Transcript Slide 1

eResearch Support Services:
a cost effective solution for the SA
research community
Susan Veldsman
SASLI Project coordinator
CODATA Workshop
6 September 2005
Outline
•
•
•
•
Rational and objectives of SARIS
Challenges of eResearch
Components of eResearch
SA Scene?
–
–
–
–
Online Access
Open Access
Digital Curation
eScience
• eResearch Support Services
– Performance requirements
– Governance
• Roll out?
SARIS: rational and objectives
• Researchers are dependent on access to global
research outputs and interactive tools if quality of
research is to be maintained
• Increasing proportions of information and
knowledge available online as part of the emerging
e-world
• Two main obstacles: high & increasing cost of
– Access rights
– Connectivity
• Many disconnected small initiatives, which makes
scholarly communication disjointed and inaccessible
for the majority
• Need to create a Team SA approach with high level
participation and commitment to the interests of all
researchers
• SARIS – focused on online content
The SA Research Information Services (SARIS)
Project
• Funded by Ford Foundation, via the CSIR
• Team
– Roy Page- Shipp, Martie v Deventer (CSIR)
– Heila Pienaar, Monica Hammes (UPAIS)
– Susan Veldsman (SASLI), Gwenda Thomas
(GAELIC)
– Fey Reagon (HSRC)
• Local consultations and workshops
• Overseas visits to UK, Australia, Brazil, USA,
Canada, Indonesia
A wider scope emerges
• Overseas visits indicated a wider scope –
some called it eResearch, so do we!
• eScience, Digital Curation, Access to content
• Common infrastructural issues
• Common researcher support needs
• All are pre-competitive and lend themselves
to joint investment
• Expand scope to include eResearch Context?
• Adv Group said OK
Challenges of eResearch in the ‘Noughties’
• Integrate IT and eResearch in the daily work
processes of researchers, teachers, and students
• To take needs of our researchers as the starting
point (access to information, study environment,
collaboration tools, personalised information,
support with statistical databases, information
literacy etc.) of what we should be doing
• To integrate the digital library with the digital
learning environment
• To be actively involved in creating and
maintaining institutional repositories and open
access as a support tool for researchers
• This requires a closer connection between
libraries ,researchers, IT, government , others? To
enhance and support a SA Team approach
Components of eResearch
eScience
Data Transfer
Tools &
applications
Primary Data
Sharing
Digital
Curation &
Preservation
Access to eContent
Commercial
Publishing
Open Access
Publishing
Contribution to &
use of published
resources
requiring
payment by
readers
Contribution to &
use of published
resources where
content is
regarded as
‘free’
Affordable
licenses for
researcher
access &
discovery
mechanisms
Serviceable
infrastructure for
publication and
access
by definition this is
Science
employing transfer
and sharing of
large volumes of
data
Software that
allows
manipulation,
modeling and
analysis of
data
Making
research data
available to
other
researchers
Active management
of databases
including promotion
of effective and
widespread use of
the datasets for
their scientific &
scholarly useful life
which requires
Access to
remotely held
large datasets &
high performance
computing via
affordable high
bandwidth
Access to
models,
source
code and
open
standards
Accessible
repositories &
quick
reference
Preservation &
curation
repositories &
access
mechanisms,
archival skills &
infrastructure
Researcher Requires: Perpetual access, Curation, Training, Marketing
Supplier must ensure: Security - Access, Authorization, Authentication
SA Scene – Online Access
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Expenditure on online access ~ $18Mpa
SASLI doing good work on site-licensing.
2005 savings $50 000 000
No high level ‘national’ clout in negotiations.
COSALC an ineffective empowerment
structure.
Publishers still strive to make the rules.
Many researchers well-served, others very
poorly off. ‘Feast or famine’.
Wide range of effective access cost: eg SD
$2 - >$84/Full-text Download
R recovering but subs €/$-denominated
SA Scene – Open Access
• Scattered initiatives – some e-thesis repositories,
some e-journals (5 out of 21) (currently 2 are OA )
• No focus for development of support systems
• Researchers in bondage to a subsidy system focused
on a limited list of peer-reviewed journals
• Approx 90% of global journals now allow
publication in institutional repositories, but we have
few* and no incentives to use them
• DST contemplating legislation to make research
results more accessible – following UK, USA etc
• SASLI is creating awareness on OA and IR by
running regular workshops
* HSRC publishing model is an exception
Digital Curation
• “ … includes but goes beyond that
of data archiving and digital
preservation, to include the active
management and appraisal of data
over the life cycle of scholarly and
scientific interest”
Dr Peter Burnhill, Director, Digital
Curation Centre, Edinburgh, UK
SA Scene – Digital Curation
• Exponential growth of data – major resource
investment
• Moves to make primary research data accessible,
as well as findings
• Most databases institutionally held (even project
level)
• Data lost in the 80’s/90’s
• No managed access or promotion of use beyond
original data generators
• SA initiatives
–
–
–
–
SA-ISIS - for spatially related data
HSRC - HRD Warehouse
SADA in NRF
DISA
• Some moves from DST
eScience
• ‘eScience is about global collaboration
in key areas of science, and the next
generation of infrastructure that will
enable it.’ (includes social science data
sets):
• Purpose is to allow scientists to do
faster, different, better research
Prof Tony Hey: Core programme director for UK
eScience and chair of JISC committee
SA Scene – eScience
• Some researchers (eg Human Genome)
battling with global data transfer – VM
reporting real threat of isolation
• Use of data and models across research
teams is increasing
• SANReN is here – linking SA to GéANT,
Internet 2, AREN
• Some potential users will cope, others need
help – need for a national Helpdesk
• eScience a new growth area
eResearch Support Services
- Performance Requirements
• All eResearch support initiatives coherently
managed
• Service support coordinated centrally
provided, on contract, by good performers
in system
• Ditto for new developments
• Energetic adoption of good solutions
developed overseas
• Web-access framework to equalize support
to researchers
• Governance and ownership by TEI and SETI
users
Proposed Structure for eResearch Support Service for SA
eResearch Board
Governance & Management Model
eResearch Development &
Innovation
Future eResearch activities
Function
Activities
•Web Access Framework –
eResearch Portal
•Data Transfer and Sharing
(processes and protocols, 3As,
helpdesk)
•Open Access (Standards, common
software, institutional repositories)
•The eResearch Librarian (Training
and re-orientation)
•Digital Curation Services
(Standards, software, marketing &
training services)
Lead Users Forum
Who will ‘own’
this?
eResearch Service Delivery
Immediately
•ISP functions
Innovative services
move to Service
Delivery
•NReN Management &
Access Support
•SASLI+
Ongoing cost reduction and
efficiency improvement
Usually sub-contracted to competent
agents in the system
Roll – out possibilities
• DST
• Consortium stakeholders
– Ford Foundation
• Funding possibilities
– Carnegie
– DST
South African Research and Knowledge
Network ?!
Questions?
Susan Veldsman
[email protected]