Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-vpsfw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-17T11:15:55.606Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Who needs subject gateways, portals or hubs?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 June 2016

Douglas Dodds*
Affiliation:
Word and Image Department, Victoria and Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL
Get access

Extract

Early users of the internet and the World Wide Web soon realised that there was a need to gather together links to sites of interest to art and design researchers. The Art, Design, Architecture and Media (ADAM) information gateway attempted to satisfy this demand, whilst also helping to develop appropriate methodologies and standards. One of ADAM’s successors, Artifact, adopted an expanded role and provided additional services. Artifact subsequently became part of Intute: Arts and Humanities, which covers a broader range of subjects. Surveys, usage figures and social bookmarking sites such as del.icio.us suggest that some – but not all – users and potential users appreciate the services that gateways, portals and hubs can provide.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Art Libraries Society 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Dempsey, Lorcan and Lennon, Ann, ‘Art and the internet: some notes on resources and trends,Art libraries journal 19, no. 4 (1994), p.1015.Google Scholar
2. Artsource is at: http://www.ilpi.com/artsource/. The Art Navigator home page is still available, but the site appears to be no longer maintained. See http://www2.uiah.fi/internetguide/navigator.html. ArtWorld Online is no longer online at its original address. A version of it entitled ArtMap can be found via the Internet Archive at http://webarchive.org/web/19961028072858/www.anima.wis.net/ARTWORLDhome.html. World Wide Arts Resources is at http://wwar.com/. The last issue of fineArt forum, vol. 18 issue 2, 2004, is still online at http://www.fineartforum.org/. The Virtual Library museums pages are at: http://vlmp.icom.museum/.Google Scholar
3. DESIRE information gateways handbook (DESIRE Project, 1999-2000), http://www.desire.org/handbook/.Google Scholar
4. Gill, Tony and Grout, Catherine, ‘Finding and preserving visual arts resources on the Internet,Art libraries journal 22, no. 3 (1997): 1925.Google Scholar
6. The full list of ADAM partners also included Birkbeck College, Coventry University, Middlesex University, the Tate and Winchester College of Art.Google Scholar
7. Gill, Tony, ADAM annual report 1997.Google Scholar
8. Gill, Tony, ADAM annual report 1998.Google Scholar
9. Dodds, Douglas, ‘Art libraries,’ in British librarianship and information work 1991-2000, ed. Bowman, J. H., 183196 (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006).Google Scholar
10. Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), ‘Portals: frequently asked questions,’ (HEFC, 2007), http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/programme_portals/ie_portalsfaq.aspx/. For another explanation of the differences, see Clark, Judith, ‘Subject portals,Ariadne 29 (September 2001): http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue29/clark/.Google Scholar
11. Hiom, Debra, ‘Retrospective on the RDN,Ariadne 47 (April 2006): http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue47/hiom/.Google Scholar
12. Lawes, Liz and Crilly, Jessica, ‘The London Institute’s i page: creating and maintaining an academic gateway website,Art libraries journal 27, no. 1 (2002): 3135.Google Scholar
13. Porter, Georgina, ‘The Resource Discovery Network creative arts and industries consultancy,Art libraries journal 26, no. 3 (2001): 1417.Google Scholar
14. The original ADAM database remains accessible at http://www.adam.ac.uk, but is not updated.Google Scholar
15. Allinson, Julie. ‘Artifact: a subject guide for the arts and creative industries,Art libraries journal 29, no. 3 (2004): 49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16. Research Support Libraries Group, RSLG final report (HEFCE, 2003): 13. Available at http://www.rslg.ac.uk/final/final.pdf.Google Scholar
17. Sparks, Sue, JISC disciplinary differences report (JISC, 2005): 25. Available at http://www.jisc.ac.uk/uploaded_documents/Disciplinary%20Differences%20and%20Needs.doc.Google Scholar
18. Williams, Caroline, ‘Intute: the new best of the web,Ariadne 48 (July 2006): http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue48/williams/.Google Scholar
19. Charnock, Lisa, ‘The best of the web just got better: introducing Intute,SCONUL focus 38 (Summer/Autumn 2006): 7376.Google Scholar
20. Intute: Arts and Humanities is available at http://www.intute.ac.uk/artsandhumanities/.Google Scholar
21. Intute collection development framework and policy, version 1.4 (12 October 2006). Available at http://www.intute.ac.uk/Intute%20Collection%20Development%20Framework%20and%20Policy%20vl%204.doc.Google Scholar
22. Intute cataloguing guidelines, version 4 (August 2006). Available at http://www.intute.ac.uk/intute_cataloguing_guidelines_v4_1.doc.Google Scholar
23. The searching was undertaken on 22 February 2007.Google Scholar
24. Wilson, James A. J. and Fraser, Michael, Intute: supporting the research community - a requirements report (Oxford: Intute: Arts and Humanities, 25 August 2006). Available at http://www.intute.ac.uk/artsandhumanities/researchers.html.Google Scholar
25. Initial usage statistics for Intute are available from the MIMAS website at http://www.mu.jisc.ac.uk/servicedata/mimas/data/mimas37.html. Figures for Artifact, Humbul and the other earlier services are at http://www.mu.jisc.ac.uk/servicedata/rdn/data/rdn33.htm.Google Scholar
26. Unpublished information based upon an Intute Survey of academic use of the Internet. The results are due to be published in April 2007.Google Scholar
27. Research Information Network, Discovery services: user behaviour, perception and needs (RDN, November 2006). Available at http://www.rin.ac.uk/files/Report%20-%20final.pdf.Google Scholar
28. Ibid., ‘Executive summary,’ 5-10.Google Scholar
29. Del.icio.us is at http://del.icio.us/.Google Scholar