embedding institutional data cu rat io n sev ch (eidcsr) project...
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EIDCSR Policy and Guidance for Research Data – Report 4/21/2010
The Institutional Policy and Guidance for Research Data workshop took place on Monday 29 March
2010 at Rewley House, Oxford. This half-day event was organized as part of the dissemination activities
of the JISC-funded Embedding Institutional Data Curation Services in Research (EIDCSR) Project. The
aim was to to discuss issues around the development and implementation of institutional policy and
guidance for research data.
Over fifty delegates signed up for the workshop from the following institutions in the UK:
Fig 1. Oxford data curation institutional context
Dr Michael Fraser, Principal Investigator on the
EIDCSR project, began by welcoming
attendees to the event and explaining the
institutional context at the University of Oxford.
The University is committed to supporting
researchers with their data through the
deployment of a federated data repository
supported by suitable business models and in
cooperation with other agencies in the UK.
After this Mike provided an overview of the
EIDCSR project and the work that has been
undertaken to develop an institutional policy.
BBSRC University College London
Bournemouth University University of Bath
Charles Beagrie Ltd. University of Bristol
Digital Curation Centre University of Cambridge
Greater Manchester Comprehensive Research Network University of Edinburgh
IBM University of Oxford
Imperial College London University of Sheffield
Institute of Education, University of London University of Southampton
JISC University of Stirling
King´s College London University of the West of England
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine University of Warwick
The Open University University of York
UKRDS
EMBEDDING INSTITUTIONAL DATA CURATION SERVICES IN RESEARCH
(EIDCSR) PROJECT WORKSHOP
INSTITUTIONAL POLICY AND GUIDANCE FOR RESEARCH DATA
EIDCSR Policy and Guidance for Research Data – Report 4/21/2010
The EIDCSR policy work in Oxford has been led by the Research Office in collaboration with the
University of Melbourne. The aim of this work was to develop an institutional policy framework as well
as an implementation plan that ensures it is useful to researchers and their departments.
After the welcome and introduction, Kathryn Dally and Paul Taylor presented the Oxford experience of
developing an institutional policy. Kathryn explained how this work forms part of a wider programme in
promoting research integrity or the responsible conduct of research (RCR) at the University of Oxford.
Data management is an essential area of RCR, but , there is currently no formal guidance or policy in
place at Oxford, and there is also a a recognized need to ensure compliance with the requirements of
funders, regulatory agencies and codes of conduct. EIDCSR provided the opportunity and resources
for Paul Taylor from the University of Melbourne to be seconded to work on this. Paul conducted a
series of interviews with academics and administrative staff where a series of recurring themes were
identified such as the importance of knowing how long to retain data, where to locate it, who owns it and
where to go for advice. Currently work is taking place on drafting a policy and an implementation
strategy. Paul´s work has led to the following recommendations:
Fig. 2 Recommendations from the policy work undertaken as part of the EIDCSR Project
Donna McRostie and Anna Shadbolt from the University of Melbourne presented the history behind the
research records and management policy at Melbourne. In 1996 a project started that led to the
development of data guidelines in 1998. A review was later undertaken in 2004 and the guidelines were
endorsed as University policy in 2005.
When the policy was reviewed again in 2009 it
was revealed that it was ‘off the radar’ for most
researchers and that better researcher
engagement was needed. Some of the data
services envisaged to do this include data
portals with advice, training programs, and
establishing dedicated data librarians to work
with researchers.
Fig.3 Data services in Melbourne
EIDCSR Policy and Guidance for Research Data – Report 4/21/2010
Simon Porter, also from the University of Melbourne, talked about their central data registry: an
institution-wide record of all research data and records stored in the university including a description,
the name(s) of associated researchers and projects, the location of the data (digital and analogue),
access restrictions, and relocation and disposal schedules.
Fig. 4 Melbourne´s data registry screenshots
The registry makes use of a research public
profile system, has a public and a private view
and is populated automatically by scanning for
references to data in publications. A new
research management information system is
now being deployed at Melbourne and it will
support the integration of information about
research activity and outputs.
Prof. Jeff Haywood (Vice Principal Knowledge Management, Chief Information Officer & Librarian to the
University of Edinburgh) started his talk by describing the opportunity of managing research data better.
Jeff introduced enablers such as senior management recognition and researchers’ own interests, as
well as inhibitors such as a lack of clear resolution from research councils, plus some practical
difficulties.
After this, Jeff presented some of the initiatives
taking place at Edinburgh, including the
research computing strategy, the institutional
repository service, and projects like DataShare
and DAF, which have resulted in the
DataShare data repository, a draft policy for
research data management, data management
web pages, and pilot training courses.
Fig. 5 Edinburgh DataShare data repository
Kenji Takeda from the University of Southampton introduced the Institutional Data Management
Blueprint (IDMB) JISC project [http://www.southamptondata.org/]. IDMB aims at producing a framework
for managing research data for an HEI as well as scoping a pilot implementation plan for an institution-
wide data model.
EIDCSR Policy and Guidance for Research Data – Report 4/21/2010
Fig. 6 The three legged stool data model
Kenji explained how their approach is
research-centric, based on developing the
appropriate technology and governance with
adequate resources. A range of interviews
have taken place showing the necessity of
guidelines and support. Their expected
outcomes include a data management strategy
for the next decade and training courses.
The last presentation was by David McAllister from the BBSRC on how to implement an effective data
sharing policy. The background to the BBRSC data sharing policy can be traced back to the OECD´s
principles and guidance for research data document in 2007 and the bioscience data policy context,
with agencies such as MRC and Wellcome adopting data policies.
Fig. 7 BBSRC data sharing principles
The BBSRC policy is based on eight principles,
including sharing data with few restrictions, in a
timely manner, with appropriate metadata and
standards, and following regulatory
requirements. The attempt is to encourage and
enable data sharing and facilitate the reuse of
data.
The sharing of data is monitored from the
application stage and throughout the project.
The different needs of the different
communities are recognized and the policy
evolves continuously.
The final discussion touched on issues such as the importance of not only keeping research data but
also the processes involved, delivering compulsory and integrated postgraduate data management
training programmes, and the responsibility of research councils to avoid researchers simply creating a
plethora of independent websites to share their data but rather encouraging the development of
institutional data repositories.