QA Focus Case Studies

The QA Focus project published a series of case studies which provided examples of quality assurance procedures and illustrate how projects and services implement standards and best practices in order to achieve interoperability, maximise accessibility, etc.

Case studies are available in the following areas:

• Standards
• Digitisation
• Access (Web)
• Metadata
• Software
• Service Deployment
• General

Note that if you wish to access all of the case studies in a single file (which is suitable for printing) you should go the the View-All links on this page.

Note also that information on writing a case study is also available.

RSS Feeds

You should also note that RSS feeds of the case studies are available.

Case Study Documents

Standards

• Standards And Accessibility Compliance In The FAILTE Project Web Site, (case study 02)
  [HTML format] (see also Access / Web)
• Standards For e-learning: The e-MapScholar Experience, (case study 05)
  [HTML format] (also related to standards)
• Standards and Accessibility Compliance for the DEMOS Project Web Site, (case study 10)
  [HTML format] (see also Access / Web)

Digitisation

• Using SVG In The ARTWORLD Project, (case study 07)
  [HTML format]
• Crafts Study Centre Digitisation Project - and Why 'Born Digital', (case study 08)
  [HTML format]
• Image Digitisation Strategy and Technique: Crafts Study Centre Digitisation Project, (case study 09)
  [HTML format]
• Digitisation of Wills and Testaments by the Scottish Archive Network (SCAN), (case study 19)
  [HTML format]

Access (Web sites)

• Creating Accessible Learning And Teaching Resources: The e-MapScholar Experience, (case study 04)
  [HTML format]
• Edinburgh University Library Online: Work In Progress, (case study 26)
  [HTML format]
• Gathering Usage Statistics And Performance Indicators: The NMAP Experience, (case study 06)
  [HTML format]
• Usability Testing for the Non-Visual Access to the Digital Library NoVA Project, (case study 11)
  [HTML format]
• Approaches to Accessibility at MIMAS, (case study 15)
  [HTML format]
• ESDS Web Standards Policy, (case study 16)
  [HTML format]
• A Strategy For Fixing Non-Compliant HTML Pages On The QA Focus Web Site, (case study 23)
  [HTML format]
• Providing Access to an EU-funded Project Web Site after Completion of Funding, (case study 17)
  [HTML format]
• Exploiting ACRONYM And ABBR HTML Elements, (case study 29)
  [HTML format]
• Using The ACRONYM And ABBR HTML Elements On The QA Focus Web Site, (case study 30)
  [HTML format] (see also metadata)
• Implementation Experiences With vCard And vCalendar Microformats, (case study 35)
  [HTML format]
• Archiving Pebble Blogs at ramble.oucs, (case study 36)
  [HTML format]

Metadata

• Gathering the Jewels: Creating a Dublin Core Metadata Strategy, (case study 13)
  [HTML format]
• The Development of Metadata for the Census Resource Discovery System, (case study 18)
  [HTML format]
• Managing And Using Metadata In An E-Journal, (case study 01)
  [HTML format]
• Approaches To 'Spring Cleaning' At SOSIG, (case study 25)
  [HTML format] (also related to service deployment)

Software

• Error Detection on the UKOLN Web site, (case study 14)
  [HTML format]

Service Deployment

• Launching New Database Services: The BIDS Experience, (case study 27)
  [HTML format]
• Providing Access To Full Text Journal Articles, (case study 28)
  [HTML format]
• Merging Data Sources, (case study 33)
  [HTML format]
• Porting the UnCover Service, (case study 34)
  [HTML format]

General

• Managing A Distributed Development Project: The Subject Portals Project, (case study 03)
  [HTML format]
• Implementing a Communications Infrastructure, (case study 12)
  [HTML format]
• Mid Term Review For The Exploit Interactive E-Journal, (case study 20)
  [HTML format]
• Assessing Learning Materials from JISC-funded Resource Databases, (case study 24)
  [HTML format]
• INHALE And INFORM Case Study, (case study 31)
  [HTML format]
• Sustainability: The TimeWeb Experience, (case study 32)
  [HTML format]

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View All Documents

A "View All Files" series of documents, which contain all the briefing papers in a single file, is available. This is suitable for printing all documents in a single operation.

• All briefing documents

You can also access the case studies in the following areas:

• Standards
• Digitisation
• Access/Web
• Metadata
• General

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Listing Of The Case Studies

As well as the page you are viewing, an MS Word version of the case studies is available:

• List of case studies (MS Word)

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Contributing To Case Studies

We welcome proposals for case studies.

Format Of Case Studies

The case studies should be brief - typically 2-5 A4 pages when printed. They should provide a introduction (e.g. a summary of the project), the area addressed in the case study, the solution which was used, details of any problems encountered and suggestions on how the problem would be addressed in the future, based on experiences you have gained.

A suggested template is available. Case studies in HTML are preferred, although MS Word versions are also acceptable. If you use the HTML template if possible ensure that XHTML is used - try to avoid use of HTML authoring tools which introduce proprietary HTML tags or presentational tags such as <FONT>.

Please note that case studies should not be simple press releases about the project or simply provide publicity for the project.

Subject Areas For Case Studies

Case studies in the following areas are welcomed:

• Standards
• Web and accessibility
• Metadata
• Software development
• Deployment into service
• E-learning
• Digitisation
• Multimedia
• Other areas related to the interests of JISC's development activities.