During March, April and May 2008 the Information Futures Commission will seek input from the University community and other stakeholders.
Staff and students are invited to attend discussion forms, consultations and the Information Futures Forum series of lectures to be delivered by Australian and international experts.
The Information Futures weblog provides a venue for informal conversation. All interested individuals, both within and outside the University, are welcome to add their comments.
More information about the consultation process is available from the Information Futures home page.
In responding to this Consultation Paper, we encourage all staff and students to conduct their own discussions and concentrate on the issues most relevant to them. Colleagues should get together to work out their response and proposals, which need not be confined to the questions raised in this paper. Critical perspectives, creative ideas and robust solutions are most welcome.
Your response by Friday 9 May 2008 would be appreciated.
Leave a comment on this web version of the Consultation Paper or email your written submission to info-futures@unimelb.edu.au
One Comment
I would like to follow up on a comment I made at the forum held yesterday (April 15th) entitled ‘Scholarly Information in the Digital Age’ (Laby Theatre, David Caro Building).
While we are talking about the importance of being able to adequately store and retrieve digital material in a variety of formats in our libraries (both virtually + ‘physically’), I wish to draw attention to the fact that in certain areas of the university (especially Arts at the moment)we have tremendous difficulty in accessing digital equipment for researchers and students to enable them to gather empirical data in digital formats in the first place!
Our studies in languages and linguistics often involve the collection of spoken language (this could involve audio and/or video recording in a variety of naturalistic and simulated settings, as well as interview data) and it is essential that we are afforded the benefits of being able to manipulate, store, retrieve and present these data in digital formats.
As part of the University’s strategy to secure its position at the forefront of educational technological developments, I urge the Commission to recommend the immediate purchase of state-of-the-art audio and video recording equipment for use by students and researchers across the University.