Apologies for cross-posting
Dear Colleague
I am writing to let you know of a new scholarly Internet resource, and to
ask for your collaboration in researching the use of subject based
information gateways in higher education.
Researchers at the School of Information and Media have received
funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Board to investigate the
scholarly use of subject based information gateways in art and design.
An early aim of this research is to identify as many art and design
subject based information gateways of relevance to students, teachers
and researchers in higher education as possible.
A preliminary index of such resources has been posted at
http://www.rgu.ac.uk/~sim/research/gateway/index.htm.
This site also hosts an index of other gateways, including general
gateways and gateways on particular subjects across the disciplines, as
well as a annotated list of search engines with some guidance as to how
to make effective use of them.
All of these resources have been developed with a scholarly audience in
mind, although they should be of interest to anybody concerned with
better resource discovery on the Internet.
Most of us will we all too familiar with the problems associated with
using search engines to locate information. Provided they are up-to-
date, well designed, and informative subject based information gateways
do seem one credible solution to the Web's chaotic information
environment. They can be defined as World Wide Web resources
primarily devoted to facilitating access to external online sites, either
generally or in a given subject area. They are distinct from search
engines because their indices are compiled by human intellection, not
automatic robot. They are distinct from "favourite sites" lists because
they are organised by subject. Subject based information gateways may
be free-standing entities or may be integrated into other sites and
services. Subject based information gateways may vary immensely in
size, although for the purposes of this research it will be assumed that all
contain links to at least fifty unique sites.
Our pages are very much part of a ongoing research project, and will be
amended and expanded once the project is completed. For the moment
we would appreciate your feedback in a number of areas.
(a) Do you know of further art and design resources which should be
included in our index?
(b) Do you have general comments about the web pages and the
information provided there?
(c) Do you have any general comments about the usefulness of subject
based information gateways?
If you do have feedback, please email me personally at
[log in to unmask] Contact details are also available on the web site.
Many thanks for your co-operation.
David Dixon.
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David Dixon
Research Assistant
School of Information and Media
The Robert Gordon University
Garthdee Road Aberdeen AB10 7QE
Email: [log in to unmask]
Tel: 01224 263950
Fax: 01224 263939
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