Research Information Management (RIM)/Current Research Information (CRIS) Systems for Research Organizations: A Project Brief from the Open-Source VIVO Community

Abstract

The use of Research Information Management (RIM) or Current Research Information Systems (CRIS) can significantly enhance the efficiency and innovation capacity of research organizations. RIM/CRIS systems aggregate, curate, and utilize diverse data on institutional research activities, enabling the strategic utilization of data for decision-making. VIVO is an open-source RIM/CRIS system that enables the recording, editing, searching, browsing, and visualizing of scholarly activity using linked open data. VIVO is customizable and supports additional domains of scholarly activity. The VIVO community is actively engaged in developing and evolving the system to expand its usability and utility through internationalization, multilanguage capabilities, installation of new versions, and API improvements. As an open-source RIM/CRIS system, VIVO is customizable to suit the unique use cases of an institution. Institutions own and control their data, enabling them to manage their privacy or security needs. Moreover, VIVO supports the move towards open science practices as an open, semantic system.

Different use cases with different approaches using VIVO are shown, which can serve, among others, as showcasing, research collaboration, data visualization & impact and researchers & research assessment and evaluation.