Monthly Archives: December 2017

Research Groups in ORO

This week we will be changing how Research Groups are represented in ORO.  The benefit of representing Research Groups in ORO includes being able to quickly ascertain all the publications of a Research Group and the ability to embed this information via RSS feeds into other web pages.

Up until now Research Groups have been associated to individuals – this means that an affiliation to a Research Group is represented on all their papers in ORO – irrespective of the relevance of the particular paper to the Research Group.  This has meant some papers have inappropriate Research Groups associated with them.

From Tuesday 20th December this method will change to tagging individual papers with one (or more) Research Groups.  This can be done in the usual deposit workflow where the option to choose Research Groups will be available to the depositor.  This should lead to a more accurate representation of any Research Group’s publication set.

What’s a Research Group?  Well, I’ve left that intentionally vague.  This functionality is available to any self defining Research Group at the OU – it may be a formally defined Strategic Research Area or a smaller research collaborative.  If this functionality of ORO is useful to any group then it can be used by them.  Similarly, if it’s not useful to a particular research group, then there is no compulsion to use it.

We have canvassed the Research community and have a set of Research Groups we are adding to ORO.  If you wish another Research Group to be added, or a publications set for any particular group to be reviewed please contact me: library-research-support@open.ac.uk

Save the date! Research Data Resolutions event on 24th Jan

Start the New Year by joining us to reflect on how we manage research data at the OU, and think about how we can work together in 2018!

Managing research data is a hot topic and the focus of much debate and effort among the research community.

Expectations to share data and create Data Management Plans are just two issues which raise a number of questions, such as ‘What are the benefits and barriers of data sharing?’ and ‘are funder requirements clear and realistic?’

There are also an increasing number of tools and services available to researchers – are they the right ones? Do they do what they need to do?

The Library Research Support team invite you to an open discussion to talk about all of this and more, and to find out what the important issues are to researchers at the OU.

So please join us to talk about what managing research data means to you and your work. Bring your questions, thoughts and experiences to discuss over refreshments and biscuits. You’re welcome to bring your lunch too.

If you have a topic you’d like to discuss, feel free to email us in advance at library-research-support@open.ac.uk, and we’ll make sure we get to it on the day.

Date/Time/Location: Wednesday 24 January 2018, 13:00-14:00. Ambient Lab, Jennie Lee Building, Walton Hall.

Written by Dan Crane, Research Support Librarian

New online training resource for social scientists

The new CESSDA Expert tour guide on Data Management has been put together by a group of experts in research data management from across Europe who make up CESSDA – the Consortium of European Social Science Data Archives. This consortium includes 11 European social science data archives, including the UK Data Service.

This fantastic new resource aims to help social science researchers to make their data FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable). The guided tour takes you through 6 areas on a journey through the different stages of your project:

  1. Plan
  2. Organise and document
  3. Process
  4. Store
  5. Protect
  6. Archive and publish

As well as numerous examples and expert tips, the tour also includes specific information on data management practices in different European countries.

Curious to take the tour? Visit the online guide at cessda.eu/DMGuide

“Metrics: what they are and how to use them” – session slides

Chris and I delivered a training session today entitled “Metrics: what they are and how to use them”.

We defined metrics (a.k.a. bibliometrics or quantitative research indicators), looked at how researchers are using them to demonstrate their excellence, contrasted three databases that provide metrics, examined certain popular metrics, looked at author profile systems in relation to metrics and discussed the uses and abuses of metrics.

We aimed to equip attendees with the knowledge they need to navigate this part of the research environment and we hope that people left with an understanding of how metrics can be useful and what their srengths and weaknesses are. The session really highlighted how metrics continue to be an important albeit contentious area that sheds a useful light on some of the murkier aspects of research assessment.

Here are the session slides:

We also drew attention to the Library advice regarding the responsible use of quantitative research indicators . This document outlines our approach to bibliometrics, representing current good practice and acting as a guide for future activities.

Making your research data open: training slides

This morning I ran a new session on making research data open, which was attended by researchers and research support staff from across the university. The session involved lots of lively discussion, particularly regarding the ethical issues involved with sharing research data. We’ll be running the session again in May if you didn’t manage to attend this time, watch this space for details on how to sign up.

Here are the slides from this morning’s session, if you’d like a copy of any of the other training materials we looked at please email library-research-support@open.ac.uk