The JISC MOSAIC (www.sero.co.uk/jisc-mosaic.html) project has gathered together data covering user activity in UK Higher Education libraries. The data (http://library.hud.ac.uk/wikis/mosaic/), which is freely available for you to reuse, represents the books that were borrowed linked to the course affiliations of the borrowers. The data is anonymous and includes level 1 data such as the borrower type and their year of study.

This page is all about a competition with a £1000 top prize to show what can be done with that data. Read on to find out about

• The Competition & Prizes
• How to enter
• Judging Criteria
• Supporting Information
• Rules & Small Print

This is an open competition to discover what you can do with that data. This is for you …

• If you have a yearning to see library information put to best use and displayed to best effect
• If you like developing compelling applications and interfaces regardless of the domain
• If you’re into mash ups – but note that this competition is about any application, not restricted to mash ups

This is your chance to impress the world with your ideas as well as your coding … and win one of our three prizes:

• First prize - £1000 sterling
• Second Prize - £250 sterling
• Third Prize - £100 sterling

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To enter, simply produce a browser based application that makes use of some or all of the MOSAIC library activity data.

If you wish to provide any documentation, make it available within the web pages

An entry will be deemed to have been submitted only when an email pointing to it as a browser accessible URL and containing your name and contact details has received at info@sero.co.uk.

The closing date stamp for emails is 2359 hours on Monday 14 September 2009.

Winners should be announced by the end of September.

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What will win? We are interested in entries that genuinely improve the utility of libraries for their users. Entries will be a browser based applications that make use of some or all of the MOSAIC library activity data. Entries will be evaluated on the following simple broad criteria, which are loosely defined, in order not to constrain innovative and wide-ranging entries.

• ease of use
• usefulness
• potential
• and … coolness

These criteria are a guide to entrants and to judges, whose decision will be final.

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Find out more about the objectives of the MOSAIC project at http://www.sero.co.uk/jisc-mosaic.html

Check out the sort of ideas that were generated around this and other library data at the July 2009 Mashed Library event at http://mashlib09.wordpress.com/

If you are uncertain about this sort of development, you might be helped by the list of useful resources compiled for a previous competition at http://www.talis.com/tdn/competition_sources

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1. Entrants must be over 18 years of age.
2. There is no limit to the number of entries that an entrant may submit.
3. Entries may be submitted by an individual or by groups working together. In the latter case, a single email contact should be specified and any prize money will be paid to this individual, with the expectation that it will be fairly distributed amongst the group.
4. An entry will be deemed to have been submitted only when an email pointing to it as a browser accessible URL has received by email at info@sero.co.uk by the closing date of 2359 hours on Monday 14 September 2009.
5. No responsibility can be accepted for entries sent but not received.
6. Eligible entries must clearly make use of some or all of the data provided for download at http://library.hud.ac.uk/wikis/mosaic/
7. All prizes are available to any entrant, provided they are not a judge.
8. Neither Sero Consulting Ltd nor other parties involved in the MOSAIC project nor the judges will be liable for any damage, loss or disappointment suffered by any person taking part or not being able to take part in this competition.
9. Competition winners may be required to take part in publicity and to share their code for re-use under an Open Source licence.
10. We reserve the right to amend these rules at any time and entry in the competition implies acceptance of these rules in their final form.
11. The decision of the judges is final.
12. United Kingdom law applies.

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