… because good research needs good data

Uptake of e-Infrastructure services in the arts and humanities workshop, 6 July 2010

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Understanding the research environment & what support researchers need

Joy Davidson

DCC, University of Glasgow

j.davidson@hatii.arts.gla.ac.uk

… because good research needs good data

Uptake of e-Infrastructure services in the arts and humanities workshop, 6 July 2010

Relevant DCC Resources • The bigger picture: Curation Lifecycle Model

• User requirements: Data Asset Framework (DAF)

• Capacity building and training: DC 101

• Understanding funding body requirements: Funders Data Management Policy Table and Data Management Plan (DMP) Template

… because good research needs good data

Uptake of e-Infrastructure services in the arts and humanities workshop, 6 July 2010

Curation lifecycle model: benefits

• model can provide a shared means of describing the roles and activities involved with data curation (similar to OAIS).

• model can be effective in mapping external and internal support and for identifying gaps in service provision and support.

• helps to break down a daunting list curation activities into smaller, more manageable chunks.

… because good research needs good data

Uptake of e-Infrastructure services in the arts and humanities workshop, 6 July 2010

Curation lifecycle model: lessons learned

• headings are not clear to researchers (need to use terminology that is relevant and avoid curation-speak)

• confusion of how this applies to other publishing and research models

• users unclear about where they should first engage with the model (people will have different access points depending on needs)

… because good research needs good data

Uptake of e-Infrastructure services in the arts and humanities workshop, 6 July 2010

“JISC should develop a Data Audit Framework to enable all universities and colleges to carry out an audit of departmental data collections, awareness,

policies and practice for data curation and preservation” Liz Lyon, Dealing with Data: Roles, Rights, Responsibilities and Relationships, (2007)

• provides users with an asset register (a snapshot)

• enables institutions to get a better idea of the scale and scope of their digital collections

• highlights areas where central services and high-level policies can be of value

DAF: benefits

… because good research needs good data

Uptake of e-Infrastructure services in the arts and humanities workshop, 6 July 2010

• the term audit is intimidating and reduces willingness to participate

• need to include a wide range of departmental and central service participants in the assessment (administrators, PIs; postgraduate research assistants, IT, FoI and ethics committees)

• DAF pilots revealed that the process of undertaking the audit was more useful than the resulting asset register

• based on this feedback, the refined DAF toolkit now focuses more on assessing current activity and identifying requirements gathering

DAF: Lessons Learned

… because good research needs good data

Uptake of e-Infrastructure services in the arts and humanities workshop, 6 July 2010

• uses the lifecycle model as a basis

• provides an introduction to key curation activities and issues

• gets participants to think about their specific curation requirements

• focuses on developing critical thinking amongst researchers and research support staff

• brings together researchers and support staff to identify intervention points

DC 101: Benefits

… because good research needs good data

Uptake of e-Infrastructure services in the arts and humanities workshop, 6 July 2010

• would benefit from worked examples and bios of various roles (DCC/RIN work)

• would be useful as a starting point for developing discipline-specific materials

• Collaboration in running courses can be useful (DCC/UKDA/Sudamih)

• Could be used as a starting point for institutional staff development courses (e.g., GU Staff Development Service courses)

• Could be tailored for postgraduates starting their thesis work (DCC/Aberdeen)

DC 101: Lessons Learned

… because good research needs good data

Uptake of e-Infrastructure services in the arts and humanities workshop, 6 July 2010

Funders’ data policies

http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/policy-and-legal/overview-funders-data-policies

… because good research needs good data

Uptake of e-Infrastructure services in the arts and humanities workshop, 6 July 2010

http://dmponline.hatii.arts.gla.ac.uk/

… because good research needs good data

Uptake of e-Infrastructure services in the arts and humanities workshop, 6 July 2010

Policy table and DMP tool: benefits• the policy table provides an at-a-glance overview of various

funders’ data management expectations

• can be handy for research support staff as a means of pointing to local support when discussing infrastructure requirements with researchers

• DMP Online toolkit enables researchers to develop data management plans that meet funding body requirements

… because good research needs good data

Uptake of e-Infrastructure services in the arts and humanities workshop, 6 July 2010

Policy table and DMP tool: Lessons learned • need to provide samples of complete and less complete responses

to funders’ data management questions in DMP Online

• need to look into embedding aspects of DMP into institutional processes (e.g., when raising a PAF through Research and Enterprise)

• need to secure approval on mapping of questions from funding bodies and to ensure that they update the table with any new requirements over time

• need to ensure that bid reviewers are equipped to assess data management plans if required

… because good research needs good data

Uptake of e-Infrastructure services in the arts and humanities workshop, 6 July 2010

DCC Related activityIncremental project• DCC/HATII are core partners• gathering user requirements from departments -developing portals to

existing resources (external and internal)• aiming to influence the development of policy from the bottom up

Integrated Data Management Planning (IDMP) toolkit and support • led by HATII as core partner in DCC • developing a benchmarking tool for use at the department level (based

on aspects of AIDA, DRAMBORA, DAF) • aims to fill gap between institution level assessment tools and

researcher level tools

… because good research needs good data

Uptake of e-Infrastructure services in the arts and humanities workshop, 6 July 2010

DCC Related activityJISC 07/09 Projects• Sudamih project aiming to develop infrastructure for the humanities at

Oxford. Have run a DC 101 Lite course for staff in cooperation with DCC.• working with HALOGEN project to test our Data Management Plan template

in cooperation with Research and enterprise • HAOLGEN also testing the role of a research data liaison as an intermediary

point between researchers and central IT services.

RIN Working Group on Information Handling • developed response to recent Researcher Development Framework (RDF) • RDF could be a useful benchmark for skills developed for postgraduate

training courses • can help to identify skills that need to be embedded into LIS courses to

ensure complementarity

… because good research needs good data

Uptake of e-Infrastructure services in the arts and humanities workshop, 6 July 2010

ThanksAny questions?

Joy Davidson – j.davidson@hatii.arts.gla.ac.uk

http://www.dcc.ac.uk