Waterstone’s on JANET?
Another aspect of Waterstone’s Bookstore tender has come under suspicion with the revelation that the company plan to use JANET for their retail plans. In their tender, Waterstone’s made a big selling point of their proposed use of the internet, emphasising in particular the ability to order and buy books electronically.
The Joint Academic NETwork is used by universities, colleges and research organisations throughout Great Britain and Northern Ireland. There are direct links to networks in Europe and the USA, through which JANET forms part of the Global Internet and Special Interest Groups.
JANET is operated and managed by the JNT Association Ltd, a ‘not-for-profit’ company regulated by UKERNA, the United Kingdom Education and Research Networking Association.
According to UKERNA rules, an organisation may gain entry to JANET provided it falls into one of the approved categories. It must be a degree awarding institution, an institution that teaches at tertiary level (including sixth-form colleges) and above, an institution that conducts research where a reasonable proportion of the results are placed in the public domain, or a "learned society". Also accepted are further and higher education funding councils, research councils or organisations whose primary purpose is the support of education in a capacity other than for commercial gain.
According to Karen Griffin of JANET Customer Services, Waterstone’s have not as yet submitted any application to be allowed to use the network. Furthermore, despite their location within an academic institute, they could still end up being prohibited from using JANET.
It is clear that the new bookstore will be accessible via electronic mail and the World Wide Web within the internal Imperial College network. If it is to be visible to organisations outside College, it will effectively be using JANET without permission.
An internet book ordering service is already operated by the current bookstore and the Union’s tender proposal included a commitment to continue such a service.
