FERMENTATION TECHNOLOGY IS NOW PART OF INTUTE

We are glad to inform all followers of this blog that this blog is now part of Intute- Best of the Web

About Intute

Intute is a free online service providing access to the very best web resources for education and research. All material is evaluated and selected by a network of subject specialists to create the Intute database.

With millions of resources available on the Internet, it is difficult to find relevant and appropriate material even if you have good search skills and use advanced search engines.

Issues of trust, quality, and search skills are very real and significant concerns - particularly in a learning context. Academics, teachers, students and researchers are faced with a complex environment, with different routes into numerous different resources, different user interfaces, search mechanisms and authentication processes.

The Intute database makes it possible to discover the best and most relevant resources in one easily accessible place. You can explore and discover trusted information, assured that it has been evaluated by specialists for its quality and relevance.

What we do and why we do it

Search engines are often the first choice for people wanting to find specific information on the web. Even when faced with a long list of search results there is nothing to say that the information in those results is going to be appropriate or relevant.

With no systematic quality control processes in place for online information, it is very difficult for people to explore and discover trusted information. Without access to a central service, efforts for evaluating and listing high quality web resources become duplicated across the UK educational network.

This is where the Intute database comes into its own. It allows access to both subject-specific and cross-subject resources, all of which have been evaluated for their quality and relevance. For more details please see the Intute Collection Development Framework and Policy which outlines the intention of the Intute service to select and evaluate online resources according to agreed policies, priorities and criteria

Our mission is simple - Intute exists to advance education and research by promoting the best of the Web in one easily accessible place, providing access to quality resources through a process of evaluation and collaboration.

Who we are

We are a consortium of seven universities working with a whole host of partners, bringing together the expertise of people and processes through which we can evaluate web resources and provide a structured approach to help people find and use them. Intute originates from the Resource Discovery Network.

Automation can't replace our human value judgements, nor can it be responsive and dynamic to meet the real needs of UK HE and FE - but Intute can. By interacting with the UK HE and FE communities we can evolve and develop the service and its resources in line with changing requirements.

How we are organised

Organisationally Intute is composed of:

* An Executive Committee responsible for the strategic direction of Intute and its overall management
* 4 Subject Groups providing services to support staff and students in their subject areas, including the Intute database

The Executive and Subject Groups work in partnership to deliver Intute as a whole across a distributed network of partner institutions.

* Intute Executive, Mimas, the University of Manchester
* Intute: Arts and Humanities, led by the University of Oxford in partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University
* Intute: Health and Life Sciences, led by the University of Nottingham
* Intute: Science Engineering and Technology, led by the University of Manchester in partnership with Heriot Watt University
* Intute: Social Sciences, led by the University of Bristol in partnership with the University of Birmingham

In addition, the University of Bristol manages Intute training services which include the Virtual Training Suite.

Intute also works closely with JIBS through the JIBS User Enhancement Group, chaired by Sue Cumberpatch of York University Library. (JIBS represent users of bibliographic databases and related products available to the UK HE and FE communities via national site licence arrangements.)

The remit of the Intute Enhancement Group is to inform and assist Intute service development in line with the needs of the user community. The group meets approximately three times per year.
How we are funded

Intute and its four subject groups are funded by Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), in addition the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) part funds Intute: Arts and Humanities.

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