JISC

The project will scope, specify, design and implement a research data management plan suited especially to the needs of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bath. This work will build upon the team’s work investigating the research data management needs of the Innovative Design and Manufacturing Research Centre (IdMRC) at the University of Bath during the JISC-funded ERIM Project and other recent work by the Managing Research Data Community.

Work completed in the ERIM Project in specifying a Research Activity Information Development (RAID) Associational Tool will be continued by the development of a prototype tool for integration within the specified research data management infrastructure.

Aims and objectives

The aim of the project will be to implement effective and practical research data management where there is little or none and of a sort that can be adopted easily elsewhere. This project will complement the University of Baths’ JISC-funded Research 360 Project.

Project methodology

The project will be split into two streams that will come together on completion. The first stream will be concerned with developing the procedures and guidance for adopting data management within the department. This will embrace, too, the tools and infrastructure necessary to support practical data management. The second stream will be the development of the RAIDmap prototype tool, one which will be added to other, existing, tools which are required to support researchers in their research data management activities.

Anticipated outputs and outcomes

• A user-driven requirements specification for a research data management plan (RDMPRS)
• A DMP for the Department of Mechanical Engineering based on the above.
• Implementation of a technical system and infrastructure to support implementation of the data management plan
• Provision of documentation of the implemented DMP and the supporting infrastructure as a ‘blueprint’ so that the approach can be implemented by other groups, departments.
• Implementation of a prototype of the RAID Associative Tool using, where possible, existing technologies, tools and methods to implement the functional requirements.
• Guidance and user support documentation as appropriate.