Contact: BUBL
Last update: 6 September 2004
If there is anything you would like to know about BUBL which is not covered by this list of frequently asked questions or by other items in BUBL Admin, please contact us.
BUBL is an Internet-based information service for the UK higher education community.
It is not an acronym. When BUBL was first established in 1990 the name stood for BUlletin Board for Libraries. However it is now known as the BUBL Information Service, or BUBL for short.
Access is possible via the following routes:
BUBL is located and run from the Centre for Digital Library Research of the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland.
The BUBL Information Service originated in 1990 as the BUlletin Board for Libraries, an experimental service created as part of Project Jupiter, a project based at Glasgow University which aimed to train librarians in the use of JANET, the Joint Academic NETwork. When Project Jupiter funding ended in May 1991 BUBL was taken over by a group of librarians from the Universities of Strathclyde and Glasgow who saved it from extinction by their voluntary efforts. The service continued on this voluntary basis until early 1994, growing in popularity and attracting small amounts of sponsorship from commercial and professional organisations. In January 1994 one year's funding for the maintenance and development of BUBL was received from the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC). This was followed by a further year's funding for 1995. Then, in January 1995, JISC agreed that BUBL should be funded as a UK national information service, with funding on a three yearly cycle. Since this funding ended, BUBL has maintained by staff at the CDLR.
When BUBL was first established, the specific aim of the service was to function as a bulletin board on JANET for the academic library community. However, it soon became apparent that much of the information being made available on BUBL was of direct interest to the wider academic community and was being widely used by non-librarians. Consequently, BUBL has broadened its approach, and whilst a specialist service is still provided to the UK's library and information science community, the service has for some time been aimed towards the UK higher education academic and research community more generally.
Although BUBL is aimed at the UK higher education community, anyone anywhere in the world can access the service, providing they have access to the Internet.
No, all information on BUBL is provided free at the point of use.
No.
BUBL was the first national UK service to offer its users subject-based access to the Internet, through the BUBL subject tree initiative, which began in 1993. In the subject tree, resources are arranged together by subject area (i.e. all accountancy resources are located together, as are all geology, library and physics resources etc.). The original gopher-based subject tree was soon supplemented by a Web-based one, and both have now been incorporated into BUBL LINK (LIbraries of Networked Knowledge). LINK contains thousands of links to Internet resources and services, and covers all main subject areas. Resource descriptions are searchable and subjects can be browsed by alphabetical order or Dewey Decimal Classification. BUBL LINK is also accessible via Z39.50 by connecting to port 210 on link.bubl.ac.uk using database name Zpub.
BUBL subscribes to numerous mailing lists which announce new resources and services on the Internet, giving their URL (Internet location) and a description of their content. Individuals also contact the service, sending information about a resource or service, along with its URL. BUBL staff evaluate these, and decide whether or not they are suitable for inclusion on the service.
If you are responsible for (or simply know of) a resource or service on the Internet which you think BUBL users would be interested in, you can recommend that site to BUBL. Send a message to bubl@bubl.ac.uk and include both the URL of the resource or service and a short description of its purpose and contents. The site will then be evaluated by BUBL staff who will decide whether it is suitable for inclusion on the service, and who will contact you to let you know whether or not your recommendation has been added to the service. Alternatively, you can use the URL Suggestion Form