Dissemination

Joint Information Systems Committee 04/09/23 | | Slide 1

Publishing and beyond

Ros Smith GPI Solutions

Joint Information Systems Committee Supporting education and research

Joint Information Systems Committee 04/09/23 | | Slide 2

Introduction

Ros Smith – Communications consultant and writer on e-learning

Previous work for JISC includes In Their Own Words, Designing Spaces for Effective Learning and Effective Practice with e-Learning

[email protected]

Joint Information Systems Committee 04/09/23 | | Slide 3

Publishing and beyond

Explore ways of publishing and disseminating project outcomes to maximum effect via the web and other media

Work towards guidelines on accessible and user-friendly publishing of project reports and other outcomes

Draw out key points from the collective experience of project teams

Joint Information Systems Committee 04/09/23 | | Slide 4

Defining dissemination

Communication - “the act or process of communicating”

Dissemination – “the action of scattering or spreading…dispersion, diffusion”

Dissemination is more strategic? Strategic communication?

Adapted from Using technology for project communication – Netskills (2007) www.netskills.ac.uk/content/projects/jisc-project-comms/

Joint Information Systems Committee 04/09/23 | | Slide 5

What will effective dissemination do for us?

The work of the Programme needs to:

Reach its target audiences

In ways that:

– Inform with clarity and precision

– Promote best practice for others

– Inspire further research

– Provide opportunities for adaptation and re-use in local contexts

– Make a difference to the post 16 and higher education sector

Joint Information Systems Committee 04/09/23 | | Slide 6

How does JISC disseminate project outcomes?

On the web

– Project web pages; news items and articles e.g. JISC inform, podcasts and conference presentations e.g. Innovating e-Learning 2008. See www.jisc.ac.uk/elpconference08

– e-Learning Focus website – news, articles and features aimed at learning technologists, developers and IT managers. See www.jisc.ac.uk/elearningfocus

– Online resources e.g. infoKits, downloadable resources e.g. guidelines and publications in PDF and Word formats, video case studies, databases of outputs

– Web access to CD-ROM content

Joint Information Systems Committee 04/09/23 | | Slide 7

How does JISC disseminate project outcomes?

In print and face-to-face

– Publications plus downloadable resources on CD-ROM distributed throughout the UK post 16 and HE sector e.g. In Their Own Words, DeL Regional Pilot Stories

– Briefing papers

– Presentations and workshops at the JISC Conference

– Raising the profile of the project outcomes through presentations at conferences and symposia, and journal articles for other agencies e.g. ALT, CETIS, UCISA, HEA

Joint Information Systems Committee

• JISC• Colleagues• Researchers• Developers• Institutional

managers• Practitioners• Others (unknown)

Who are your audience?

Joint Information Systems Committee 04/09/23 | | Slide 9

Disseminating via the web

Joint Information Systems Committee 04/09/23 | | Slide 10

Readability

Currently, some JISC project web pages demonstrate:

– Text-heavy page layout

– Emphasis on aims and background information rather than awareness of audience needs

– Difficulties in locating downloadable resources

– Reports and appendices in one file – issues for printing out and/or reading on-screen

– Accessibility issues for users of screen readers in some features of reports

Joint Information Systems Committee 04/09/23 | | Slide 11

Is there another way?

One overarching page leading to dedicated web page per project

Consultation with your team on 3 key points to highlight in the introduction

Clear, precise, non-academic text, with guidance on how to access deliverables

Final report in separate downloadable sections (accessible PDF and /or Word formats, or PDF + text-only Word version)

Option of downloading report as one document if required (accessible PDF or Word)

Breakdown of final report

Executive summary

Section 1 e.g. methodology

Section 2

Section 3

Section 4

Appendix A

Appendix B etc

Joint Information Systems Committee 04/09/23 | | Slide 12

Is there another way?

A checklist of guidance needed so that we are all working to the same standards and approaches eg:

– splitting up long reports to accommodate different types of readers with different agendas and requirements

– adhering to accessibility guidelines for Word, PowerPoint and PDF files now published by TechDis

– addressing a wider audience via helpful instructions and choices of formats

– allowing those with deeper interest in the research to find this within the body of the reports

Joint Information Systems Committee 04/09/23 | | Slide 13

Get prepared now

‘It is important to ensure that when writing a document accessibility is taken into consideration from the outset.’ Accessibility Essentials 2 (TechDis 2006)

Accessible PDF formatting. For guidance on making PDFs accessible - see Accessibility Essentials 4 (TechDis 2007) www.techdis.ac.uk/index.php?p=3_20

Providing text-only document in Word alongside an unformatted PDF. For guidance on making Word documents accessible – see Accessibility Essentials 2 (TechDis 2006) www.techdis.ac.uk/resources/sites/accessibilityessentials2/index.html

Providing transcripts for video and audio files See http://wb2.northampton.ac.uk/e4l/

Joint Information Systems Committee 04/09/23 | | Slide 14

Get prepared now

Status information should accompany each item e.g. image consent forms, copyright clearance

Copyright and IPR clearance will be needed where others’ work is included eg in Web 2.0 resources

Individuals’ identities, log-ins, passwords and commercial logos should be obscured in digital images/video clips and consent forms added

Transcripts are needed for video clips and alternative text on embedded images

Details of file size and type needed where links are provided to content on your own website

If final deliverables include materials additional to a final report, e.g. video clips, audio files, items with large file sizes, or from other sources, be aware of these points

Joint Information Systems Committee 04/09/23 | | Slide 15

Example

Sorry, not available for copyright reasons

Joint Information Systems Committee 04/09/23 | | Slide 16

Templates

You are not on your own! Templates developed by JISC-funded projects are available to help. These include documents devised for:

■ Transcripts of multimedia resources

■ Participant consent (video and stills images, screen shots, quotations)

■ Case study visits

See www.jisc.ac.uk/casestudyguidelines

Joint Information Systems Committee 04/09/23 | | Slide 17

Recommendations

Be selective about the items you include to accompany reports. Check these for potential ethical, IPR, copyright and accessibility issues, as well as relevance and quality

Consider providing items with a status profile giving information on consent, copyright clearance, copyright statement appertaining to re-use, as well as keywords

A useful resource to help check content generated via Web 2.0 tools www.web2rights.org.uk/diagnostic.html

Ask for expert guidance on accessibility from TechDis. Also from www.jisc.ac.uk/casestudyguidelines

Sharing approaches between teams can be a useful first step to achieving effective external communication. For example, teams producing similar outputs could share and refine the most effective ways of presenting their deliverables as a cluster