The following may be of interest

The Resource Discovery Network (RDN) http://www.rdn.ac.uk

A major new network of discipline-based gateways or “hubs” has been set 
to provide students, lecturers and researchers with better access to
high
quality resources on the Internet. The Resource Discovery Network (RDN)
catalogues and provides links to web sites containing a wide range of
educational materials, whether they are electronic journals, database
records, bibliographies or teaching resources. All the resources in the
network have been selected by subject experts, who provide in-depth
descriptions of their quality, utility and reliability. Users can either
access these resources via the individual hubs or, by taking advantage
of
the RDN’s sophisticated cross-searching software, run interdisciplinary
searches across the entire network. The RDN also offers academics and
lecturers the opportunity to forward their own resources (including
articles, databases and newsletters) to the relevant hubs, allowing them
to reach a wider audience.

Funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), the RDN is
organised into five hubs, some of which already existed as subject-based
gateways. The RDN covers Medicine and the Life Sciences; Engineering,
Computing and Mathematics; the Humanities;  the Physical Sciences; and
the
Social Sciences, Business and Law. A hub for the Creative Arts and
Industries will be added at a later date. 

Because of the variety of resources it catalogues, the RDN will be
relevant to non-academics working in related professional fields, such
as
medicine or engineering. The RDN is expected to develop significant
links
beyond academia. Many of the hubs have been developed in partnership
with
learned societies and related professional and cultural institutions.
The
RDN will continue to establish partnerships in both the public and
private
sectors in order to expand, creating opportunities for content provision
and funding. 

The RDN hubs are based at various universities around Britain: 

- BIOME (Medicine and Life Sciences) is led by the University of
Nottingham 

- Humbul (Humanities) is led by the University of Oxford 
- EMC (Engineering, Mathematics and Computers) is led by Heriot-Watt 
  University 

- PSIgate (Physical Sciences) is led by CALIM, the Consortium of
Academic 
  Libraries In Manchester

- SOSIG (Social Sciences, Business and Law) is led by the University of 
  Bristol 

The RDN is presently funded by the JISC, the Arts and Humanities
Research
Board (AHRB) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). 

The RDN is managed by the RDN Centre, based at King’s College, London
and
The University of Bath. For more information please contact
                                        
Justine Kitchen
Information and Training Officer
Resource Discovery Network Centre
King's College London
Strand
London WC2R 2LS
Tel:    +44 (0)171 848 2935
Fax:    +44 (0)171 848 2939
Email: [log in to unmask]

Or visit our website at http://www.rdn.ac.uk



-- 
Dr Jane Sandall
Reader in Midwifery
Dept. Midwifery
City University
London, E1 2EA
Tel: 0171 505 5871 
Fax: 0171 505 5866 

[log in to unmask]
http://www.city.ac.uk/barts/midwiferyintro.htm


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