1. UWE Bristol
Why is the Library leading on this?
Research data management and the academic
library
Judith Stewart
Research and Knowledge Exchange Librarian
judith.stewart@uwe.ac.uk
UC&R DARTS 3
28th June 2012

2. Research at UWE
Biomedicine and bio-sensing
Health and social care
Digital creative industries
Robotics

4. Who is addressing RDM within the universities?
Library
Research
Office
Sarah Jones
IT DCC (2012)

5. This led me to think . . . .
• Why are we as Librarians leading on this?
• And why does this cause surprise among
other sections of our academic
communities?

6. Why are Librarians taking the lead in RDM
projects?
• we are used to asking the questions that establish
information users’ needs
• we manage information, and understand the dangers of
not managing it.
• we understand how to ‘curate’ i.e. storing, organising,
making accessible and sharing.
• We are used to developing and delivering information
literacy guidance
• We are removed from disciplinary or faculty politics

7. Why are people surprised?
• RDM is so much bigger than ‘library’
• Perceptions about library in relation to
supporting research are mixed
• Perception that data management is all about
the technical requirements – software and
infrastructure
• Because research is trendy – and libraries just
aren’t

8. Benefits and challenges
• Raises the profile of the Library in the institution
• Enables relationships across the institution
• Shows how the Library is relevant throughout
the full research lifecycle
• Can be a steep learning curve
• Sustainability

9. Managing research data : A pilot Study
in Health and Life Sciences
http://bit.ly/KvfW1W

10. What is happening/would happen in your
institution?
• Who is leading on RDM in your institution?
• If the answer to this is – no-one, or not that I know of –
who do think should?
• How could the Library/Information Service take the
initiative? Who would you talk to?
• If the answer is that the Library service is taking the lead
already – who are the other stakeholders in the process?
• What single piece of advice would you give to other
library services who feel motivated to start shaking the
institutional tree about data management?