Projects: SCIMITAR

SCIMITAR was an interoperability project which aimed to fulfill a vision of seamless searching for resources held in East Midlands libraries by linking their on-line catalogues.

The project aimed to contribute towards greater co-ordination of resource sharing across the region by enabling one-click searching by library users, wherever they are, with greatly enhanced location and speedier supply of materials to meet the needs of learners, readers and information seekers.

Libraries and Information East Midlands engaged consultants Education for Change to research and compile a feasibility study and detailed system specification for the SCIMITAR project. Education for Change's final report was presented to LIEM Council in October 2006 and the Project Board subsequently reported to the East Midlands Centre of Excellence, which had funded the feasibility study.

The report drew attention to the development of the UnityUK service which had been carried out during the timescale of the Scimitar study. It was agreed by all parties that UnityUK provided an opportunity to achieve many of the resource identification and resource sharing goals of Scimitar. This could be achieved within a wider national context, while still retaining the ability to present data for the region in a readily accessible way. It was therefore agreed that the way forward would be to:

• encourage partners in the East Midlands to contribute their data to UnityUK
• implement a public access module in a pilot group of local authorities
• participate in the future development of UnityUK nationally
• work with the system supplier to develop interfaces with proprietory library management systems

A fuller report, in the form of a case study is accessible through the East Midlands Centre of Excellence website.

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