Autumn Update

After a busy summer investigating the numerous options for our media portal and continuing to source content it is coming down to the wire. Recently we were made aware that an iTunes U page would be an unrealistic outcome at this point. While this was indeed a blow dealt to our long term thinking in the short run it doesn't have much bearing on the contet we ahve produced so far. We have been using an Open Source Media Portal based on the Mediacore back end as a proof of concept and in terms of delivery of the relatively small batch of content we have it has some very credible features.

Some other developments in the works are moving the backend platform and the production workflow to a cloud based service to fully integrate the notion of a shared service structure within the cloud concept. A number of options have been investigated in this regard including, Amazon S3 but for the scale of this project a more locally served option based out of the ULCC is more pertinent.

Check back soon for further updates.

More Great Interviews from the Heads of Colleges

We have just finished up some more interviews with the heads of colleges. Please check out the interviews with Professor Geoff Whitty of the Institute of Education, and Professor David Latchman, of Birkbeck College. We have more exciting content on the way so keep an eye on this space for more soon.

New Content is up and Running

It's exciting to have some content up and running. There are a number of podcasts available to listen to. This is just a beginning and we are in the process of fine tuning this content and working on bringing many more podcasts from the Bloomsbury community and international development practitioners. Hopefully listeners find these initial productions compelling and we look forward to any feedback on them.

Neal

New Content

We have been hard at work recording some new content that should be posted soon. Keep an eye on our site for research presentations by Jasmine Gideon of Birkbeck College, Charlotte Watts of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Angela Little of the Institute of Education, Nick Short and Andrew Hagner of the Royal Veterinary College, and Ian Bates, Mike Rouse and Sarah Whitmarsh of The School of Pharmacy.

- Neal

Let us introduce ourselves...

Just a quick update on what has been happening at the Bloomsbury Media Cloud and an introduction to the two newest members of the project.

The two newest members are Media Officers Alexandra Jacobs and myself, Neal MacInnes. We are both postgraduate students at the School of Oriental and African Studies. For more details on our academic and work backgrounds please feel free to check out the project team page on the Media Cloud's Google site: http://sites.google.com/site/bloomsburymediacloud/project-team

Having just started on this project a few weeks ago Alexandra and myself have been hard at work to continue to source content and interview scholars and practitioners working in development related fields leading up to the launch of the Media Cloud's web portal.

On behalf of Alexandra and myself, we look forward to working on this project and will keep the followers of this project updated as new developments arise.

Regards,

Neal

Heads in the clouds?

The project team has been quietly plodding away at producing initial project documentation, which is available to view on the homepage of the website. News of our project has been reaching far and wide, from our own Bloomsbury websites (e.g. Pharmacy and the Royal Veterinary College) to the JISC website and beyond!

Right now, we are starting to plan the first of our recordings featuring courses in International Development offered by the six Bloomsbury Colleges. We hope to be employing a part-time Media Officer to assist with this work. If you are interested in applying for the post, please send your CV to Sarah Sherman by 9am on Monday 22nd March.

The Bloomsbury Colleges to publish digital resources online

The latest thinking on international development from leading academics will be shared online via podcasts and videos as part of a new project. Interviews and lectures will be recorded and made publicly available online to raise awareness of major challenges in developing countries, including animal health, climate change, education and water supply.

The 15-month initiative is led by The Bloomsbury Colleges – a consortium of six internationally renowned institutions within the University of London (Birkbeck, Institute of Education, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Royal Veterinary College, School of Oriental and African Studies, and The School of Pharmacy). It is being undertaken in collaboration with the London International Development Centre – an academic organisation which brings together social and natural scientists to facilitate interdisciplinary research and training.

£90,000 has been awarded to the consortium by JISC ­(Joint Information Systems Committee) - a UK government body, which works with the UK education community encouraging the use of digital technologies. Innovative internet-based approaches are central to the project, including the storage of digital resources in ‘the cloud’ – a virtual space online.

Material generated by the project will include:

· Programmes on key international development topics, including:

o Access to medicines

o Animal and human health (including bird flu and swine flu)

o Climate change

o Future of the Millennium Development Goals

o Water resources

· Specially commissioned programmes to coincide with major events in the international development calendar, including:

o International Women’s Day, 8 March

o World Tuberculosis Day, 24 March

o Peace one day, 21 September

o World AIDS Day, 1 December

· Short presentations profiling the international development expertise and training offered by the Bloomsbury Colleges within various categories, including:

o Health and health promotion

o Food production and security

o Environment and biodiversity

o Rural development

o Water and sanitation

o Education

o Sustainable development

· Interviews with each of the six heads of the Colleges about their experiences in international development

Professor Quintin McKellar is Principal of the Royal Veterinary College, one of the Colleges participating in the initiative. He said: “International development issues increasingly impact on all of our lives, from climate change to the threat of diseases like swine flu. Online resources are an effective and appealing way of engaging new audiences and informing them about these matters in a clear and concise way. We are delighted to have secured funding for this project from JISC.”