This issue has been identified during the DiVLE projects and the LinkER evaluation as one requiring further investigation. It arises in relation to providing resource linking where objects are not in standard (web accessible) formats. There are no ready to apply recommendations in this area and it is one where some further exploration is needed. Examples would include some executables or audio files requiring a 'wrapper' or some other files requiring synchronization. This issue has a wider relevance well beyond the DiVLE projects or other initiatives in the area of digital libraries and VLEs and we would welcome additional comments and links to further resources.
Issues can also arise in relation to copyright when dealing with non-standard resources and care must be taken to ensure that all aspects of the law are addressed when putting resources on-line. (See link to EnCoRe below)
More on this issue shortly.
EnCoRe The EnCoRe site includes a formative roprt from February 2003 that contains material relevant to the problem of non-standard resources and copyright.(see Appendix 1)
Forthcoming..... contributions gratefully received