The important role of CRIS’s for registration and archiving of research data

Abstract

Optimal research data management and archiving is a key condition for progress in modern science and of vital importance from both the point of view of research as such as well as research policy and management. More specifically it is a conditio sine qua non for the realisation of Open Science and at the same time it is indispensable for the monitoring and assessment of the quality and integrity of research. Various aspects play a role here: optimal infrastructures and tools for the actual handling of data during the research lifecycle, appropriate metadata to describe the datasets, and - last but not least - an adequate organisational framework to curate and archive the datasets professionally and provide optimal support and services to the researchers.

The paper presents the “Research Data Services (RDS)” project of Radboud University (NL) in cooperation with one of the Dutch national research data archives: DANS (Data Archiving and Networked Services). In this project a model is worked out for the archiving of research datasets via the CRIS1 of the university, including both the registration of the metadata as well as the actual upload of the data files towards DANS. It is argued that an optimal solution is not only a technical matter, but also requires the definition and organisation of appropriate support and management structures and workflows, involving both the local and national partners. In this respect attention is paid to the explanation of the “FoBo-model” (Front Office – Back Office) that is being defined and implemented as part of the project and which forms the organisational backbone of the solution worked out. The paper starts by arguing that a CRIS-oriented approach in research data archiving holds substantial added value, and ends with an overview of lessons learned and a peek into the future of the RDS project.