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From: Caroline Warman <[log in to unmask]>
Dear Modern Languages Colleagues,
I would like to let you know about a new policy-making body, the
Research Information Network (RIN http://www.rin.ac.uk). It has been
established for an initial three-year period, with £3 million of
funding, by a consortium of UK sponsors: the four Higher Education
funding bodies, the three National Libraries, and the eight Research
Councils. Its mission is:
"To lead and co-ordinate new developments in the collaborative provision of
research information for the benefit of researchers in the UK"
also:
"Its ambition is to serve the research community by helping to cut
paths through the ever-growing and increasingly-complex mass of
information that underpins the work of all researchers."
What this may mean is establishing policy with regard to library
collections and electronic resources (what is made available to
researchers, what is perhaps put online digitally especially for them).
It may also mean 'collaborative collection management and storage' ie
focusing on some libraries and reducing duplicate collections
elsewhere.
It will establish its decisions partly by committee: ML is represented
by me in the Arts, Humanitites and Social Sciences group (total 12
members http://www.rin.ac.uk/?q=consultative-group-ahs). Before
attending the first meeting March 10, I'd be extremely grateful if
colleagues could let me know any views they have on ML provision in
libraries and electronically, and what they regard as priorities for
future provision, and how they would see such a body as best serving
ML's 'research information needs'.
Any responses can be sent directly to me
([log in to unmask]). I hope colleagues will be happy for
me to request further responses when the need arises, and will make
sure I post any significant developments to your list. Let me know if
there are other message boards etc that I should be contacting. Many
thanks.
All best,
Caroline Warman
--
Dr Caroline Warman
Fellow and Tutor in French
Jesus College, Oxford OX1 3DW
01865 279752
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