Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Schools to get free access to online encylopedias
Brian McNeil wrote: On Tue, 2010-01-05 at 17:44 +, Chris McKenna wrote: I'd suggest that some FoI requests to likely ministries/departments asking how much they spend annually on such subscriptions, and which budget it comes out of. I'd suggest the Home Office; Communities and Local Govt; Business, Innovation and Skills; Children and Schools; Culture, Media and Sport; Health; Wales and Scotland. Many sources made freely available (well, taxpayer-paid) through libraries are the very sources Wikipedians reply on to access papers c to expand and flesh out Wikipedia articles. Indeed. I'm not suggesting a neanderthal approach. I looked at my Cambridgeshire Your library online, and it reads as * AccessScience * Ancestry.com (opens in new window) - Not available for home use. Book a library computer * Annual Register: A Record of World Events * BDS catalogue * British Standards * Burke's Peerage - Only available in libraries. Book a library computer * Cobra Business Encyclopaedia (opens in new window) - Only available at Milton Road Library. Book a library computer * Credo Reference * Crockfords Clerical Directory * Encyclopaedia Britannica (Academic edition) * Encyclopaedia Britannica (Library Edition) * Encyclopaedia Britannica Junior (Age Group 5 to 11) * Encyclopaedia Britannica Student (Age Group 12 to 18) * Film Index International * Gale Virtual Reference Library * House of Commons Parliamentary Papers (opens in new window) - Not available for home use. Book a library computer * InfoTrac Newspaper Database * InfoTrac UK Journals * John Johnson Collection : An archive of printed ephemera * KnowUK * Kompass * LexisNexis Butterworths (opens in new window) - Not available for home use. Book a library computer * Literature Online (LION) * MarketLine Business Information Center * Naxos Music Library (opens in new window) -Not available for home use. Book a library computer * NewsUK * Oxford Art Online * Oxford Dictionary of National Biography * Oxford English Dictionary * Oxford Music Online * Oxford Reference Online * Safari Books Online * The Guardian and The Observer * Times Digital Archive * Who's Who / Who Was Who One of which I use constantly. These fall into various sectors (how many?), in some of which there is no free content equivalent. What would be helpful would be to have some pie charts, numbers, and a nuanced view. Get to the point where one could have an informed discussion with a librarian on the issues. Charles ___ Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediau...@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
[Wikimediauk-l] Schools to get free access to online encylopedias
http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/ireland/schools-to-get-free-access-to- online-encylopedias-440794.html The country’s 4,000 schools are to get free access to online versions of the popular Encyclopedia Britannica and World Book as part of an e-Learning initiative announced today. ... do you think we should offer to generously let them access Wikipedia for free as well? We can even throw in the native language version. ;-) (via Mathias Schindler on wmfcc-l) Mike ___ Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediau...@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Schools to get free access to online encylopedias
(resending as the Wikimedia IE mailing list apparently defies the - l convention...) On 5 Jan 2010, at 16:10, Michael Peel wrote: http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/ireland/schools-to-get-free-access-to- online-encylopedias-440794.html The country’s 4,000 schools are to get free access to online versions of the popular Encyclopedia Britannica and World Book as part of an e-Learning initiative announced today. ... do you think we should offer to generously let them access Wikipedia for free as well? We can even throw in the native language version. ;-) (via Mathias Schindler on wmfcc-l) Mike ___ Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediau...@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org ___ Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediau...@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Schools to get free access to online encylopedias
Michael Peel wrote: http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/ireland/schools-to-get-free-access-to- online-encylopedias-440794.html The country’s 4,000 schools are to get free access to online versions of the popular Encyclopedia Britannica and World Book as part of an e-Learning initiative announced today. ... do you think we should offer to generously let them access Wikipedia for free as well? We can even throw in the native language version. ;-) Not CCed since I have a UK point to make. Which is that government these days have budgets to spend on website mass subscriptions for schools (as here) or libraries. This doesn't get much scrutiny. This is something to research. I benefit through my library card in Cambridge by having about 20 online subscriptions. I'm not ungrateful, but this is taxpayers' money, and there is politics attached. Can we find out, in the UK, which ministry is paying? Out of what budget? How much do they spend? What arguments do we have of the type this money is propping up an older model, could be spent better? There will be an election by May, and we know public spending is under pressure. A position paper for WMUK would be good. Charles ___ Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediau...@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Schools to get free access to online encylopedias
On Tue, 2010-01-05 at 17:44 +, Chris McKenna wrote: I'd suggest that some FoI requests to likely ministries/departments asking how much they spend annually on such subscriptions, and which budget it comes out of. I'd suggest the Home Office; Communities and Local Govt; Business, Innovation and Skills; Children and Schools; Culture, Media and Sport; Health; Wales and Scotland. Many sources made freely available (well, taxpayer-paid) through libraries are the very sources Wikipedians reply on to access papers c to expand and flesh out Wikipedia articles. -- Brian McNeil brian.mcn...@wikinewsie.org Wikinewsie.org signature.asc Description: This is a digitally signed message part ___ Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediau...@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
