As published in IS BITS Magazine, Issue 7, Summer 2013 –

We have received the go-ahead to proceed with our plans to establish a service for the secure storage, management, sharing and preservation ofresearch data in the University. This will build on the enabling work that has been done over the past few years, which has included: introducing an institutional policy, agreeing an 18 month roadmap, running training and awareness raising sessions, and establishing a governance structure. This has involved the formation of a RDSM Steering Group, with university-wide representation, which is chaired by Professor Peter Clarke (Physics), as well as an RDSM Implementation Group, which is chaired by Dr John Scally (Library and University Collections).

Due to the delay in receiving the go-ahead, the initial tasks over the coming weeks will be to revise the original timescales for service conception and delivery, commence procurement for the high-capacity storage and run comparisons with progress made in other institutions worldwide.

A fuller report will be provided for the next edition of BITS.

– John Scally, Director, Library & University Collections, and Chair, IS Research Data Management Implementation Group