Arts and Humanities Data Service

Supporting research in the Arts and Humanities: JISC to review its services

Following the decision by the AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council) to cease funding the AHDS (Arts and Humanities Data Service) from March 31st 2008, JISC has decided that it is unable to fund the service alone and that therefore its own funding of the service will, in its current form, cease on the same date.

In its 11 years of existence the AHDS has established itself as a centre of expertise and excellence in the creation, curation and preservation of digital resources and has been responsible for a considerable engagement of the Arts and Humanities community with ICT and a significant increase in that community’s knowledge and use of digital resources. Its contribution to the development of technical standards, its outreach to sectors beyond higher education, such as cultural heritage, arts, museum and archive organisations and its support for the development of a national e-infrastructure and repository system have been among its many significant achievements.

In the light of these achievements and the consequent risks to the continued development of the Arts ands Humanities community’s engagement with ICT, JISC is exploring with the AHDS, partner organisations and the wider community alternative approaches to maintaining its strong support for that community beyond March 2008.

JISC has a long history of support for Arts and Humanities research, beginning with the founding of the AHDS in 1996 and continuing with its collaboration with the AHRC over the ICT Methods Network, the Arts and Humanities e-Science initiative (with the AHRC and EPSRC), its contribution to the wider e-Science Initiative, and in particular the Research Grants and Studentships Scheme and the Arts and Humanities e-Science Support Centre (AHESSC). JISC’s Support of Research committee has also funded the Aria Projects and a related Projects and Methods database which have now been merged into an integrated resource, the ICT Guides.

At its meeting yesterday, the JISC Board reaffirmed its strong commitment to continuing this engagement but in the light of wider developments reluctantly acknowledged that the AHDS as currently constituted would not be part of its service provision beyond next year.

Chair of JISC, Professor Sir Ron Cooke, paid tribute to the AHDS, saying: “The AHDS has achieved a great deal in the last 11 years and we would like to thank its staff for their skill, dedication and hard work over these years. One of the AHDS’s many achievements has been establishing capacity and expertise within the Arts and Humanities community. JISC will continue to support that community in its engagement with ICT in order to meet the many challenges of the future.”

AHDS Response to JISC Announcement

The AHDS recognises that it is not possible for the JISC alone to continue to fund the AHDS as it is currently constituted. The AHDS welcomes the decision by the JISC to explore with the AHDS, partner organisations and the wider community alternative approaches to maintaining its strong support for the arts and humanities community beyond March 2008. The AHDS will be working closely with the JISC and partner organisations over the next few months to identify a legacy plan and future agenda that will ensure the expertise and achievements of the AHDS are not lost to the community, and that will help to meet the many challenges of the future.

We are deeply grateful to the JISC for their generous support of the AHDS over the last eleven years which has, in combination with the support provided by the AHRC in more recent years, allowed us to achieve so much in support of the creation, curation and preservation of digital resources and the use of ICT in the arts and humanities.

In the meantime, and at least until 31st March 2008, the AHDS will continue to give advice and guidance on all matters relating to the creation of digital content arising from or supporting research, teaching and learning across the arts and humanities, including technical and metadata standards and project management. If you have a data creation project, please do not hesitate to contact us for advice.

The AHDS will continue to work with those creating important digital resources to advise on the best methods for keeping these valuable resources available and accessible for the long-term in a form that encourages their further use for answering new research questions, and their use in teaching and learning. This advice will include exploring with content creators and owners suitable repositories in which they might deposit their materials for long term curation and preservation, and how to ensure that their materials can continue to be discovered and used by the wider community. If you are currently in negotiation with the AHDS to deposit your digital collection, please continue to work with us to ensure the future sustainability and accessibility of your resource.

The AHDS will continue to make available its rich collection of digital content for use in research, teaching and learning, and to preserve those collections in its care. The AHDS intends to discuss with the JISC and the AHRC the long term future of these collections beyond April 2008 with the intention of securing their continued preservation and availability.

Last, but not least, the AHDS will continue with its portfolio of projects and related services, and to make an active contribution to the different communities of practice with whom we have so enjoyed working over the last eleven years, and with whom we look forward to working in the future.

Sheila Anderson

Director, Arts and Humanities Data Service

AHRC Announcement, 14 May 2007

The AHRC has announced important changes in its policy for grant applicants, advising them that it has decided to cease funding the AHDS from April 2008. The AHRC has elected to retain a data service in the area of Archaeology and is in negotiation with the ADS in York. Details of the impact on grant applicants is outlined on the AHRC website at: http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/news/news_pr/2007/information_for_applicants_to_AHRC_june_deadline.asp.

The AHRC has stated that:

"Council believes that Arts and Humanities researchers have developed significant IT knowledge and expertise in the past decade. The context within which the AHDS was initially supported by the AHRC has changed. Much technical knowledge is now readily available within HEIs, either from IT support services or from academics. Much that generally can be safely assumed now, for example that web sites can be put together and run effectively for the duration of a project, could not be assumed ten years ago. Council believes that long term storage of digital materials and sustainability is best dealt with by an active engagement with HEIs rather than through a centralised service."

The AHDS has over the eleven years it has been in operation built up significant expertise and experience in all aspects of data creation, technical, content and metadata standards, curation, preservation, and dissemination of complex research data, much of which is published on-line. It also has significant expertise in building and managing repository infrastructures to ensure the sustainability, preservation and long-term access to research data.

The host institutions of the AHDS believe that this expertise is extremely valuable to the wider research community and will be working with the Director, Heads of AHDS Centres, and staff of the AHDS, to develop a strategy for the future direction of the AHDS that ensures this expertise remains available to the research and repositories communities for the long term.

Further details will be announced on the AHDS website over the summer.