Supporting Research in an Era of Data Deluge

Developing a new service portfolio within Information Services at the

University of Western Australia

Toby Burrows and Kate Croker

eResearch: how information and

communications technologies help researchers to collect, manage, share, process,

analyse, store, find, and re-use information

eResearch support: models

eResearch as IT Support

• Collaboration services

• Visualisation services

• High performance computing (HPC)

• Data storage and management

• Systems and software development: sensor networks, data integration, Web-enabled workflow applications, grid computing, GIS, bioinformatics, surveys

• ANDS Data Capture

Monash University eResearch Centre

Intersect, VeRSI, iVEC etc.

eResearch as Library Service

• Digital repositories: higher degree theses, e-prints; research publications; Open Access v. dark repositories; ERA evidence; online archives; electronic publishing

• Research metrics: ERA evidence, Research Impact Measurement – individual + institutional benchmarking

• Training programmes: research integrity and ethics, data management advice and planning

• ANDS Seeding the Commons

eScholarship Centres (Melbourne, Sydney)

UWA Information Services structure

eResearch Support services

Scholarly publishing and institutional repository

Open Access UWA Research Repository Digital theses, digital objects, local digital collectionsDigitization (retrospective)

Copyright and I.P. Research-relatedAssistance / awarenessService implications

Researcher profiles Socrates, Research@UWA (VIVO), GO8 serviceIdentifiers: ResearcherID, ScopusID, NLA parties, ORCID etc ANDS services (RDA)

Research impact measurement Research output and measurement – products, techniquesResources and training: Bibliometrics Guide Reporting – personal + administrative / managerialNational reporting - ERA

Research data management Data management planning: advice, toolkit, factsheetsData storage, institutional data repository (advice / assistance)National facilities: Australian Data Archive

Technologies and services Software (advice / non-technical assistance)Analysis, design Web site design and management (Information Services)Mobile apps

eResearch environments Data capture workflows (ANDS projects)Collaboration environments (NeCTAR VL)Specialized metadata services (AustLit, archival finding aids)

Staff of the eResearch Support Unit (Dec. 2011)

Position title Type Qualifications Notes

Manager, eResearch Support Ongoing Librarian

Coordinator, Digital Repositories Ongoing Librarian

Senior Web Coordinator Ongoing IT

eResearch Facilitator / Senior Business Analyst Contract IT ANDS projects

Bibliometrics Coordinator Ongoing Librarian

Research Data Librarian Contract Librarian ANDS projects

eResearch Data Analyst Ongoing Librarian or IT

Programmer/Analyst Contract IT ANDS projects

Research Assistant Contract Subject degree AustLit

Research Assistant / Data Archivist Contract Librarian Australian Data Archive

Web Analyst Ongoing IT

Analyst (Research Metrics) Ongoing Librarian

Senior Library Officers (2) Ongoing Library technician

Benefits & opportunities

• Cross-fertilisation of knowledge and services based on the synergies between research analytics, data management, research outputs and eResearch systems.

• Taking a holistic view of all these areas which is much closer to the researcher’s own perspective, as well as to the perspective of research managers and administrators

• Closer integration and coordination of similar functions should result in a more effective delivery of services to researchers.

• Better-informed decision-making about services for researchers, cross-training and multi-skilling of staff, and identifying opportunities for closer and more active involvement in eResearch developments and solutions.

• More integrated outreach programmes for researchers, especially around data management practices and solutions, and research metrics.

• Re-thinking the flow of research-related information across the University – and designing the system architecture required to enable a more efficient and reliable approach.

Conversations with researchers

• “I’ve got all this data under my desk | in my filing cabinet | on my shelves – can I put it in the data store?”

• “I need to develop a Web site as part of my ARC project – can you help?”

• “How can I read this Oxford Text Archive file without all the HTML code?”

• “I’m glad I didn’t win the iPad prize in your survey – I only use Linux on the [department’s] server”

• “iPhones are just gadgets... I was programming a Commodore 64 at high school in the 1980s”

• “Where are the best places to publish? Should I use Open Access journals?”

• “[A senior academic] recently told me it was not a breach of copyright to post pre-prints of one’s papers online. Could you confirm whether this is true or not?”

• “What is the policy for posting journal article PDFs online? What parts of our published research can we actually place on our web page?”

• “Why is the full text of my thesis appearing in Google Books?”