vascoda – Overlapping Structures and Tasks of the Subject Specific Gateways

The science gateway vascoda aims to provide a user-friendly and transparent access to subject-specific information. The core is the integrated search across the individual offers of the Virtual Libraries and Information Networks. At present, vascoda gives access to almost 40 subject-specific gateways whose offerings are often very heterogeneous in their structure.

This project aims to homogenise the subject-specific offers by aligning functional and user-oriented aspects. Intensified knowledge transfer on special themes and problems between the participating institutions is one means to achieve this goal. Harmonised design und structuring of the subject-specific offers on an ergonomic and esthetic level, as well as a unified information architecture, are intended to make changing between the vascoda Gateway and the subject-specific sites easier for the users. The IZ Social Sciences in Bonn is responsible for the section software ergonomics. Within the section knowledge transfer, located at the ZBW, the intention of the project was to advance the homogenisation of the individual subject-specific offers by means of orientation meetings and information transfer.

In this, thematic workshops and subject cluster meetings took centre stage. At these events the intention was to find ways, together with the gateway hosts, to align the individual modules of subject-specific gateways far enough to enable a seamless use of different offers. For the thematic workshops detailed protocols and guidelines were drawn up to simplify the homogenisation of the subject-specific gateways. Thus it should be easier for new gateway projects to adjust their sites from the beginning to the common standards.

A special newsletter, a dedicated section in the vascoda intranet and a gateway wiki give all participants the opportunity to inform themselves quickly and comprehensively about the actual state of affairs. The project’s main emphases software ergonomics and knowledge transfer were coordinated at the German National Library of Economics.

The vascoda project “Overlapping Structures and Tasks of the Subject Specific Gateways” lasted from 17th October 2005 until 16th October 2007 and was sponsored by the German Research Foundation. The IZ Sozialwissenschaften was the project partner.