SHEDL
Scottish Higher Education Digital Library
SCURL launched the Scottish Higher Education Digital Library (SHEDL) in 2009 to provide equality of access to electronic content for library users across SCURL member institutions. One main goal was to increase Scotland-wide HE access to digital journal content through collaborative, commitment-based procurement and licensing. This has developed a culture of cooperation and collaboration amongst staff across the different institutions. The management of contracts has also enabled staff development opportunities and built leadership capabilities. The SHEDL Steering Group produced a revised Strategic Summary in April 2021, which defines the role and aims of SHEDL in the current landscape.
The current SHEDL structure includes the following groups:
SHEDL Steering Group
Learning Content group
e-books group
Print Books group
Journals group
Subscriptions group
SHEDL has twice extended its collaborative partnership for specific deals, firstly with the two largest educational institutions in Northern Ireland- Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Ulster for the procurement of print periodicals; secondly with the NHS Education for Scotland (NES) for a commitment based deal with the publisher Karger. The groups are supported by the SHEDL Digital Library Administrator.