Research Data Management
Services in a UK Higher Education
Institution: University of Edinburgh
Library Fair and Forum: Yokohama, Japan, 7 Nov. 2017

Robin Rice
Data Librarian & Head, Research Data Support
EDINA and Data Library
University of Edinburgh

Fun facts about Scotland (UK) & Japan• Island country, 244,110
square kilometres• Ben Nevis, 1,343 metres• (UK) population 64,769,452• Life expectancy at birth: 81• Unemployment rate: 4.8%
• GDP per capita is $42,500• Island country, 377,837
square kilometres• Mount Fuji, 3,776 metres• Population 126,451,398• Life expectancy at birth: 85• Unemployment rate: 3.2%
• GDP per capita is $41,300

From CIA World Factbook and Project Britain2

We have much in common…
including whisky!

Masataka Taketsuru, founder ofNikka whiskey distillery married
Scotswoman Jessie ‘Rita’ Roberta
Cowan in 1920 after studying
Chemistry at Glasgow University
and learning the art of whiskymaking from Scottish distilleries.
Images from www.scotland.org
3

His life and the romance
were portrayed in the
television show, Massan.

About University of Edinburgh•••••

Founded 1583
39,576 students
14,346 postgraduate students
6,816 academic staff
Research income: £253.9
million (2015-16)• Mission: the creation,dissemination and curation ofknowledge• 20 schools in 3 colleges:– Arts, Humanities & SocialSciences– Medicine & Veterinary
Medicine– Science & Engineering© www.nealesmith.com
4About EDINA and Data Library• Data Library began 1983 toprovide digital Census data
• National services (EDINA)
began 1995 with a competitivetender• 51 staff: service & project
managers, software engineers,
support staff• 445 subscribing institutions• One of eight divisions in theInformation Services Group,
merged Library & computing• EDINA’s tagline:
Innovation into service
5Research Data Management (RDM) at
University of Edinburgh
Service milestones over ten years:• 2007 research computing survey• DataShare project, 2007-08• 2008 Data Audit Framework
recommendations• Research Data MANTRA project,
2010-11• University RDM Policy, 2011
• 1st RDM Roadmap 2012
• Steering group formed, 2012
• Half terabyte per researcher, free
data storage rolled out 2014
• Research Data Service isconsolidated, 2016
• Third Roadmap, 20176

Research Data Service: Tools & support forworking across the data lifecycle7Before your research project begins
Tools and Support

Description

DMPOnline

Online tool to create Digital Curation
a data management Centreplan, based on
funders’ templates
Answer enquiries and Libraryreview plans, provide
adviceSupport and DMP
Review

Sample DMPs

Service provider

Keep successful plans Libraryto show researchers
in different
disciplines

During your research project
Tools and Support

Description

Service provider

Finding data

Finding data portal anddata librarian consultancy

Data Library

Active data storage(DataStore)

Central, backed up storage
for all researchers individual and sharedspaces

IT Infrastructure

Sensitive data
(Data Safe Haven)

New, secure facility forworking with sensitive dataon remote server. We arepursuing ISO 27001
security certification

Library, Data Library,
IT Infrastructure,
Information Security

Code versioning(Subversion, Gitlab:coming soon)

Private or public software
code storage andmanagement. Documents
all code and allows rollback
to prior versions

IT Infrastructure

Collaboration and datasync’ing (DataSync)

Open source tool to allow
external partners to accessyour research data

IT Infrastructure

Electronic Lab Notebook(RSpace Pilot)

Data management forlaboratory based research

IT InfrastructureAfter your research project is finished
Tools and Support

Description

Service provider

Open Access datarepository (DataShare)

Allows you to sharedata publicly andpreserve for long-term

Data Library

Long-term retention(DataVault)

Private storage for a
specified retention
period on tape (forexample, 10 years)

Library
IT Infrastructure

Data asset register(Pure for datasets)

Record a description ofyour dataset along withyour publications andresearch projects

LibraryTraining and support throughout your project
Tools and Support

Description

Service provider

General RDM support

Answer enquiries by email,phone or appointment

Library
Data Library

Online training(MANTRA and RDMS
MOOC)

Awareness raising andlearning at your own paceonline through our open
educational resources

Data Library

Scheduled andbespoke training

Sign up for a scheduledworkshop or request a special
training session for yourresearch group

Library
Data Library
IT Infrastructure

Research Data Servicewebsite

Find all the tools and support
in one place

Library
Data Library

Blog and promotional
materials

Keep up with newdevelopments on our blog.
Handouts and videos

Library
Data Library

RDM Forum &Sharepoint site

Attend quarterly meetings forschool support staff or getaccess to shared resources

Library

Dealing with Data
event

Attend an annual conferenceof researchers talking about
their data problems andsolutions

Library

New video portraying a simplified
user journey through the services

https://youtu.be/cuaAVum9mZkReflections as a service provider• An institutional RDM policy helps to establish thebasis of a service and its scope.
• A data lifecycle can help show where service gaps
exist.
• By working with IT services, librarians can provide amore holistic service (advice and infrastructure).
• By partnering with academics (such as a steeringgroup), service providers can get more buy-in.
• Data management planning is the only way toensure RDM is done properly. Errors in data
management can lead to data loss or inability toshare / re-use data.
• Funder mandates help to persuade researchers toshare data, as do journal policies.
• Researchers will welcome RDM services that help
them be more productive and impactful. (They will
avoid difficult, time-consuming or confusing
services.) Usability is key.

Thank you
www.ed.ac.uk/is/research-data-service

http://datablog.is.ed.ac.uk
http://edina.ac.uk
R.Rice@ed.ac.uk

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