Hand picked for quality ‐ a reflection on biz/ed

Subject gateways have been encouraged and financially supported by the Joint Information System Committee of the UK Higher Education and Research Funding Councils as a potential solution to the ever increasing cost of library provision and Internet based information resources. The gateway for Business Education, biz/ed, was developed using both existing procedures for quality assuring such resources, and new approaches. The four key elements ‐ DESIRE, ROADS, TIPs and the Focus Group ‐ are described and their effectiveness in achieving a quality output assessed. The overall conclusion is that there are still conceptual barriers to the use of gateways by academics, and that, while they may serve a useful purpose, the process of quality assurance and maintenance is continuous and resource intensive.