News

Knowledge Bank now major information source

2009-06-12

Knowledge Bank for Universities of Applied Sciences now major information source Students at Ede’s Christian University of Applied Sciences provide 10,000th contribution The Knowledge Bank for Universities of Applied Sciences (HBO Kennisbank), an online database for dissertations, studies, papers, and articles by students, teaching staff, and “lectors” (who organise knowledge networks), has now reached the milestone figure of 10,000 knowledge products. The Knowledge Bank, which has the primary aim of promoting knowledge-sharing, was started in 2007 and now gets more than 28,000 visitors each month. The digital database has therefore become a major knowledge source for Dutch higher education, business and industry, and the public sector. The Knowledge Bank for Universities of Applied Sciences is part of the SURFshare programme run by SURFfoundation. Winners Contribution number 10,000 to the Knowledge Bank came from three students at the Christian University of Applied Sciences in Ede (Province of Gelderland), who carried out a study for the West Veluwe care organisation KWV. Their dissertation is an evaluation study of the care provided for dementia sufferers and their informal carers in the Gelderland Valley area; the authors make important recommendations for how care for this target group can be optimised in this region. At a special ceremony, the three students and their supervisors received a cash prize from SURFfoundation for their contribution. Alida Mallie, one of the winners, had this to say: “It’s vital to preserve knowledge, experience, and research results. That’s why it’s important that dissertations like ours are available via the Knowledge Bank for Universities of Applied Sciences. That way, the results of our research can help improve the care provided. I for one certainly intend consulting the Knowledge Bank to help implement innovations at my own workplace.” Knowledge Bank for Universities of Applied Sciences The Knowledge Bank for Universities of Applied Sciences was set up to make it easier to trace and access knowledge products generated at Dutch Universities of Applied Sciences. The material it contains is a source of information for other students. Teaching staff can also use the various products to update their teaching materials. Besides a search function, the portal also makes it possible to assign ratings and write reviews, and articles can also be bookmarked. After gaining the author’s consent, the seventeen universities of applied sciences that contribute decide for themselves what material should be uploaded to the Knowledge Bank. About SURFfoundation SURFfoundation facilitates pioneering education and research. We initiate, orchestrate and drive innovation in ICT through knowledge-sharing and partnerships. SURFfoundation is part of SURF, in which Dutch institutions of higher education and research collaborate on innovative ICT facilities, both in the Netherlands and abroad. More information SURFfoundation Lianne van Elk M +31 (0)6 29 24 28 85 E vanelk@surf.nl Whizpr Winnie Silvertand T +31 (0)317 410 483 E surffoundation@whizpr.nl

Wanted: projects that enhance knowledge-sharing in higher education

2007-06-09

Three calls for projects under the SURFshare programme

SURFfoundation issued three Calls for Tender on Friday 6 July, challenging the education sector to submit project proposals focusing on three different topics: collaboratories (web-based collaborative environments), open access plus (publication of research data) and knowledge dissemination for universities of applied sciences. The deadline for submissions is 30 September 2007. A total of EUR 420,000 has been made available for the projects.

SURFfoundation is calling for tenders for short-term pilot projects that focus on innovating the process of communication and collaboration in higher education and enhancing the knowledge infrastructure at universities of applied sciences. The proposals should involve the following:

• Collaboratories: web-based collaborative environments that enable researchers based in different locations to work together and share their knowledge and sources;
• Open Access plus: publishing articles or other research publications such as dissertations along with their underlying research data, models or visualisations; other possibilities include open review systems or a structured open annotation process.
• Applied science knowledge dissemination: improving the dissemination of practical knowledge accrued and developed at universities of applied sciences, not only among the universities themselves but also between them and the public and private sectors.

The Calls for Tender have been issued under the SURFshare programme, the successor to the DARE programme (which concluded in late 2006). Whereas the emphasis within DARE was on creating a network of Digital Academic Repositories, in the SURFshare programme the main focus is on Sharing of Academic Resources. DARE resulted in open access to more than 125,000 scientific and scholarly articles via www.darenet.nl. SURFshare aims to make the datasets, simulations, models, visualisations and other material used in research available in addition to the published results (working designation: enriched publications). It also intends to facilitate the research process by means of "collaboratories" (web-based collaborative environments).

SURFfoundation has made a total of EUR 420,000 available for the projects. Projects involving Collaboratories and Open Access will be awarded a maximum of EUR 60,000 each, and projects involving Applied Science Knowledge Dissemination EUR 80,000 each. Matching funds are required, with SURFfoundation covering a maximum of 50% of the costs. The deadline for submitting project proposals is 30 September 2007.

For more information please contact Annemiek van der Kuil: vanderkuil@surf.nl