Joining it all up:Information management in a

virtual world

Kate Fernie

kmf2@york.ac.ukHEIRNET

HEIRNET

http://www.britarch.ac.uk/HEIRNET/

Historic Environment Information Resources Network

HEIRNET

What is an HEIR anyway?

Problems for users:

HEIRNET

Where do you begin?

• Lots of separate resources

• Analogue & digital• Variable promotion

http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/heirnet/HEIRNET

Joining it all up: first steps

Joining it all up: next steps

http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/heirport/

callanish

CANMORE SCRAN

ADS

Portable Antiquities

Joined up doing = interoperability

HEIRNET

PAS

Canmore

ADS

SCRAN

Content

Happy User

HEIRPORT

Single access point

Network services

Aggregate content

Standards…

Interoperability = Standards

• Z39.50, Dublin Core, Bath profile, CIMI profile, XML etc.

• Semantics

• Agreement between partners

How are we doing it?

HEIRNETTarget specification:

http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/heirport/about.html

How difficult it is?

• Technology is tried & tested

• Standards exist

• Becoming easier to implement

• The content is there

HEIRNET

But…

Whose portal is it anyway?

Interoperability = people

• Decision makers• Techies• Curators• Users

HEIRNET

Decision makers

• Strategy

• Bid for resources

• Staff training & development

• Image

• Agree to collaborate

HEIRNET

The techies

The curators

• Quality assure resources

• Develop vocabularies

• Mediate content

• Support users

HEIRNET

Logs suggest good take up

• The user paradox

• Learning & teaching

• What is the market?

Users

HEIRNET

Developments

http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/heirport/HEIRNET

• Strategic development

• Agreements between sectors

• Language

• Finding resources

Issues

HEIRNET

Any questions?

HEIRNETKate Fernie

kmf2@york.ac.uk

http://britarch.ac.uk/heirnet/