The UK government has published an open source toolkit with the aim of providing high level advice on open source solutions including how to ensure open source software is considered on a fair basis when procuring ICT. It is aimed at government departments but is of interest to the wider public sector and comprises sections on procurement, options, and cost of ownership and may be of interest to those colleges and universities looking at alternative solutions to their ICT requirements.
It is available at http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/open-source-procurement-toolkit
The JISC funded OSS Watch service also provides guidance in this area at http://www.oss-watch.ac.uk/
JISC Legal has an FAQ on open source licensing (2006) which is still useful as an overview of the legal issues at http://www.jisclegal.ac.uk/Portals/12/Documents/PDFs/OpenSourceSoftwareFAQ.pdf