5 Implementation Strategy
This section provides a strategic overview of the way forward, on
the assumption that the case for something like the model outlined in
section 3 Scope and Structure of the ahds has been accepted.
It assumes that an Executive has been appointed, and a small nucleus
of Service Providers
has been selected,
whether by open tender, by nomination, or by some other means.
The first step for this nucleus will be to review the constitutional
and procedural issues discussed in section 3.4 ahds Constitution and Procedures and to
agree on any necessary revisions or modifications to them with the
Executive.
The next step will be to set in motion the process of defining the
standards and procedures which will constitute a functioning Service.
Since the success of the AHDS will be largely contingent
on close attention to appropriate international and de facto
standards, we discuss this process in some detail in section
4 Standardization above. Since the service levels and performance
indicators included in the Service provision contracts will be related
to the standards and procedures defined in this stage, it is anticipated
that the initial contracts may be provisional, and that the final
contracts with the initial set of Service Providers will follow this
stage.
In addition to defining standards for data format, data description,
data preservation and data provision, the
AHDS Executive has to set in motion the creation of a
unified Catalogue. One simple way of beginning this process might be to
create a World Wide Web server linking information
provided by each of the pilot service providers. However, in the long
run the AHDS catalogue can only be provided using the
expertise of the library community. Existing services, such as
NISS and BUBL, and pilot projects such as
CATRIONA, and other relevant initiatives will be consulted
for assistance in defining a development path for this purpose.
5.1 Pilot Data Service Providers
As noted in section 3.1 Disciplines and data types, the Arts and Humanities Data
Service will address a very large and eclectic community, with very
widely varying interests.
It is correspondingly difficult to
identify the minimum set of services which the AHDS
should aim to provide, or to define a ``critical mass'' of
resources and services which the initial implementation might aim to
achieve within two years of start-up.
Identifying a core collection of data sets is a worse problem than
the task of selecting a core collection for a new library, since its
scope is not one but many institutions with varying policies for
teaching and research. The present report therefore makes no attempt to
identify core resources by discipline. Instead, we propose that the
initial nucleus of service providers should be chosen in such a way as
to maximize the spread of data types supported and disciplines covered.
At least the following subject areas and data types should be
supported in the initial nucleus:
- historical documents and derived data sets;
- literary and linguistic textual materials
- art-historical and archaeological images and artefacts;
- music, film, and other time-based materials.
In selecting service providers capable of setting up this nucleus,
we expect that the AHDS Management Committee and funding
bodies will choose to build on existing centres of expertise. However,
such decisions form no part of the remit of the present report.
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