The Online Scholarly Environment
In January 2007 the ILSCOSC requested a overarching framework to describe the Online
Scholarly Environment provided by CSU Interact. A working group consisting of the
following representative met to produce a framework document approved by the ILSCOSC
on March 30th 2007:
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Kerryn Amery (Library Services)
Karen Wood-Meyer (CRGT)
Les Burr (Student Services)
Philip Uys (CELT)
Matt Morton-Allen (DIT)
The characteristics were discussed under a number of broad umbrellas that included the
research, collaboration, learning and teaching and professional development.
Overarching
A number of overarching characteristics were identified:
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Integration – in addition to being technically integrated the scholarly environment
is also functionally integrated. Specifically use of the environment for one purpose
may easily bleed into another. For example a research project might also form part
of a learning teaching site;
Consistency – components of the environment are consistent in the way they look
and work;
Silo-less – spaces aren’t created under the auspices of a specific division, section or
faculty but rather are created to serve a purpose which may cover a number of
organisational boundaries;
Ad-hoc usage – the environment is highly supportive of ad-hoc usage. This requires
that it not only be possible for all staff and students to create spaces as needed but
that the process is simple and efficient;
Single point of access – the scholarly environment brings together many services
across a range of disparate systems to a single access point. Information is cross
linked where appropriate to provide a “one stop shop” for academia related needs;
Research
The following characteristics were seen as being particularly supportive of the needs of
researchers:
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Remote access – the scholarly environment is accessible to anyone with internet
access. In addition to CSU staff and students it is a quick and painless process to
allow access for individuals external to the organisation (e.g. peer researchers);
Secure – portions of the content within the scholarly environment will contain
sensitive materials, appropriate security measures are available to ensure access is
restricted to the appropriate parties;
Slight learning curve – the success of the scholarly environment is dependent on
uptake, uptake is dependent on ease of use. The scholarly environment requires
nothing more than average IT literacy skills for most purposes;
Collaboration
The following characteristics were seen as directly relating to the support of collaboration
needs:
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Discoverability – in addition to facilitating the creation of new spaces on an ad-hoc
basis the scholarly environment also supports the ability for like minded groups and
individuals to “discover” one another. For example being able to search for spaces
relating topics of your interest.
Transferability – collaboration in the broader sense is often the pre-cursor to
activities within the research, learning and learning arenas. The scholarly
environment supports the transition from a generalised form of collaboration to
more specific activities. For example this might include copying the content from
one space to another;
Learning and Teaching
The characteristics that support learning and teaching activities within the scholarly
environment are being defined and implemented through the Online Learning Environment
(OLE) Programme.
Organisational Development / Professional Development
It was recognised by the group that there is a significant amount of teaching that occurs
within the University which falls outside the bounds of what is usually described as learning
and teaching.
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Flexible group definitions – the scholarly environment allows for the identification
of teaching spaces in a flexible way. It’s possible to create spaces for use in
situations such as Organisational Development training, bridging courses and
general professional development using the same functionality and features as
subject based learning and teaching.