five years of accumulated data to draw upon, what originally started as interesting ‘point in time’ snapshots of how institutions were dealing with these laws has now become a fascinating longitudinal picture of its impact on the sector over time. As such it is no wonder that it its results are looked to by practitioners, senior managers and policy makers alike as both a barometer of current levels of compliance and the likely nature of future challenges.
But of course we rely totally on the time and effort devoted to this by those responsible for FOI in institutions the length and breadth of the country to make this happen. The continued support of Universities UK and GuildHE in promoting the survey certainly helps enormously but this year, in a bid to ensure that we continue to meet the needs of the sector we have gone even further. Last December we encouraged interested parties to review the questions we ask and the answers they generate and to suggest ways in which the survey could be improved. Where possible we have acted on the feedback we received for this year’s survey. One of the main results of this consultation process will be felt a little further down the line in the spring when the survey is closed and the results launched. For as well publishing our own take on the data as we have done in previous years we will also be making the raw data available for people to slice, dice and interpret as they wish.

This year’s survey is available from now until Friday March 5th from our website

The Trialling of Collaborative Online Tools for Business and Community Engagement Project (BCEct Project)

The overall project aims to enhance the use and awareness of web technologies in collaborative practice undertaken by BCE practitioners across Further and Higher Education. The project is funded by the JISC BCE Programme, and runs from 1st July 2008 to 31st July 2010.

1. Evaluation (Max. Funding Available £8,000)

JISC infoNet  would like to commission an evaluation of the BCEct project following guidelines (evaluation handbook 2007) provided by JISC .  The project team expect the evaluation project to:

• Analyse and, where appropriate, suggest amendments to current project documentation e.g. the stakeholder analysis, project plan.
• Design and provide an appropriate methodology in agreement with the project team for carrying out an evaluation of the project.
• Gather appropriate evidence from across the project and provide an analysis of the evaluation data gathered.
• Provide an evaluation report, including an executive summary and PowerPoint presentation.

An overall evaluation framework exists for the BCE Programme and any successful bidder will be expected to work effectively with both the programme evaluator(s) and project team.  The project team estimate this work to take approximately 15 days (111hrs).

Where applicable the project team will be willing to support reasonable travel and accommodation costs (outwith maximum funding given above), however we envisage most of the work to take place remotely.

2. Supporting Trial Projects (Max. Funding Available £6,000)

The BCEct project includes eight trial projects  from across Further and Higher Education in the UK.  JISC infoNet would like to commission an organisation to support each trial project in the evaluation of their individual work.  The project team envisage this support in the form of one day workshops.  Workshops will:

• Provide each trial project with guidance on effective evaluation practices.
• Support each trial project in a practical start on their evaluation.
• Provide an initial synthesis of lessons learned so far across our range of partners.

The project team estimate this work to take approximately 10 days (74hrs).  The project team will support travel, accommodation and facilities where applicable (outwith maximum funding given above).

Deadline and Submission

The deadline for expressions of interest is 12th February 2010.  It is envisaged that bidders will be notified of the outcome of the marking process by 19th February 2010 and that work will commence on or around 1st March 2010.  JISC infoNet will accept one overall proposal for the above areas of work if an applicant wishes to combine them.  Proposals should be submitted to jiscinfonet@northumbria.ac.uk using the subject line ‘BCEct EOI‘.

JISC infoNet may require clarification on your bid and therefore require contact during the week commencing 15th February 2009.  A template for submitting your proposal is available for download here:  Expression of Interest Template.

Structure of Proposals

Proposals will be evaluated using the following criteria:

• Relevant experience in the area of project evaluation.
• Credibility/Track record, it would be favourable to include recommendations where possible.
• Project Management.
• Feasibility of approach.
• Value for money.

The New Year gives us the opportunity to reflect on some of our projects and initiatives from 2009 and consider how we move forward into challenging times in 2010.
Last year saw a number of innovative developments as well as the addition of a significant volume of new resources. Highlights include:

• the launch of this very blog in February, followed later in the year by our move onto Twitter
• resources on the wider strategic implications of the Bologna Process were launched (with more to follow in 2010 on HEAR)
• a wide range of activity in the Information and Records Management arena saw not only the local hosting of a very successful nationwide conference (’Building Bridges’ held in NewcastleGateshead in March) and the annual run of the Information Legislation survey, but significant new work on Measuring the Impact of Records Management which has rapidly gained momentum in the sector
• In the e-Learning sphere, exciting developments for the JISC’s Curriculum Design and Delivery programmes saw the beta launch of the ‘Design Studio’, and a significant addition of materials to our e-Portfolios resources
• Our work on providing resources to help with external engagement progressed with the relaunch of our Business and Community Engagement (BCE) ‘hub’ and the addition of new resources from institution-based projects on Embedding BCE
• The shaping of our Strategy infoKit (launched November 2009) marked an ambitious but hugely successful development in our resources, with the 15 colleges and institutions involved at the heart of the review process helping us create a package of materials that are truly ‘of the sector’

The service achieved recognition by being shortlisted amongst the 16 finalists for the inaugural World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) Awards in the sustainability category and the launch of JISC Advance in September saw JISC infoNet come together with the collective expertise of: JISC Digital Media, JISC infoNet, JISC Legal, JISCMail, JISC Netskills, JISC Procureweb, JISC RSC UK and JISC TechDis to address the new and challenging requirements emerging within the education and research communities and beyond.

The service achieved recognition by being shortlisted amongst the 16 finalists for the inaugural World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) Awards in the sustainability category.

On the ‘business as usual’ front, we continued to provide our popular workshops across the UK, and a JISC publication highlighted the experience of one college in maximising the combined use of our workshops and online resource. We also contributed workshops, presentations and seminars to a range of external events, delivering face-to-face support for the sector.

We have worked with numerous partners including many organisations and institutions to help co-fund and support projects and we look forward to further opportunities for collaborative work in 2010.

Some recent changes have also taken place within the team. We said a fond farewell to Joanne Hyslop earlier in the year, who left to pursue an exciting opportunity at Sunderland University. We also have a new addition to the team as Adam Hiles joined us in December as Administrator.

Some of the aforementioned strands of work continue during 2010, with institutional pilot work shortly to commence relating to the Strategy infoKit and the Impact Calculator. With the JISC Curriculum Delivery programme ending later this year, the support work for the Curriculum Design and Delivery programmes enters a new phase. A new strand of work on managing research information will kick off shortly, and in what will undoubtedly be challenging times ahead, the service’s materials and support on optimising processes and managing change, risk and projects effectively should be of particular use to the sector.

Keep an eye on our blog for news of what we’re up to in 2010!

Delegates gathered on the 10th December for a dissemination event, to highlight outputs from the ‘Embedding BCE’ project. Delegates heard presentations from all of the project partner institutions, as well as representatives from the JISC BCE Programme.

To coincide with the event, JISC infoNet launched their Embedding BCE infoKit.

The infoKit presents all of the findings from the project, as well as some of the methodologies and tools that allowed institutions to carry out a review of their Business and Community Engagement activities.

The five partner instituions were:

• University of Glamorgan
• Keele University
• Newcastle University
• Shrewsbury College of Arts & Technology
• University of Strathclyde

Presentations from the event are available on SlideShare, accompanied by a Diigo list that provides links to associated BCE resources.

The infoKit is also being presented at a number of other events across the UK, including last weeks JISC Winter Fayre, and the New Engineering Foundation Conference in January.

Look out for more BCE related additions in the New Year, including some new workshops.

“I hope that the material, when fully launched, will be used extensively in the sector”

Such were the sentiments of one of the fifteen members of the panel charged with reviewing and commenting on an early draft of our new Strategy infoKit, officially launched today.

The Strategy infoKit is a culmination of a 2-year project funded by the JISC Organisational Support Committee and is based on the often overlooked premise that planning and implementing strategic activity is something which affects everyone who works within an institution.

The Strategy infoKit is based around four main, but interconnected stages:

1. strategic planning
2. environment scanning
3. managing strategic activity
4. monitoring

A key message underpinning this resource, however, is the importance of taking an integrated approach to all four stages within the context of an inclusive, institution-wide and ongoing ‘strategic conversation’ – now far easier to achieve if institutions successfully utilise the potential offered here by technology.

Members of the senior management team are an important audience for this resource and will appreciate the opportunity to reflect on and compare their institution’s current approaches and the challenges they face with those outlined in the infoKit. But it is also anticipated that middle and junior management with responsibilities for undertaking strategic operations within faculties, departments and teams will welcome the practical, hands-on approach taken and the ‘pick and mix’ style packed full of often simple, but effective, tools and techniques.

Where possible we have sought to illustrate the guidance being given with links to exemplars of good practice from across the sector and beyond. However, we are also aware that many more examples exist out there that we would love to hear about and perhaps use to add further value to this resource. If you think your institution falls into this category and you feel you have some experiences it would be useful to share, why not tell us about it?

Another member of the review panel expressed their intention to “discuss using the infoKit with the senior management team, possibly on an away day”. Again, we’d love to hear of your own plans for using the infoKit and experiences of doing so in due course…

The latest news about JISC Innovating e-Learning 2009.

Charlie Leadbeater, influential innovator and adviser to companies, cities and governments, is opening the JISC Innovating e-Learning 2009 conference live in Elluminate on 24th November. In 2007, Charlie was ranked as the most outstanding innovation expert in the UK by the Financial Times. Read more about this exciting development on the JISC website.

Register now: next week is Reading Week!

Innovating e-Learning 2009 takes place online on 24-27th November with sessions based around the theme of Thriving, Not Just Surviving! The Reading Week begins very soon (Tuesday 17th November) and gives delegates time to browse, read, watch and listen before joining in discussions when the conference opens.

Sarah Knight, JISC programme manager and conference organiser, offers some advice for those taking part for the first time:

‘My top tip for making the most of the conference is for delegates to use the Reading Week to browse through the sessions and identify the ones they particularly have an interest in and want to follow closely during the conference.’

James Clay of Gloucestershire College and mobile learning expert and conference blogger, has also recorded a useful podcast of tips for new delegates. You can also view his exciting video trailer, ‘Wherever you are’ for the conference.

The two themes of the conference are Finding the Way and Meeting the Challenge. These include live keynotes in Elluminate and a variety of sessions, many using multimedia presentations. Alongside the main conference are a range of alternatives: the Have-a-Go, Social and Resource-Sharing areas, guided tours in Second Life led by staff from the JISC Regional Support Centres (RSCs) not to mention chilling out in the Virtual Coffee Shop and posting your very own comments on the conference blog.

Innovating e-Learning 2009 is a simply unmissable conference experience! Register now and let us know your top tip for making the most of an online conference. If you have not yet registered, please hurry. The conference programme and booking information are available at the JISC website.

You can follow the conference on Twitter, using #jiscel09

The JISC infoNet Information Legislation & Management survey has been run annually since 2005 and has established itself as an important reference source regarding the sector’s compliance with information-related legislation and the impact this is having on institutions. We are aware that completing the survey is time consuming and want to be sure that every question and the data it provides is considered useful by the sector. We are also aware that many institutions collect their own data regarding their own performance in this area and, where possible, it makes sense to harmonise our work with any emerging standard practice within the sector.

This review is therefore intended to give practitioners working within the sector the opportunity to influence future iterations of the survey, starting with the survey for 2009 which will be launched in January 2010. We do not expect reviewers to comment on every question (though please do if you wish) but would welcome any thoughts and comments provided. Please click the ‘Review’ button after the question you wish to respond to and complete the information requested.

We will consider all comments and suggestions received but obviously will not be able to incorporate all of them. We would also ask reviewers to bear in mind that one of the ever-growing advantages of this survey is the longitudinal picture that is beginning to emerge and which will get more illustrative each year the survey is run. This has only been possible by using the same questions each year. Reviewers are therefore asked to weigh up the advantages of changing a question against the potential disadvantages of losing any continuity and opportunity for cross-analysis with results from previous years.

The review survey is available from the JISC infoNet website

This review is open until Friday 27th November.

Please note: Due to the remit of the survey participation in this review process is only open to staff from the UK FE and HE sectors

Your participation in it is greatly appreciated.

JISC infoNet is pleased to announce the launch of its Records Management Maturity Model for the Further & Higher Education Sectors

This Maturity Model is designed to help further and higher education institutions to assess where their institution currently sits in relation to meeting the recommendations set forth within the revised Lord Chancellor’s Code of Practice on the management of records issued under section 46 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 issued on 16th July 2009. The Code is a supplement to the provisions in the Freedom of Information Act and its adoption will help authorities comply with their duties under the Act. Consequently, all relevant authorities are strongly encouraged to pay heed to the guidance in the Code.

The Model provides statements summarising 4 levels of ‘maturity’ against 33 aspects of what constitutes a records management programme appropriate for ensuring compliance with the Freedom of Information Act taken from the Revised Code of Practice.

Upon completion of the Model you will be in possession of an accurate, reliable and honest summary of the current level of maturity of your records management measures within your institution to assist with auditing, planning and resource allocation.

JISC infoNet is keen to hear your thoughts about and experiences of using the Maturity Model and is also very keen to have access to a copy of your completed Maturity Model. Any completed Models submitted will be treated confidentially and used to enable JISC infoNet to gain a picture of the overall maturity of records and information management across the sector, thus enabling us to better target our future work in supporting its development.

Further information on the background to the Maturity Model and the factors which influenced its development is provided in my RMfuturewatch blog for those interested

Earlier in the year we put ‘Should we be measuring the impact of records management?‘ under the Spotlight, this blog post referred to a selective literature review ‘An assessment of the current evidence base demonstrating the benefits of investing in the improvement of records management’ undertaken by JISC infoNet during 2009.

As a result of the discussions initiated by this review, JISC infoNet have developed an Impact Calculator; launched last week.

The Impact Calculator is a freely-available downloadable tool, that provides a mechanism for measuring the actual impact of a change initiative. The Impact Calculator has been developed to measure the wider impact a change initiative has on an organisation, not just the impact of records management.

Using the premise that most change initiatives have an effect on an institution’s administrative processes, the Impact Calculator uses process redesign as its focus for measuring impact. The introduction of a new student record system, a move to the centralised storage of records, or a move to use collaborative tools in the workplace, are different examples of change initiatives that can occur within an institution. Although these examples are very different they will all, to varying degrees, have an effect on the administrative processes within the institution. Focusing on the changes in these processes provides a mechanism for identifying the impact that such change initiatives have on the institution, whilst also placing the changes in its appropriate broader institutional context.

Here a methodology of deconstructing the process before and after the change initiative has occurred provides a systematic way of identifying the different ways and degrees that the change impacts on the institution. Deconstructing the process and comparing the before and after states assists in determining individual discrete areas of change. These areas can then be assessed for their potential for measurement. However, without a consideration of the costs incurred to achieve the benefit realised it is impossible to fully appreciate their significance, so the Impact Calculator allows you to record costs too.

This tool includes the means by which any organisation considering or currently engaged in a change initiative can capture and measure three distinct sets of data: performance information before and after completion of the initiative and the costs of implementation, thereby allowing an accurate calculation of its measurable benefits to be achieved that can be quantified in both monetary and non-monetary terms.

Using the Impact Calculator is primarily an exercise in collecting and recording information. Depending upon the scope of the initiative in question this could involve a significant amount of effort. Although there is a minimum amount of data required without which the Impact Calculator simply cannot function, we have also tried to design the tool to be flexible, allowing the user to define the level of granularity of data they wish to capture and subsequently generate via the tool depending upon their specific requirements.

The Impact Calculator and associated guidance is now available for download from www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/impact-calculator

JISC infoNet is also pleased to announce that it will be providing funding for a small number of UK further and higher education institutions to pilot the Impact Calculator within their institution. These pilot projects will suggest improvements to future versions of the Calculator, report back on their experiences of using it within their institution and publish the data they produce through its use. The pilots will be run between January and June 2010 and further details regarding how to formally express an interest in taking part will be announced in November.

We look forward to hearing about the experiences of anyone using the Impact Calculator and would be grateful if anyone blogging or tweeting about it could use the tag ‘impactcalc’ to allow us to track any such comments.