Research Data Management: Unisa Experience

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Research Data Management at Unisa

LIS Research Symposium: Paper presentation abstract Research Data Management at Unisa Introduction Research data are valuable assets for the Colleges of Unisa. It is important that services and processes are in place to facilitate the management of the raw research data. Research funding agencies are also increasingly requiring research projects to ensure that any data produced, that may be useful to others are shared and preserved. In view of this the Unisa Library has been tasked with establishing Data Curation and Preservation at Unisa which is currently referred to as Research data management. The project commenced as a pilot whereby raw research data is stored, preserved and made discoverable. Purpose The purpose of this paper seeks to provide a brief overview on the Research Data Management (RDM) journey that the Unisa Library undertook. There is a need for the raw research data to be stored, preserved and made searchable and retrievable. The journey will assist Unisa to manage its research data effectively to make it available for use and re-use. 3. SCOPE This paper will provide a brief definition of what research data management is and the different concepts within the RDM sphere will also be covered. The scope will cover what has been done at Unisa so far, with the pilot project and the testing of the system. Different scenarios from different institutions will also be highlighted. Findings The findings indicate that local institutions, Unisa included are gradually embarking on Research Data Management projects. The findings further highlighted a potential challenge as Librarians are not sufficiently exposed to the new phenomenon of RDM and do not possess the necessary skills

Research Data Management in an Open Distance Electronic Learning Environment

Research Data Management in an OD(e)L environment. INTRODUCTION / BACKGROUND Research data are valuable assets for the Colleges of Unisa. It is important that services and processes are in place to facilitate the management of the raw research data. Research funding agencies are also increasingly requiring research projects to ensure that any data produced, that may be useful to others are shared and preserved. In view of this the Unisa Library has been tasked with establishing Data Curation and Preservation at Unisa which is currently referred to as Research data management. The project commenced as a pilot whereby raw research data is stored, preserved and made discoverable. 2. OBJECTIVE The purpose of the project is to provide a space where unpublished raw research data of the Unisa researchers and postgraduate students can be stored and preserved for use and reuse. Data disposal will be done according to legal, statutory, ethical and funding bodies’ requirements. 3. SCOPE The Library project scope covers the digitization and preservation of raw research data of all Unisa researchers (staff, visiting researcher fellows and Postgraduate students) engaged in research in all disciplines, irrespective of format and type. This document addresses the business and ICT requirements with a focus on the workflow solution for the establishment of a Research Data Management workspace for ingesting data