The JISC are currently inviting responses to proposals for a number of digitisation initiatives. One of the proposals - suggested by the Wellcome Library - is to digitise the complete back-run of a number of high-impact medical journals, covering a range of medical disciplines. In addition to digitising the entire back-run of the selected titles - some of which date from the mid 19th Century - the aim would be to OCR the text, thus enabling full-text searching of the contents.
A key aspect of this proposal is that only part of the funding would need to come from JISC, and that any JISC money would be at least matched (and I would hope more than matched) by funding from the Wellcome Trust. There are no guaranteed sums on the table - the Trust is understandably concerned about current market trends - but a positive commitment from JISC would be very helpful in levering things at this end.
To find out more information about the medical journals project, and learn about the other suggested digitisation initiatives, please visit http://www.jisc.ac.uk/dner/collections/digitisationproject.htm
If you would like to vote for the collection(s) you would most like to see digitised, please complete the form at the above site and send it to the JISC by 10th January 2003.
[I apologise for the blatant lobbying nature of this email. Obviously you will want to weigh up the benefits of medical content against all the other subjects and formats now in the ring.]
Thanks and seasonal best wishes.
Robert
Robert Kiley
Head of Systems Strategy - Wellcome Library.
183, Euston Road, London. NW1 2BE
Tel: 020 7611 8338; Fax: 020 7611 8726; mailto:[log in to unmask]
Library Web site: http://library.wellcome.ac.uk
The Wellcome Trust is a registered charity, no. 210183. Its sole Trustee is the Wellcome Trust Limited, a company registered in England, no 2711000, whose registered office is 183 Euston Road, London, NW1 2BE.
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