A colleague here at Exeter has sent me the following 
message. I think this is a matter that may be of 
concern to quite a few members of AFLS.

Aidan Coveney

You may have heard that the Arts and Humanities Research 
Council (AHRC) has announced that it intends to stop 
funding the Arts and Humanities Data Service (AHDS) in the 
near future, after significant cuts in the AHRC's (and 
other funding councils') research budgets.

The AHDS provides (in my opinion) a valuable service for advice, 
encouragement and best-practice guidance for the use of technology in 
Arts and Humanities teaching and research. It also ensures that research 
outputs (such as digitised primary source material) are preserved and 
disseminated independently from the creating institutions.

Below are details of a petition to highlight the value of the AHDS and 
to raise awareness of the significant impact on A&H research that the 
budget cuts are having.

Please read the details and consider adding your name. The web address 
for the petition is:

     <http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/AHDSfunding>

Should you decide to sign the petition, don't forget to also respond to 
the email confirmation which you will receive upon signing, as your name 
will not be added without it!

***

*The Petition*

The AHRC/AHDS funding saga has now developed to the stage of petitioning
the Prime Minister to request AHRC reconsider their decision to withdraw
funding.  The petition is available at

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/AHDSfunding

and you are requested to consider signing it.  Details are given below
together with some reasons why the AHRC decision is considered wholly
inappropriate and disadvantageous to arts, humanities and national
interests.

-

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: 10 Downing Street
Subject: Your petition to the Prime Minister has been approved
     Your petition has been approved by the Number 10 web team, and
     is now available on the Number 10 website at the following
     address:
     http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/AHDSfunding/

     Your petition reads:

     We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to urge the Arts
      and Humanities Research Council to revisit its decision to
      withdraw funding from the Arts and Humanities Data Service,
      which has played a fundamental part in developing and
      supporting use of new digital technologies to support
      innovative research by UK researchers

      On 11 May 2007, Professor Philip Esler, Chief Executive of the
      AHRC, wrote to University Vice-Chancellors informing them of
      the Council's decision to withdraw funding from the AHDS after
      eleven years. The AHDS has pioneered and encouraged awareness
      and use among Britain's university researchers in the arts and
      humanities of best practice in preserving digital data created
      by research projects funded by public money. It has also
      ensured that this data remains publicly available for future
      researchers. It is by no means evident that a suitable
      replacement infrastructure will be established and the AHRC
      appears to have taken no adequate steps to ensure the continued
      preservation of this data. The AHDS has also played a prominent
      role in raising awareness of new technologies and innovative
      practices among UK researchers. We believe that the withdrawal
      of funding for this body is a retrograde step which will
      undermine attempts to create in Britain a knowledge economy
      based on latest technologies. We ask the Prime Minister to urge
      the AHRC to reconsider this decision.

--


*Further details concerning AHRC withdrawal of AHDS funding*



On the 14^th May 2007 the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
publicly announced its intention to withdraw funding from its digital
service provider, the Arts and Humanities Data Service (AHDS) from March
2008. The announcement is available on:

http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/news/news_pr/2007/information_for_applicants_to_AHRC_june_deadline.asp



An initial response by AHDS is available at:

http://ahds.ac.uk/news/ahrc-news-may07.htm



The AHDS Homepage outlining their full range of services is available at:

http://www.ahds.ac.uk/index.htm



This action severely threatens UK based arts and humanities digital
research and development on several fronts including:.



    1. Building an interconnected collection of digital research data –
       which can only be undertaken by a national organisation - is
       essential to the future development of arts and humanities research.
    2. The current AHRC action will inevitably cause the UK arts and
       humanities to fall behind international standards and to lose
       research findings of interest and value to future generations
    3. Creating an on-line representation of digital research data is a
       form of publication of research knowledge similar, and
       complementary, to printed publications.
    4. Whereas copyright libraries preserve standard publications there
       is as yet no national equivalent for digital research outputs and
       this action by the AHRC increases the likelihood of fragmentation
       and loss.
    5. Digital research outputs need to be properly curated and preserved
       for the long-term (and long-term means longer than the 3 years
       being suggested by AHRC as a new orthodoxy).
    6. Research data is complex requiring an infrastructure which can
       ensure the long term sustainability and accessibility of these
       materials.
    7. Preservation of digital materials is not simply back-up, another
       copy in a drawer, but requires skilled knowledge and actions which
       individual researchers cannot be expected to acquire.
    8. Institutional repositories are at best geared to make digital
       objects available to their community, they are not geared to
       independently deal with the complexities of infrastructure,
       longevity and national/international access:  any notion that 100+
       UK Universities can independently support the required degree of
       technical expertise is mistaken.
    9. Working to common standards and best practice is essential if the
       value of these resources is to remain accessible to future
       generations of scholars and in the current confused state it is
       not apparent who will provide this advice.
   10. The sudden and unwarranted withdrawal of funding from the AHDS
       threatens the future of arts and humanities research in the UK and
       severely weakens the effectiveness and stature of its associated
       Research Council.

Please sign the petition to the Prime Minister at
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/AHDSfunding
and/or voice your concerns directly to the AHRC (copies to JISC/HEFCE
and AHDS appreciated) by writing to the individuals below:



*AHRC:*

Professor Philip Esler

Chief Executive

Arts and Humanities Research Council

Whitefriars

Lewins Mead

BRISTOL BS1 2AE, UK

Email:  [log in to unmask]



*JISC/HEFCE:*

Dr Malcolm Read

Executive Secretary

JISC/HEFCE
Northavon House
Coldharbour Lane
BRISTOL BS16 1QD, UK

Email:  [log in to unmask]



*AHDS:*

Sheila Anderson
AHDS Executive
26 - 29 Drury Lane (3rd Floor)
King's College London
LONDON, WC2B 5RL, UK

Email:  [log in to unmask]



================================



----------------------
Aidan Coveney
University of Exeter