The Last Ten Years

Derek Law,University of Strathclyde

Ancient History

20 years ago we saw the first CD-ROMs with 650Mb capacity today a standard entry-level PC has 80Gb of storage, while

200-1000Gb is not uncommon The iPod revolution has made higher storage capacity a

requirement for a much larger number of users 10 years ago NCSA Mosaic was a novelty and the

Web barely acknowledged FTP, WAIS (Wide Area Information Servers) and Gopher

were the technologies of choice 10 years ago Google did not exist 10 years ago SuperJANET2 was launched with

speeds ranging from 8-155Mb while dial-up from home could reach as much as 28Kb today a 100Gb campus network is commonplace wireless broadband in the home is quite normal

Mediaeval History

1991 - First dataset contract1993 - SuperJANET contract for

34Mb at 55 universities1993 - NCSA Mosaic web browser1993 - Follett Report1995 - EDINA selected as a

national data centre

History Computer Board

Charged mediated searching still the norm“A Giant Leap in the Dark”

ISC The Bath Data Centre

JISCThe Information Services Sub-CommitteeThe Distributed National Electronic ResourceFive Data CentresFive PrinciplesThe Doughnut Strategy

It all began in the pub…….

The Hand & Racquet in Orange StreetHome of Tommy CooperHome of Galton & SimpsonHome of BIDS

“Pragmatism in search of a policy” (Harry East)

The Six Principles of the ISSC

1. Free at the point of use2. Subscription not transaction based

>CHEST

3. Universality>All disciplines at all levels

4. Lowest common denominator>A post-1992 mass system not an elite one

5. Commonality of interfaces6. Common mass instruction

programmes>CALT (Awareness, Liaison and Training)

The Five Centres

Bath (BIDS)ESRC Data Archive (Essex)Arts & Humanities Data ServiceEDINAMIMAS

The Doughnut strategy

National deals A novelty

More data than money so always possible to do another deal

At renewal be part of the solution, or be part of the problem

Be the jam in the doughnut or be the hole Your call!!

The DNER

• The Distributed National Electronic Collection in 1994

• 5 Data Centres• Resource Discovery (CAIN, EEVL

etc.)• Funding digitisation• The Archives Hub• ……..

EDINA

Multiple types – bibliographic to geographic

Services Development Applications and interoperability Scalability – now a million pound

business Staff commitment, enthusiasm and

expertise Clear vision Peter Burnhill

EDINA and the 6 Principles1. Free at the point of use

> the jewel in the crown

2. Subscription not transaction based> Remains the funding model

3. Universality>Bibliographic Services, Digimap, Filmfinder

4. Lowest common denominator>Times Index, UPDATE (for FE), Scottish Gathering > Over a million hits a year on OS alone

5. Commonality of interfaces>zBALSA, Xgrain, JOIN-UP, Gateway to Archives

6. Common mass instruction programmes>eMapScholar, National Learning Network

A traditional Burn(hill)s Supper

The Immortal Memory To a Mouse Address to Edinburgh

First mention of EDINA (true)

An early draft of this poem (false)

Address to Edinburgh

EDINA! Scotia’s darling seat!All hail thy palaces and towersWhere once, beneath a Monarch’s featSat Legislation’s sovereign powers:From marking wildly-scattered scripts,As on the banks of Clyde I strayedAnd logging on, for lingering hours,I shelter in thy honoured shade

Address to Edinburgh

Thy sons EDINA, social, kindWith open arms the stranger hail;Their views enlarged, their liberal mind,Above the narrow, rural valeAttentive still to SHEFC’s wailOr modest JISC’s silent claimAnd never may their sources failAnd never MIMAS blot their name!