Purpose
EIS(S) is a charity, established in 1999, with the aim: "To advance education in the field of
the environment."
Activities
EIS(S)'s first project is to set up a web-based database listing unpublished documents on environmental subjects in Scotland. A pilot website was in place in early 2000 and a fully functional website and database was operational from March 2001. This was updated and extended in August 2002. Funding constraints have limited updating since then and the database was replaced by a downloadable spreadsheet in November 2006.
The charity may undertake other projects to facilitate information flow on environmental subjects.
The database of unpublished environmental documents
Rationale
The environment sector suffers from a shortage of research and other information, due to a lack of funding to carry out research and to get results published. Much research is carried out by volunteers, students or in-house research teams, and only a small proportion of this is published, or if so, after long delays. Conservation organisations and others suffer from this lack of awareness of current knowledge.
Project Description
(a) Information Gathering
Participating organisations are asked periodically to supply lists of relevant documents. Each organisation will supply a list (paper or disk) of those documents which they are happy to make copies available for purchase, loan or study.
(b) Information Compilation
The lists are transferred into the parent database and then uploaded to the website database. Selection or inclusion of additional information is kept to a minimum to save time.
(c) Information Dissemination
The database is freely available to any organisations or individuals through the web-site. Other means of distributing either the entire database or selected subsets will be considered in due course.
(d) Internet publication of documents
Some documents may not be easily available due to the logistical problems of small organisations producing copies for enquirers. In these cases, and where the organisation which produced the document feels it is appropriate, the entire documents (or selected parts) will be made available through the web-site for reading or downloading.
(e) Document supply service
Some organisations are unwilling to photocopy documents for many enquirers. EIS(S) offers a document supply service in which authors provide EIS(S) with a copy of the document and permission to make copies. Enquirers order copies directly from EIS(S). EIS(S) will make a charge to recover photocopying and postage costs.
Documents
Main types of environment-related documentary material which are included:
- Student dissertations
- Unpublished reports by Government and Non-Government Organisations
- Unpublished research reports
- Consultants' reports
Sources of document lists include:
- NGOs
- University departments
- Government departments
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E-mail: enquiries@scotenvinfo.org.uk
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