M5.23 All EDIT institution libraries contacted with invitation to participate in ViTaL
On the 7th of February 2008, EDIT team leaders were contacted with the following call for cooperation for ViTaL (Virtual Taxonomic Library):
Dear EDIT team leader,
I am sure you will be aware that EDIT WP5.3 is currently creating the Virtual Taxonomic Library (ViTaL), which will be a key component of the EDIT platform.
ViTaL will make available three main services to taxonomists.
1. ViTaL's metasearch component will allow searching across a
targeted set of taxonomic resources, including library catalogues, databases and e-journals.
2. The system will include a bibliographic reference aggregator,
which will harvest references from a range of sources and to provide a centralised bibliographic resource.
3. ViTaL will make available an OpenURL resolver, allowing users to
click through their search results to full text content where this is available, or otherwise to a set of links providing search functions.
4. The ViTaL site will also be the medium for the delivery of a set
of Intellectual Property Rights briefing notes and example agreements produced by the WP5.6 team as a resource for the EDIT Programme.
ViTaL will be hosted at the Natural History Museum, London, and will provide services to all EDIT institutions.
The ViTaL team are particularly keen to include the library catalogues of all EDIT partner institutions in the meta-searching tool. I would like to ask for your help in liaising with the library staff at your institution to encourage their participation in the ViTaL project.
We will need the details of the Online Public Access Catalogue service which your library provides, and details of your current e-journal subscriptions. If you are able to send us the name and contact details of the director of the library, and the systems librarian or other appropriate member of staff, we will then contact them with more details of the project and how they can play a part.
To see more information about ViTaL and how catalogue and subscription data will used, please take a look at our new website, www.taxonlib.org. If you have any further questions please contact:
Jane Smith
EDIT Work Package 5.3 Leader
Head of Library Collections and Services
Natural History Museum
London SW7 5BD