> As we move through the middle phase of the eLib programme, we have to
> start thinking more and more about dissemination. In many ways, the whole
> point of the eLib programme is wasted if we do not have effective
> dissemination. But none of us are very sure how this should be done.
Well, one thing that will be done is that sometime in the next 7 weeks,
the eLib Web pages will disappear, to be replaced by a new set, which are
more "deliverable" based ie they focus/highlight what eLib has produced,
as opposed to what it will produce (and I'm not very sure how this will be
done either, at the moment :-)
This is partly 'cos of a noticeable change of attitude regarding eLib from
non-eLibbers - instead of asking "what will the electronic libraries
programme build or produce", people now seem to ask "what has it built
or produced" - "Where's the Beef [1]", in other words.
> Obvious activities which could lead to dissemination include:
>
> a) focus groups
> b) pilot services
> c) training
> d) awareness articles (eg Ariadne, D-Lib, LA Record etc)
(the first two of which have new editions out sometime this
friday/saturday)
To that list I would add:
* The Times Higher Education Supplement - very important in terms of the
audience it reaches
* Other LIS Web journals, such as Libres, PACS review, CAUSE/EFFECT and
the Journal of Academic Media Librarianship. Though these, like D-Lib,
have a more international perspective than a UK one, publicity overseas
should not be disregarded - a high profile in the LIS communities of the
US, Europe and Australia tends to propogate back to the UK LIS community.
* The IT/networking supplements of the broadsheet newspapers (though it is
notoriously tricky to get something in there)
* The main sections of the broadsheet newspapers - as yet, there hasn't
been a major article on an eLib project or the programme as a whole in the
main sections of the Times, Guardian, Indie or Telegraph - with the
readership of these publications, such an article would reach a *lot* of
people in one go.
Don't also forget mailing lists such as lis-elib (and lis-link). Lis-elib,
for example, has several contracted and freelance journals who specialise
in matters Library and Information Technology lurking on it. There are
also *many* other mailing lists out there, such as mailbase [2] ones and
more international [3] ones. For example, Ariadne is publicised on 82
different mailing lists [4].
> e) reports of various kinds (in print and/or on the web)
> f) workshops
There is definitely potential for multi-project collaboration here (and
some of it is already going on). In the training and awareness, and the
access to network resources parts of the program, several projects run
workshops, often in collaboration with other projects.
What might be good (or maybe not) is for some large-scale
workshops/demonstrations that cover *all* areas of the programme, so
people [5] could be exposed to a few subject gateways, a couple of
electronic journals, see how a document delivery system works, play with a
pre-print archive, access some digitised material etc - all in *one* go.
This way, people might gain a more holistic view of the Electronic Library
(instead of just being aware of one component, or view of it, in
isolation).
> g) conferences
h) TV or radio - the latter is probably more feasible (there have been a
couple of eLib projects that have been plugged on radio's two and four).
Am not sure how one goes about trying to raise awareness via these media
(Chris R. on desert island discs? Maybe not :-)
i) Getting your Web pages linked from other sites, and generally getting
the profile raised via this way. Try and build Web rings ie get similar
projects to link to each other. And look for the large digital library
project indexes, such as the IFLA one at:
http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/ifla/II/diglib.htm
...and try and get them to accept a description of, and a link to, your
project.
j) The Library Schools. Often overlooked, but *very* important, as it will
be the students who pass through the library schools who will be using,
training, maintaining and participating in the practises, and with the
physical parts, of this Electronic Library. How to reach these students
best of all (maybe they, and Library School staff, have ideas) - workshops
for students, targeted literature, etc, is something eLib projects (in
singularity and collectively) and the programme as a whole, may wish to
think about as a matter of some priority.
Feedback welcome, especially from those people who will be using the
Electronic Library - how best do *you* want to be kept up to date with
developments?
JK
[1] - eLibbers: don't bother with any BSE jokes; they won't help your
cause for continuation funding :-)
[2] - http://www.mailbase.ac.uk/ - use the search mechanisms to find
suitable lists for your subject area. Many people in the UK LIS
communities hang out on mailbase lists, so they should be an essential
part of each eLib projects publicity strategy.
[3] - have a look at resources such as http://www.liszt.com/, which can
help you to track down useful digital library/LIS mailing lists
[4] - *reponsibly* - postings are usually edited to suit the target
audience and core geographic distribution of the list membership. And it
isn't publicised in inappropriate places eg discussion-only forum.
Spamming does not make for a good image
[5] - by people, would especially mean Librarians, both head and subject,
academic fund holders and influencers, VC's and other people who have a
say in how libraries in academia
Tel: 01225 826354 (live) 01225 465064 (messages) Fax: 01225 826838
Web: http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/~lisjwk/
"I'm not the only one, starin' at the sun..."
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