The Repository is the CRIS, and the CRIS is the Repository

Abstract

The University of Westminster's Virtual Research Environment (VRE) is a CRIS system built using extended Repository technology. The Repository is a central part of the CRIS, and benefits from advanced capabilities driven by the need for the underlying platform to support CRIS and Repository functionality. Developed in close collaboration with researchers and library & scholarly communications at the university, the VRE has wide functionality and extensive data sharing between components. While metadata management, integrations, and persistent identifiers are vastly simplified by the approach, the shared nature of the CRIS presents challenges in terms of blurred boundaries and data ownership between departments and teams. A considered approach to governance and business ownership has led to close collaboration between different stakeholders, and significant benefits in providing a holistic view of research across the university and throughout the lifecycle of individual research projects. A single user interface and provision of a "one stop shop" for research has provided high levels of researcher engagement, and the collaborative development and management of the project has delivered functionality which meets user needs, particular with support for practise based research.