Introduction

Research data management has arisen as a key requirement in higher education in the last decade. This new responsibility for research data has been configured differently in different institutions. Roles such as ‘Research Manager,’ ‘Records Manager,’ ‘Digital Archivist,’ ‘Special Collections Librarian’ ‘Repository Manager’ have been defined or extended to meet this new need. It can be hard to see the opportunity for the whole institution when the skills are attached to only one department or service. These distinct roles each have a concern for the managed activities necessary to ensure continued access to digital materials for as long as necessary: so irrespective of local definitions each can benefit from the investment in research infrastructure.

And research data management is not just about curators: it’s about creators too. Good data management, from design through creation to deployment and re-use ensures that records are accurate, complete, authentic and reliable, stored securely, preserved where necessary and accessible as required. So, it enables institutions, teams and individuals to meet subject-specific expectations about research integrity and funder obligations on access, ethics and transparency.

‘Research Data Manager,’ ‘Records Manager,’ ‘Repository Manager’, Repository Manager’ ‘Digital Archivist,’ and ‘Special Collections Librarian’ are different roles configured to varying local requirements. But there is a fundamental community of interest between them: engagement between all parties can only improve the way an HEI looks after all the data it creates.

This open event will introduce the Jisc sponsored Research Data Shared Service (RDSS), and is designed to engage institutional stakeholders within Higher Education in dialogue about the preservation of research data. It will explore how the skills and capacity to preserve research data can support wider institutional data management requirements.

The development of the Jisc RDSS includes the provision of tools, policies and services for digital preservation. These tools are directly and indirectly of interest to many institutional stakeholders, such as records managers, special collections librarians and archivists. Yet the institutional settings and the pace of development vary considerably between these related but distinct fields.

This workshop will provide an introduction to the opportunities to progress digital preservation within institutions, opportunities that are latent within the RDSS, and invite collaboration with RDSS pilots.

Presentations will:

Explore the digital preservation needs within different HEI departments
Identify the challenges associated with effective research data or records management
Identify the ways the RDSS can help progress digital preservation within HEIs
Offer use cases and examples from HEIs using the RDSS

Would should come?

Grant holders
Programme management and institutional archivists,
Special collections librarians,
Records managers and cognate staff within higher education and research institutions

Indicative Programme

1000 – Registration open, tea and coffee
1030 – Welcome and Introduction with William Kilbride
1050 – ‘RDM for All: What does good practice look like?’ – Research Councils UK
1135 – Time for questions
1145 – ‘Managing RDM and a Digital Library’ with Neil Stewart, London School of Economics
1205 – ‘Co-ordinating data across the University from a Library and University Collections perspective’ with Kirsty Lingstadt, University of Edinburgh
1225 – ‘Records management and Research Data Management’
1245 – Time for questions
1300 – Lunch
1400 – ‘RDSS: A tool for co-ordination’ with John Kaye, Jisc
1445 – ‘RDM: Advocacy, Approaches and Tools’ with Masud Khokhar, Lancaster University
1530 – Tea and coffee
1550 – Roundtable discussion
1615 – Close

Registration

Attendance at this event is free and open to anyone but places are limited and registration is essential.

If you register but cannot come, please let us know no later than 1 week before the event, otherwise a cancellation fee of £30 will apply.

Image CC0 License from Pexels

Masud Khokhar

Research Data Management for All?