Recently a number of JISC members including Lynne Brindley and Derek Law,
plus Prof Fender, Chief Executive of HEFCE visited Australia to discuss
key issues of international collaboration. Quite a bit of current
Australian policy in the information area is using JISC developments such
as the Issues Paper and the JISC Strategy as a starting point for
discussion.
Key to the UK side of these developments is the JISC Committee for
Electronic Information (CEI), chaired by Lynne Brindley, whose Development
Working Group will take over FIGIT's role in monitoring eLib from next
April.
Below is the press release agreed by the Australians after the meetings,
which were viewed as potentially very valuable by all concerned.
Subject: Press release
From: [log in to unmask] (Steve O'Connor)
Date: 20/11/96 7:49 am
Press Release Canberra Chapter
Information strategies are critical to successful organizations. Success
for all organisations, and particularly universities, depends on effective
management use of the flood of information now available electronically.
A Key Strategic Alliance was formed at the Roundtable on Scholarly
communication, recently held in Canberra, with the establishment of the
'Canberra Chapter'. This formal alliance between leaders in information
strategic development in the UK and Australia will link Australian and UK
initiatives in handling global information issues.
The Alliance will see leaders in university libraries, information
technology and scholarly communication working together in the UK and
Australian Higher Education communities to collaborate in a number of
areas. The initial areas for consideration are Digitization, Intellectual
Property Rights, Document Delivery, Network Strategies, Resource Discovery
and Preservation.
Professor John Hay, Chairman of the AVCC Standing Committee for Information
Resources and Professor Brian Fender, Chairman of the Funding Council for
England have both agreed to fund resource staff in Australia and Britain to
ensure quick action on this vital agenda.
Convener of the working party and University Librarian at the University of
Technology Sydney, Steve O'Connor, said "Surviving in the electronic sea of
documents is a management issue which the Australian and English leaders
will now work on together."
Steve O'Connor
University Librarian
University of Technology, Sydney
PO Box 123
BROADWAY. NSW 2007.
AUSTRALIA.
Ph: 61 2 9514 3332/4
Fax: 61 2 9514 3331
E-Mail: [log in to unmask]
Web: http://www.uts.edu.au/div/library/index.html
--
Chris Rusbridge
Programme Director, Electronic Libraries Programme
The Library, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK
Phone 01203 524979 Fax 01203 524981
Email [log in to unmask]
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