News from Talis

Citation

(2002), "News from Talis", Program: electronic library and information systems, Vol. 36 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/prog.2002.28036cab.002

News from Talis

News from Talis

Talis/iBase partnership to deliver major Scottish Highlands digital Web-based culture and heritage project

The Am Baile (The Gaelic Village) Consortium has selected the inVisage digital content management solution from the Talis/Base partnership to help deliver a comprehensive new Web site focusing on the language, culture and heritage of the Gaidhealtachd (Scottish Highlands and Islands).

The Consortium, which comprises the Highland Council, Taigh Chearsabhagh Trust and West Highland Animation has received project funding from the UK wide New Opportunities Fund (NOF) Content Digitisation Programme to deliver a major bilingual Web site focusing on the language, culture and heritage of the Highland local authority – an area of Northern Scotland the size of Belgium.

The aim of the project is to help people learn about the area's past and present and promote the use of the Gaelic language among native speakers and learners. It will create a major new learning and research Internet resource – one which will offer innovative, stimulating and enjoyable learning opportunities for people of all ages and abilities, regardless of pre-existing skills or educational background. The facility will also incorporate special features aimed at children.

"Highland Libraries was the first public library authority in Scotland to enter into a partnership with Talis for its library management system back in 1995. The selection of the inVisage proposal for content management of our consortium digital assets was identified as the best solution and gives us the ability to build a sustainable project for the future," commented Stuart Brownlee, Head of Libraries and Archives with the Highland Council.

The Talis/iBase partnership has already been selected by other New Opportunities Fund (NOF) projects. The inVisage software suite is compliant with the guidelines laid down by NOF and UKOLN, providing a scalable solution for managing media files and publishing them on the Web.

The core software sits on top of the client's own database system and integrates the content files in an easily manageable form. This means that multiple media files can be linked, so, for example, text data, an image, a sound clip and a video can all be displayed within a single record and structured text fields established to aid searching and classification. These can then be located either by user defined keywords, subjects or free text. In addition to software, the Talis/iBase partnership also provides installation, project management, training, consultancy, digitisation services and ongoing support.

"This is a wonderful project and we are delighted to be supporting it," said Ken Chad, Sales Director for Talis. "We have a long history of working in partnership to deliver innovative information based solutions. This project is an important step forward in realising our aim to be a leader in Digital Content Management solutions."

Talis/iBase partnership selected for national project for digitisation of learning materials in Wales

Gathering the Jewels Ltd, based at the National Library of Wales has selected the Talis/iBase partnership to deliver a digital content management system (CMS) and Web delivery solution for its new project designed to create a definitive Web site on the history and heritage of Wales.

The New Opportunities Fund (NOF) funded project, entitled "Gathering the Jewels", aims to bring the unique history, culture and language of the country closer to its inhabitants by displaying digital copies of selected heritage material on the Internet. The project will establish a definitive Web site where digitally scanned original documents, artefacts and printed matter can be viewed with detailed interpretative text to explain and contextualise them. The inVisage CMS will be used to manage the digital collection and provide a bilingual Web interface.

"We invited tenders from a number of companies and were impressed by the functionality of inVisage and how the Talis/iBase partnership really understood our needs. We have a tight deadline and it was important to find a provider that has the capability to deliver," remarked Gordon Reid, Director of Gathering the Jewels.

Gathering the Jewels is a collaborative project between libraries, record offices and museums from all over Wales, from the greatest national institutions to the smallest local repositories. The material to be digitised includes documents, artefacts, printed books and newspapers and photographs – reflecting the full range of the holdings of the above institutions from "national treasures" to items of purely local focus.

For further information please contact: Karen Topham-Steele, Talis Information Ltd, Birmingham Research Park, Vincent Drive, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2SQ, UK. Tel: +44 (0) 121 471 1179; Fax: +44 (0) 121 472 0298; E-mail: k.topham-steele@talis.com URL: www.talis.com