Kuali OLE, an academic library software collaboration in the US, and JISC, the UK's expert on digital technologies for education and research, have announced a collaboration. The aim is to make data about e-resources - such as publication and licensing information - more easily available. Together, Kuali OLE and JISC will develop an international open data repository that will give academic libraries a broader view of subscribed resources.
The effort, known as the Global Open Knowledgebase (GOKb) project, is funded in part by a $499,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. North Carolina State University will serve as lead institution for the project.
GOKb will be an open, community-based, international data repository that will provide libraries with publication information about electronic resources. This information will support libraries in providing efficient and effective services to their users and ensure that critical electronic collections are available to their students and researchers.
The GOKb cloud service will provide data for 'subscribed resources' from a higher education perspective. It will include data such as publication information, related organisations, and model licences, and will be accessible across all US and UK academic libraries.
Many of the concerns libraries have in the management of electronic resources are the same across the world. Indeed, there are a number of projects, such as the Kuali OLE (Open library Environment) in the US and the Knowledge Base+ service in the UK, that are exploring community-based solutions.
Kuali OLE is a community of nine research libraries working together to build the first open-source system designed by and for academic and research libraries for managing and delivering intellectual information.
Among JISC's objectives are to provide cost-effective shared national services and resources and to help institutions improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their business systems.
