David Dawson
Museums New Technology Adviser
MGC, 16 Queen Anne's Gate, London SW1H 9AA
email: [log in to unmask] tel: +44 (0)171 233 4200
Visit us on-line at www.museums.gov.uk


> ----------
> From: 	Sonja BISSET (7403)[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Reply To: 	Sonja BISSET (7403)
> Sent: 	06 December 1999 08:43
> To: 	'JISC-ANNOUNCE'
> Cc: 	[log in to unmask]
> Subject: 	RDN Press Release
> 
> The Resource Discovery Network (RDN)	http://www.rdn.ac.uk
> 
> A major new network of discipline-based gateways or "hubs" has been
> set up
> to provide students, lecturers and researchers with better access to
> high
> quality resources on the Internet. The Resource Discovery Network
> (RDN)
> catalogues and provides links to web sites containing a wide range of
> educational materials, whether they are electronic journals, database
> records, bibliographies or teaching resources. All the resources in
> the
> network have been selected by subject experts, who provide in-depth
> descriptions of their quality, utility and reliability. Users can
> either
> access these resources via the individual hubs or, by taking advantage
> of
> the RDN's sophisticated cross-searching software, run
> interdisciplinary
> searches across the entire network. The RDN also offers academics and
> lecturers the opportunity to forward their own resources (including
> articles, databases and newsletters) to the relevant hubs, allowing
> them to
> reach a wider audience.
> 
> Funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), the RDN is
> organised into five hubs, some of which already existed as
> subject-based
> gateways. The RDN covers Medicine and the Life Sciences; Engineering,
> Computing and Mathematics; the Humanities; the Physical Sciences; and
> the
> Social Sciences, Business and Law. A hub for the Creative Arts and
> Industries will be added at a later date. 
> 
> Because of the variety of resources it catalogues, the RDN will be
> relevant
> to non-academics working in related professional fields, such as
> medicine or
> engineering. The RDN is expected to develop significant links beyond
> academia. Many of the hubs have been developed in partnership with
> learned
> societies and related professional and cultural institutions. The RDN
> will
> continue to establish partnerships in both the public and private
> sectors in
> order to expand, creating opportunities for content provision and
> funding.
> 
> The RDN hubs are based at various universities around Britain: 
> 
> *	BIOME (Medicine and Life Sciences) is led by the University of
> Nottingham 
> *	Humbul (Humanities) is led by the University of Oxford 
> *	EMC (Engineering, Mathematics and Computers) is led by
> Heriot-Watt
> University 
> *	PSIgate (Physical Sciences) is led by CALIM, the Consortium of
> Academic Libraries In Manchester
> *	SOSIG (Social Sciences, Business and Law) is led by the
> University
> of Bristol 
> 
> 
> The RDN is presently funded by the JISC, the Arts and Humanities
> Research
> Board (AHRB) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). 
> 
> The RDN is managed by the RDN Centre, based at King's College, London
> and
> The University of Bath. For more information please contact 
> 					
> Justine Kitchen
> Information and Training Officer
> Resource Discovery Network Centre
> King's College London
> Strand
> London WC2R 2LS
> Tel:    +44 (0)171 848 2935
> Fax:    +44 (0)171 848 2939
> Email: [log in to unmask]
> 
> Or visit our website at http://www.rdn.ac.uk
> 


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