Invited presentation at the Digital Curation Centre Roadshow, Dundee, 5 December 2012.

1. Developing Research Data
Management Policy and Services
Robin Rice, Data Librarian
DCC Roadshow
Dundee: 5 December, 2012

2. Overview
• UoE Data Library service
• Research data management: scope
• Developing an institutional Research Data
Management Policy
• Researcher vs institutional responsibilities
• Supporting and training researchers
• Roadmap for strategic aims

3. Data Library „traditional‟ service

4. RDM: scope
• An umbrella term to describe all aspects of
planning, organising, documenting, storing
sharing, and preserving data.
• It also takes into account issues such as
data protection and confidentiality.
• It provides a framework that supports
researchers and their data throughout the
course of their research and beyond.

5. University of Edinburgh Research
Data Mgmt Policy
• Passed by Senate in May, 2011
• Developed by an Information Services
committee set up by Vice Principal
• Involved academic champions
• Written by ex-DCC consultant
• Deemed „aspirational‟
• Complementary to
funders‟ policies

6. Edinburgh policy content: worldle

7. Roles & Responsibilities
• Who will support your researchers‟
planning?
• Who has responsibility during the research
project? Who has archival responsibility?
• Who has rights in the data?
• Are students considered?

8. Tips for policy development
 Know the drivers for your own institution.
 Practice the art of persuasion.
 How big is your kirk? Seek alliances.
 Who is your high-level champion?
 Agree a style – mandate or enabling?
 Postcard from the future: what will it
achieve?

9. Supporting and training
researchers at UoE
• Online guidance for academic staff
• Embedding RDM training into
postgraduate programmes (MANTRA)
• Tailored support for Data Mgmt Plans
(customising DMP Online tool)
• Training librarians & IT staff
• Awareness-raising across
schools and departments

10. RDM guidance for academics

11. MANTRA online training course

12. Customising DCC‟s DMP Online

13. Training Liaison Librarians
• DIY training facilitated by data librarians:
Topics:
• Data management planning
• Documenting & organising data
• Data storage & security
• Ethics & copyright
• Data sharing

14. Why do we need
awareness raising?
• A common question: “Why has nobody
told me about this before?”
• A common statement: “We need help with
keeping up to date with the new
tools/services that are continually
appearing … I generally only hear
about these by chance...”

15. UoE RDM Roadmap
• The RDM roadmap sets out a high level
plan for its delivery, noting objectives,
outcomes, deliverables and target dates
for the 18-month period July 2012-January
2014, across four strategic areas.
• Helps define the work
• Provides an overview to
interested parties
• Governance structure

16. Roadmap outline

17. Active Data Infrastructure
• Facilities to store data that are actively
used in current research activities, to
provide access to that storage, and tools
to assist in working with the data
• Issues
– Multi-platform, globally accessible
– “dropbox-like” functionality?
– Resilience and replication

18. Data stewardship: archiving and
preservation services
• Should the institution be doing this?
– EPSRC says so
“Research organisations will ensure that EPSRC-funded research
data is securely preserved for a minimum of 10-years from the date
that any researcher „privileged access‟ period expires or, if others
have accessed the data, from last date on which access to the data
was requested by a third party.”
• How to do digital preservation: “Know what
you’ve got and keep the bits safe.”
• – Tim Gollins, TNA

19. 19

20. Edinburgh DataShare
• Built in 2007-09 with JISC funding as a
pilot institutional data repository
• Based on DSpace, own metadata profile
(Similar to DataCite)
• Voluntary deposits trickling in
• Being put forth as robust University-wide
service (SLD, policies)

21. Links
• University of Edinburgh policy
– http://www.ed.ac.uk/is/research-data-policy
• UoE Roadmap:
– http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/information-
services/about/strategy-planning/rdm-roadmap
• MANTRA online training
– http://datalib.edina.ac.uk/mantra/
• UoE Data Library
– http://www.ed.ac.uk/is/data-library
• Edinburgh DataShare
– http://datashare.is.ed.ac.uk/