Addressing data management training needs: a practice based approach from the UK

In this paper, we describe the current challenges to the effective management and preservation of research data in UK universities, and the response provided by the JISC Managing Research Data programme. This paper will discuss, inter alia, the findings and conclusions from data management training projects of the first iteration of the programme and how they informed the design of the second, paying particular attention to initiatives to develop and embed training materials

Gathering evidence of benefits: a structured approach from the JISC Managing Research Data Programme

The work of the Jisc Managing Research Data programme is – along with the rest of the UK higher education sector – taking place in an environment of increasing pressure on research funding. In order to justify the investment made by Jisc in this activity – and to help make the case more widely for the value of investing time and money in research data management – projects and the programme as a whole must be able to clearly express the resultant benefits to the host institutions and to the broader sector. This paper describes a structured approach to the measurement and description of benefits provided by the work of these projects for the benefit of funders, institutions and researchers. We outline the context of the programme and its work; discuss the drivers and challenges of gathering evidence of benefits; specify benefits as distinct from aims and outputs; present emerging findings and the types of metrics and other evidence which projects have provided; explain the value of gathering evidence in a structured way to demonstrate benefits generated by work in this field; and share lessons learned from progress to date

Which One’s Which? Understanding Versioning in Repositories

Which One’s Which? Understanding Versioning in RepositoriesWhich One’s Which? Understanding Versioning in RepositoriesWhich One’s Which? Understanding Versioning in Repositorie

Making sense: talking data management with researchers

Incremental is one of eight projects in the JISC Managing Research Data programme funded to identify institutional requirements for digital research data management and pilot relevant infrastructure. Our findings concur with those of other Managing Research Data projects, as well as with several previous studies. We found that many researchers: (i) organise their data in an ad hoc fashion, posing difficulties with retrieval and re-use; (ii) store their data on all kinds of media without always considering security and back-up; (iii) are positive about data sharing in principle though reluctant in practice; (iv) believe back-up is equivalent to preservation. <br></br><br></br> The key difference between our approach and that of other Managing Research Data projects is the type of infrastructure we are piloting. While the majority of these projects focus on developing technical solutions, we are focusing on the need for ‘soft’ infrastructure, such as one-to-one tailored support, training, and easy-to-find, concise guidance that breaks down some of the barriers information professionals have unintentionally built with their use of specialist terminology. <br></br><br></br> We are employing a bottom-up approach as we feel that to support the step-by-step development of sound research data management practices, you must first understand researchers’ needs and perspectives. Over the life of the project, Incremental staff will act as mediators, assisting researchers and local support staff to understand the data management requirements within which they are expect to work, and will determine how these can be addressed within research workflows and the existing technical infrastructure. <br></br> <br></br> Our primary goal is to build data management capacity within the Universities of Cambridge and Glasgow by raising awareness of basic principles so everyone can manage their data to a certain extent. We will ensure our lessons can be picked up and used by other institutions. Our affiliation with the Digital Curation Centre and Digital Preservation Coalition will assist in this and all outputs will be released under a Creative Commons licence. The key difference between our approach and that of other MRD projects is the type of ‘infrastructure’ we are piloting. While the majority of these projects focus on developing technical solutions, we are focusing on the need for ‘soft’ infrastructure, such as one-to-one tailored support, training, and easy-to-find, concise guidance that breaks down some of the barriers information professionals have unintentionally built with their use of specialist terminology. We are employing a bottom-up approach as we feel that to support the step-by-step development of sound research data management practices, you must first understand researchers’ needs and perspectives. Over the life of the project, Incremental staff will act as mediators, assisting researchers and local support staff to understand the data management requirements within which they are expect to work, and will determine how these can be addressed within research workflows and the existing technical infrastructure. Our primary goal is to build data management capacity within the Universities of Cambridge and Glasgow by raising awareness of basic principles so everyone can manage their data to a certain extent. We’re achieving this by: - re-positioning existing guidance so researchers can locate the advice they need; - connecting researchers with one-to-one advice, support and partnering; - offering practical training and a seminar series to address key data management topics. We will ensure our lessons can be picked up and used by other institutions. Our affiliation with the Digital Curation Centre and Digital Preservation Coalition will assist in this and all outputs will be released under a Creative Commons licence

Effect of Collector Configuration on Test Section Turbulence Levels in an Open-Jet Wind Tunnel

Flow quality studies in the Langley 14- by 22-Foot Subsonic Tunnel indicated periodic flow pulsation at discrete frequencies in the test section when the tunnel operated in an open-jet configuration. To alleviate this problem, experiments were conducted in a 1/24-scale model of the full-scale tunnel to evaluate the turbulence reduction potential of six collector configurations. As a result of these studies, the original bell-mouth collector of the 14- by 22-Foot Subsonic Tunnel was replaced by a collector with straight walls, and a slot was incorporated between the trailing edge of the collector and the entrance of the diffuser

Incremental scoping study and implementation plan

This report is one of the first deliverables from the Incremental project, which seeks to investigate and improve the research data management infrastructure at the universities of Glasgow and Cambridge and to learn lessons and develop resources of value to other institutions. Coming at the end of the project’s scoping study, this report identifies the key themes and issues that emerged and proposes a set of activities to address those needs. As its name suggests, Incremental deliberately adopts a stepped, pragmatic approach to supporting research data management. It recognises that solutions will vary across different departmental and institutional contexts; and that top-down, policy-driven or centralised solutions are unlikely to prove as effective as practical support delivered in a clear and timely manner where the benefits can be clearly understood and will justify any effort or resources required. The findings of the scoping study have confirmed the value of this approach and the main recommendations of this report are concerned with the development and delivery of suitable resources. Although some differences were observed between disciplines, these seemed to be as much a feature of different organisational cultures as the nature of the research being undertaken. Our study found that there were many common issues across the groups and that the responses to these issues need not be highly technical or expensive to implement. What is required is that these resources employ jargon-free language and use examples of relevance to researchers and that they can be accessed easily at the point of need. There are resources already available (institutionally and externally) that can address researchers’ data management needs but these are not being fully exploited. So in many cases Incremental will be enabling efficient and contextualised access, or tailoring resources to specific environments, rather than developing resources from scratch. While Incremental will concentrate on developing, repurposing and leveraging practical resources to support researchers in their management of data, it recognises that this will be best achieved within a supportive institutional context (both in terms of policy and provision). The need for institutional support is especially evident when long-term preservation and data sharing are considered – these activities are clearly more effective and sustainable if addressed at more aggregated levels (e.g. repositories) rather than left to individual researchers or groups. So in addition to its work in developing resources, the Incremental project will seek to inform the development of a more comprehensive data management infrastructure at each institution. In Cambridge, this will be connected with the library’s CUPID project (Cambridge University Preservation Development) and at Glasgow in conjunction with the Digital Preservation Advisory Board