Jisc Pod Casts

JISC Podcast

Podcasts from the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC)

Podcast 109: Digital Economy Act advice for universities and colleges
The controversial Digital Economy Act 2010 has generated much public debate, and the implications for colleges and universities remain unclear. The Act aims to tackle online copyright infringement by giving Ofcom, the communication industry regulator, new powers to deal with it. JISC is advising all institutions to consult the Ofcom codes by 31 July 2010 and to start preparing now to understand the implications of the law. Nicola Yeeles from JISC spoke to Kirsty McLaughlin, legal information specialist at JISC Legal, to find out what the new Act could mean for those who work and learn in universities and colleges.
Podcast 108: What does the digital information seeker look like?
New research from JISC suggests that the way people look for information in libraries and online is changing. JISC recently commissioned a report from the OCLC to bring together a number of different studies in the area. Senior research scientist Dr Lynn Silipigni Connaway at OCLC Research in the US talks to Nicola Yeeles about how researchers 'bounce' and 'whirl' and what that means for the library of the future.
Podcast 107: How virtual research environments are opening doors for researchers
JISC held a reception at the recent British Academy workshop on the arts and humanities, where researchers studying documents and manuscripts explored how virtual research is transforming the way they work and the discoveries they make. Nicola Yeeles spoke to Frederique van Till, JISC programme manager, and Alan Bowman, Camden Professor of Ancient History at the University of Oxford, about the benefits for researchers in using virtual research environments (VREs) and what JISC is doing to innovate in the area.
Podcast 106: Cloud Computing - a US perspective
As global markets report a cloud computing boom, JISC is preparing to announce the results of this year's studies into how this kind of virtual computing can support research. It's just one of the topics on the agenda for the JISC/CNI conference in Edinburgh this week which explores strategies, technologies and infrastructure to manage research and teaching data in a fast changing environment. Ahead of his conference session tomorrow, Professor Greg Jackson, vice president of policy and analysis at EDUCAUSE, shares his views with Nicola Yeeles from JISC on what the UK can learn from the USA about cloud, and why experts in the States are also looking across the Atlantic for solutions.
Podcast 105: Virtual Research Environments - the next steps
Researchers in different locations can now work online together and collaborate with access to all kinds of resources, through what is known as a virtual research environment (VRE). Last week, in the spirit of international co-operation, a workshop on VRE's was run by the Knowledge Exchange, a partnership of four national organisations for technology in higher education which includes JISC from the UK alongside ICT bodies from Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. Delegates from around the world attended the Rotterdam workshop to gain an overview of the current state of affairs for VRE's, draw conclusions from the firsthand experience of the delegates, and share ideas for future cooperation on practical as well as strategic levels. We asked some delegates what their backgrounds were in the area of VRE's, what they were looking forward to learning and what they had already learnt from the workshop.
Podcast 104: Efficiency and effectiveness in public and private education
As the financial situation that universities face looks increasingly likely to be difficult, collaboration is becoming crucial as a way of improving effectiveness and efficiency. At this week's JISC sponsored HEPI (Higher Education Policy Institute) Westminster breakfast briefing Professor Sir Tim O'Shea, Principal of the University of Edinburgh and Chairman of JISC, and Carl Lygo, Principal of BPP Law School and CEO of BPP Holdings, presented public and private models of sharing services and streamlining processes. In this podcast JISC's Maike Bohn spoke with both Carl and Tim to highlight the main points from the seminar.
Podcast 103: Should business engage more with universities?
With challenging times ahead for the UK's higher education sector, the role of business and industry in higher education moves to centre stage in the debates about funding, international competitiveness and employment. This week's JISC sponsored HEPI (Higher Education Policy Institute) Westminster breakfast briefing saw a passionate discussion between Sam Laidlaw, Chief Executive of Centrica, and Chair of the CBI Higher Education Task Force, and Professor Tim Wilson, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hertfordshire, to explore why and how business should engage more with universities, both financially and intellectually.
Podcast 102: Making the business case for digital preservation
The Blue Ribbon Task Force is an international group that has been looking at the current situation of preserving and accessing digital information not only in the UK but also in the US. JISC's Rebecca O'Brien caught up with Chris Rusbridge, director of the JISC-funded Digital Curation Centre, who has been part of the taskforce, on why it is important to preserve digital information within the UK and what needs to be done in the future to organise research data.
Podcast 101: JISC Conference Keynote speaker talks Green ICT
Bill St. Arnaud is the President of a Green-IT consulting firm St. Arnaud-Walker and Associates Inc. He was formerly the Chief Research Officer for CANARIE Inc.2 Canada's Advanced Internet Development Organisation and he is one of the keynote speakers for JISC's 2010 Annual Conference which takes place on the 12th and 13th April in London. In this podcast via Skype with JISC's Rebecca O'Brien, Bill shares what he will be talking about in his speech and his thoughts on the importance of greening technology for colleges and universities.
Podcast 100: The Financing of Higher Education
At the recent Higher Education Policy Institute and JISC seminar Nicola Dandridge, Chief Executive of Universities UK, and Nicholas Barr, Professor of Public Economics at the London School of Economics, gave their views on the topic of the financing of higher education as a starting point to generate discussion and debate with an invited audience. JISC's Rebecca O'Brien spoke with both Nicholas and Nicola about how higher education is currently funded, how the current system could be changed in response to the increasing pressure on universities to reduce costs and the value that universities contribute to the UK economy.
Podcast 99: How to build a business case for an Open Access policy
A new report published by JISC highlights the cost benefits, impact on society and the benefits to researchers as well as their universities in distributing their research through open access routes. For the first time, universities will have the evidence to be able to build their own business case for adopting an open access policy. In this podcast JISC's Clare Groom talks via Skype with Alma Swan, author of the report, and Neil Jacobs, programme manager for JISC's open access work, about the report's findings and its implications for universities, researchers and publishers.
Podcast 98: Sharing and re-using catalogue records in a Web 2.0 world
Web 2.0 applications are making it easier for librarians to share their library catalogue records for re-use, but this comes with a new raft of legal and contractual issues. JISC has just published guidance for librarians to help them navigate these challenges, so JISC's Nicola Yeeles spoke to Curtis and Cartwright's Claire Davies and Max Hammond, who carried out the research for the guidance, to find out what librarians should be looking out for.
Podcast 97: Are standards and quality comparable?
HEPI, the Higher Education Policy Institute is the UK's only independent think tank devoted exclusively to higher education and runs a series of policy seminars to improve higher education in the UK by creating a better informed policy environment. This year's seminar series is being organised jointly with JISC, and JISC's Rebecca O'Brien speaks with Bahram Bekhradnia director of HEPI to talk through the topics which are raising concern among higher education leaders.
Podcast 96: Maximising motivation: how JISC is improving student retention
For new students, December saw the end of their first academic term within further education and many colleges and universities will now be trying to predict which students will not be returning this January. In this podcast Nicola Yeeles speaks to Lawrie Phipps, one of JISC's programme managers, to find out what JISC is doing to help improve student retention and motivation.
Podcast 95: Low Carbon Computing: a fresh approach to new technology
TechWatch is launching a new report called Low Carbon Computing which looks at how UK colleges and universities can reduce their carbon emissions to meet government targets. In this podcast interview JISC's Rebecca O'Brien is joined by Gaynor Backhouse, director of TechWatch and co-author of the report.
Podcast 94: Getting to grips with the Innovating e-Learning online conference
With JISC's Innovating e-Learning 'online conference' fast approaching, the phrase may conjure up images of faceless avatars communicating over complicated web technology. In this podcast Nicola Yeeles speaks to the guest blogger at the conference, James Clay of Gloucestershire College, and finds that the online conference is much more accessible than that, as well as getting some top tips on how delegates can get the most out of the event.
Podcast 93: Minister David Lammy speaks to JISC about the new HE Framework - Higher Ambitions
In 2008 John Denham, Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills launched a consultation called the Higher Education Debate, to seek expert thinking, fresh ideas and comments on the future of higher education for the next ten to fifteen years. Today, the new HE Framework was launched by David Lammy (Minister of State for Higher Education) and in this podcast interview with JISC's Rebecca O'Brien, he explains the Government's vision of the future for UK higher education and shares his thoughts on the future of learning, teaching and research.
Podcast 92: Professor David Baker discusses JISC and the new Chairs' committee
In this podcast Professor David Baker, Deputy Chair of JISC and Chair of JISC's Chairs' Committee, talks with Nicola Yeeles about JISC and his aspirations for the Chairs' Committee's work.
Podcast 91: Open Access - Harvard's Success Story with Robert Darnton
In October 2008 Harvard University in the US adopted an open access policy for all its research papers to be made available in their university repository, in an opt out basis. 12 months on, since the policy was adopted, JISC's Rebecca O'Brien speaks with Professor Robert Darnton, Director of Harvard University Library and trustee of New York Public Library and the Oxford University Press (USA), about the cultural change that is taking place at Harvard and the background to why professors at the university decided to share their knowledge in this way.
Podcast 90: JISC's online logbooks make waves
Climate change and global warming are recognized as key areas of importance to the research community and the wider population. JISC has opened up historical naval logbooks to enable researchers to use these resources for untapped data about historic weather, to help make predictions about the future of climate change. Among the 300 logbooks are those of HMS Victory, the Beagle and the Bounty, as countless historic moments of the 18th century are now preserved online. In this podcast Nicola Yeeles speaks to project leader Dr Dennis Wheeler about how JISC is helping to set the course for climate change research.
Podcast 89: JISC launches enriched digital resources
From 18th century ships' logbooks, through modern contemporary design to an online Olympics 2012 archive, JISC's latest online content programme is preserving the past, present and future for UK universities and colleges. These enriched resources for UK universities and colleges are the result of a £1.8m investment, so Nicola Yeeles spoke to JISC programme officer Ben Showers to find out why this is taking place and discuss the programme highlights. How can enriching digital resources make life better for teachers, researchers and students?
Podcast 88: Mixed messages: researchers' perceptions of research assessment affects what they publish and why
JISC and The Research Information Network (RIN) have been investigating how, why and what influences UK researchers in publishing and disseminating their findings. The report also looked at citation behaviour (how researchers reference other published work) and the perceived influence this has had on the research assessment and the future research excellence framework. Rebecca O'Brien from JISC is joined by Michael Jubb (RIN Director) via Skype, and Neil Jacobs (Programme Manager for Information Environment at JISC), to talk through why the research was undertaken and what the findings mean for researchers, policy makers and funders.
Podcast 87: E-books provide 'safety valve' for librarians
For a year, 26 e-coursetexts across four subject areas (Medicine, Business, Engineering and Media Studies) were made available to 127 UK universities who took part in a National E-books Observatory Project funded by JISC and carried out by JISC Collections. The largest study of its kind, it has seen the behaviours of over 50,000 participants and observed to see how they use a selection of academic electronic textbooks. In this podcast Rebecca O'Brien is joined by Caren Milloy, the project's manager at JISC Collections, and her co-author of the National e-books Observatory Project report, Ian Rowlands from CIBER who carried out the study.
Podcast 86: What are your views on the Digital Revolution?
The internet has opened up the way people communicate, learn, teach and research. With the increase in social networking and collaboration over the internet, a unique production for BBC Two is underway which is looking at how the web is changing our lives. The documentary, with a working title of 'Digital Revolution', is starting with how the web started and is looking at its journey to the present day. As much of JISC's work focuses on open source, collaboration and how digital technologies are used in teaching, learning and research Rebecca O'Brien from JISC caught up with Dan Biddle and Dan Gluckman from BBC Two's production team to find out more about the project.
Podcast 85: Mobile Learning: Telling Tales
Mobile or handheld learning is already changing the way students learn, both in the classroom and on the move and JISC is looking to guide future developments in this area. At a MIMAS organised conference Westminster University in July this year, delegated explored the topic 'Mobile Learning: Telling Tales' and Nicola Yeeles, JISC's PR Officer, went along to the to find out more.
Podcast 84: Effective Practice in a Digital Age
In a world where we are surrounded by technology, where boundaries between our personal and professional lives merge, JISC's e-Learning team have been looking at how to support teachers, researchers and academics with best practice advice and guidance for working in a 'digital age'. In this podcast with Rebecca O'Brien, Sarah Knight, a JISC e-Learning programme manager, shares the success of the team's Effective Best Practice guide series and launches a new publication 'Effective Practice in a Digital Age'. This new guide puts the teacher and learning at its centre and takes those new and experienced in using Web 2.0 technologies on a journey to enhance their practices and illustrates through case studies how practitioners are opening up their practice and enhancing the learner experience as well as their own.
Podcast 83: The Edgeless University - Minister announces new £20m open learning innovation fund
At the launch event of the Edgeless University publication, a report produced by Demos and commissioned by JISC, David Lammy Minister for Higher Education and IPR announced a new £20m open learning innovation fund for UK universities.
Podcast 82: Virtual Research Environments 3 - bridge the gap for researchers
As JISC launches a new suite of work in virtual research environments (VRE), Frederique Van Till programme manager in e-Research running JISC's VRE3 programme, talks to Rebecca O'Brien about how these environments can not only bring people together within universities but how projects are connecting outside their institution, with industry and business too.
Podcast 81: 'In From the Cold', a report on Orphaned Works
The Strategic Content Alliance (SCA) and The Collections Trust have produced a report called 'In from the Cold' which looks at the issues surrounding problematic usage of Orphaned Works. In this interview to discuss the report, JISC Press & Public Relations Manager Rebecca O'Brien is joined via Skype by Naomi Korn, the SCA's Intellectual Property Rights consultant, who is the author of the report.
Podcast 80: 'HE in a Web 2.0 World' report
The Committee of Inquiry into the Changing Learner Experience report, 'HE in a Web 2.0 World', considers the impact that Web 2.0 and the collaborative, social web are having on higher education in the UK. In this podcast interview (recorded via Skype) Kerry O'Neill talks to Sir David Melville, Chair of Lifelong Learning UK and of the committee; Ellie Russell, committee member and a student at the University of Leeds; and Adrian Godfrey, Director, Internet Business Solutions Group, Cisco Systems Inc, to get their opinion on the report's findings.
Podcast 79: A self-confessed geek on JISC's 'Developer Happiness' event
In this podcast Kerry O'Neill talks, via Skype, to digital libraries and e-learning Programme Manager David Flanders who speaks about the benefits of Web 2.0 technologies, as well as the aspirations and outcomes of a JISC-supported event for web developers called 'Developer Happiness Days'.
Podcast 78: How JISC opens up resources for education
In this podcast Kerry O'Neill talks with e-learning Programme Manager David Kernohan about what JISC is doing in the Open Educational Resources (OER) arena.
Podcast 77: University of Oxford and Harvard University talk the future of libraries
In this podcast Michelle Pauli speaks with Sarah Thomas (The Bodleian's Librarian and Director of Oxford University Library Services) & Professor Robert Darnton (Director of the Harvard University Library) about their views on the library of the future. Sarah and Robert are two of six panellists who took part in the 'What is the library of the future?' debate in Oxford during April.
Podcast 76: What is the library of the future? with Chris Batt
Welcome to the JISC Podcast in which Michelle Pauli talks to Chris Batt, of Chris Batt Consulting, about the Libraries of the Future debate being held at Oxford University at the beginning of April 2009.
Podcast 75: Mashing up research and connecting with learners through social media
Ewan McIntosh, Digital Commissioner for 4iP, talks with Rebecca O'Brien from JISC via Skype about mobile gaming, how thinking from the learner's perspective is key, and how universities have a virtual role in mixing logical thinking with inspiring creativity. Ewan will be delivering one of the keynote speeches at JISC's annual conference in Edinburgh on March 24th, 2009.
Podcast 74: JISC Conference Keynote talks IT innovation and inspiration
In this podcast Rebecca O'Brien is joined by Professor Lizbeth Goodman who is Professor of Creative Technology Innovation, Director of SMARTlab Digital Media Institute and MAGIC (Multimedia and Games Innovation Centre) at the University of East London and also Director of FutureLab. Professor Goodman will be giving one of the keynote speeches at the JISC 2009 Conference in Edinburgh.
Podcast 73: OCLC's Vice President talks libraries, the future and learning
The not-for-profit Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) is the principal sponsor of JISC's 2009 annual conference in Edinburgh. In this podcast interview OCLC's Vice President Karen Calhoun talks to Robert Haymon-Collins, JISC's Director of Communications and Marketing, to discuss what her organisation does in the field of providing digital content for learning and research, and how improved access to this well-catalogued knowledge can help improve the student experience - a key theme of this year's JISC conference. Calhoun also clarifies OCLC's recent proposed policy changes concerning the use of OCLC records, an issue that has generated lively debate within the library and information communities both in the UK and further afield.
Podcast 72: Theatre Archive now live online
Over 15,000 rare photographs, posters and press cuttings charting the history of East London theatre are now freely available online as part of the East London Theatre Archive (ELTA), a digitisation project spearheaded by the University of East London and funded by JISC. In this podcast, project manager Yvonne Klein talks to Kerry O'Neill to describe what makes this rich digital archive so unique, and how opening up online access to these documents - which would otherwise be too fragile to handle - will add value and interest to the learning and teaching experience.
Podcast 71: Information literacy the 'democratic right' of every learner, say Scottish experts
Information literacy has become a key concern of many in the education sector and beyond. In this podcast interview John Crawford and Christine Irving, of the Scottish Information Literacy project, talk to Philip Pothen about their work in the education sector, in the workplace, with libraries, and with government agencies and argue that information literacy is the 'democratic right' of every learner, and a central element of lifelong learning.
Podcast 70: New Build - Zeroing in on Carbon Footprints
In this podcast Kerry O'Neill from JISC talks with Ann Thunhurst, manager of JISC Regional Support Centre South East, about the "New Build - Zeroing in on Carbon Footprints" event held at JISC's London offices in January 2009. Ms Thunhurst then explains why senior managers within education need to consider their carbon output in every new build, and why they must show vision today in order to future-proof their buildings for tomorrow.
Podcast 69: Green ICT for Further and Higher Education
In this podcast Rebecca O'Brien from JISC talks with Peter James, Professor of Environmental Management at the University of Bradford and head of the JISC-funded SusteIT project, about the recently published Green ICT report. In the interview Prof Peter James talks through how further and higher education institutions can make small changes to save money and reduce their carbon footprint.
Podcast 68: JISC and the higher education sector: challenges and opportunities
John Selby is HEFCE's Director of Education and Widening Participation, with responsibility for a number of key policy areas including HEFCE's links with JISC. In this podcast interview, given at JISC's Innovation Forum in July 2008, he talks about JISC's activities, how it links with HEFCE's work and the wider challenges of higher education in this country.
Podcast 67: JISC's new chairman looks to the future
Universities need to 'work together' and 'pool their IT talents' to maintain the UK's position of global leadership in technology. So says Professor Tim O'Shea, Principal of Edinburgh University, in a podcast interview released today to mark Professor O'Shea's chairmanship of JISC which begins this month.
Podcast 66: The importance of innovation to the future of higher education
Sarah Porter is JISC's Head of Innovation, responsible for leading JISC's work to support innovation across the higher education sector. In this podcast interview, given at JISC's Innovation Forum in the summer, Sarah talks about the importance of innovation and why investment in innovation is crucial to the future of the sector.
Podcast 65: An interview with Lynne Brindley
The British Library is a national institution, a rich store of both British and world treasures and a place where students, researchers, business people and many others come to access a collection of resources that's pretty much unmatched throughout the world. But the library is more than this...it's also for some years been embracing technology in a variety of ways and in doing so helping to redefine the concept of the library in the digital age. Dame Lynne Brindley is the CEO of the British Library and she has led the way in its engagement with the digital environment and in a way that, as she makes clear in the following interview, has particular significance for the education and research sectors.
Podcast 64: Listening to students - Changing the learner experience
In this podcast Jane Charlton was at the JISC CNI Conference in Belfast and spoke to Sir David Melville who is Chair of the UK Committee of Inquiry into Changing Learner Experience.
Podcast 63: Listening to students - Innovative responses
In this podcast Jane Charlton was at the JISC CNI Conference in Belfast and spoke to Betsy Wilson, Dean of University Libraries at the University of Washington in Seattle, about the student learning experience.
Podcast 62: Two Nations - the Small Business & the Digital Divide
Jane Charlton and Simon Whittemore from JISC attended the ALT-C pre-conference workshop on small businesses and the digital divide. The workshop was attended by conference delegates and representatives from Yorkshire and Humberside's business community. Yorkshire Forward, Yorkshire and Humberside's Regional Development Agency, gave some context to the workshop discussions by presenting the findings from their 2008 ICT Regional Benchmarking Study report. Digital 20/10 is an initiative of Yorkshire Forward, responsible for the successful development of digital skills in the region. Its successor, Digital 20/20 is a collaboration between major ICT businesses, the public sector and skills providers in the region tasked with increasing ICT adoption across all sectors from the public sector through to business and the general public. In this podcast Jane Charlton speaks to Robert Ling from Yorkshire Forward, David Kay of Sero Consulting who manages the Digital 20/10 initiative and Simon Whittemore, the Programme Manager of Business and Community Engagement for JISC.
Podcast 61: Work Related Learning
Work-related learning is increasing its importance in the curriculum landscape. There is evidence that it helps students relate their learning to their current and future working lives. While also offering employers an opportunity to contribute directly to education and training. Work-related learning is involved in a wide range of activities. These include developing awareness of the local and broader economy, seeing connections between the national curriculum and other topics, careers education and learning about the world of work. In this podcast Rebecca O'Brien from JISC talks to experts in this field who provide examples of the types of support being provided by JISC and the Academy in this fast developing area.
Podcast 60: 'Outstanding ICT initiative of the year' 2008 winner announced
In this podcast Philip Pothen speaks to the winner of the 2008 'Outstanding ICT initiative of the year' Times Higher Award, University of Westminster lecturer Russell Stannard who created websites which build upon pioneering work using video to mark students' work.

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