We all know that Research Data Management (RDM) is one of the essential areas of responsible conduct of research don’t we!

We also know that it provides a framework that supports researchers and their data throughout the course of their research and beyond. Right?

But did you know that the University recently launched a suite of services to support Edinburgh researchers with research data management tasks?  See:  http://datablog.is.ed.ac.uk/2014/08/29/dealing-with-data-conference-rdm-service-launch/

The launch of the IS-led RDM Services is the culmination of work detailed in the RDM Roadmap which began in earnest in August 2012 following approval of the RDM Policy by the University Court in May 2011.

RDM programme staff will be in the Pop-up library space on the first floor of the  Main Library on Monday 29 September (2pm-4pm) to answer any questions you may have about our services including:

• DMPonline:
  A free web-based tool to help researchers write data management plans for
  funded-grant applications – https://dmponline.dcc.ac.uk/
• Data Share:
  A free-at-point-of-use data repository to allow University researchers to upload,
  share, and license their data resources for online discovery and re-use by others –
  http://datashare.is.ed.ac.uk
• MANTRA:
  A free online course for researchers who manage digital data as part of a research
  project http://datalib.edina.ac.uk/mantra
• DataStore:
  500 GB free active storage allocation for all research staff and PG research students
  http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/information-services/researchsupport/ data-management/data-storage

For further information please also visit:

• RDM Website:
  One stop shop for information about the University of Edinburgh RDM Programme
  and Services http://www.ed.ac.uk/is/data-management
• RDM Blog:
  http://datablog.is.ed.ac.uk

So please pop by and pay us a visit and let us answer your Research Data Management queries.

Stuart Macdonald
RDM Service Coordinator
email: stuart.macdonald@ed.ac.uk

This project is one of two Wellcome Trust funded projects currently underway at Lothian Health Services Archive (LHSA). It involves the detailed cataloguing of over 26,500 individual patient case notes relating to the pioneering Edinburgh neurosurgeon Professor Norman Dott, who established the first Department of Surgical Neurology in Scotland in Ward 20 of the Royal Infirmary and was also Professor of Neurological Surgery at the University of Edinburgh. This project, which has been underway since September 2012, aims to make a large body of records more accessible to researchers that would otherwise be somewhat hard to access due to barriers such as volume of material, specialised medical terminology and issues surrounding patient confidentiality. These barriers have been tackled and overcome by the development of a methodology to catalogue these valuable records to item level, which includes a high level of indexing to enable detailed searches to be carried out while ensuring the protection of confidential patient information. This project is without known precedent in UK archives and it is hoped that the cataloguing methodology will be applied to other large collections of patient case notes in the future.

Four collections of case notes are being catalogued as part the project and span 40 years of Dott’s career between 1920 and 1960. They cover his early work in private practice, the establishment and development of the Department of Surgical Neurology at the Royal Infirmary and his work during the Second World War at the Brain Injuries Unit at Bangour General Hospital. The case notes contain a wealth a material that give a unique insight into the development of the specialism of surgical neurology in Scotland by Dott and his team and into the lives of his patients. While the project was set up and led by the Project Archivist and is being continued at present by the Project Cataloguing Archivist, it has also benefited greatly from contributions from volunteers and interns, both in terms of aiding the cataloguing process and dissemination of the methodology.

Come along to our pop up session tomorrow, Tuesday 23^rd September between 10 am and 12 pm to hear more about this innovative cataloguing project.

Our story begins in 2011, when the HIV/AIDS epidemic related records held by Lothian Health Services Archive were awarded an inscription on the UNESCO UK Memory of the World Register (the only LHSA collection so far to have the honour). This inscription recognised historical significance and future research potential of the record; which was again recognised by the Welcome Trust in 2012, when they awarded a cataloguing and conservation grant to preserve and make available all 12 collections listed on the inscription.The Project Conservator began in January 2014 and the Archivist came on board in May of the same year.

Some of our promotional post cards

Our pop up session not only highlights the conservation and cataloguing work which has taken place so far, but also showcases the innovative ways in which the project has been managed and expanded beyond it’s original aims and objectives. The records have huge educational potential and this has been tapped into in a range of ways including an established social media programme and plans for an interactive website filled with educational resources to be used in schools across Scotland.

Throughout the project we have also been working in close collaboration with Waverley Care, an HIV/AIDS awareness group working across Edinburgh and the Lothian. It is hoped the two Organisations can work together to put the collections to good use and work to spread the messages contained within the records.

Come down between ten and twelve on the 24^th September to hear about our project and see some of the records we hold, including our unrivalled condom collection!