From seed to tree. Leveraging collective expertise to create resources on RDM. OpenAIRE Task Force RDM

OpenAIRE RDM Task Force 2018 - 2021: a collaborative approach.

The OpenAIRE National Open Access Desks (NOADs) have a diverse background. Their original mission has shifted from not only supporting open access but also to assisting in good practice in research data management (RDM) within libraries and institutions.  Drawing upon a considerable wealth of expertise in RDM, the NOADs saw a need to build capacity in order to fulfil a national role in this field. Additionally, it was apparent that there was a lack of materials on RDM that one could use nationally to help implement RDM or raise awareness around this topic. To fill these gaps the RDM task force (TF) was created in 2018, led by DANS (Data Archiving and Networked Services) and the DCC (Digital Curation Centre), and which consisted of about 30 members. 

The TF was coordinated through regular meetings and defined work plans. Based on identified gaps in knowledge in the research community and the data lifecycle, work was prioritised and worked on collaboratively, and the TF was subdivided into various working groups each with concrete tasks creating new resources. There was a strong focus on mixing knowledge and skill levels and keeping a low entry-level so that everyone could join a working group and work collaboratively on new resources. Regular calls for reporting progress were organised.

What new resources were created?

Various online materials such as guides and infographics, but also webinars and blogs. The main gaps that have been filled are around the following topics:

a) handling various types of research data, including sensitive dataLever

b) finding trustworthy repositories

c) examples of institutional RDM support

d) examples of research data reuse

e) examples of data management plans

Our poster will visualise the community driven and collaborative way the work was organised, highlighting a few of the resources developed and showing the impact the materials have had.