1. Relu Data Support Service, UK Data Archive
Data management and sharing planning the Rural Economy and Land Use Programme (Relu) experience
Veerle Van den Eynden
Relu Data Support Service, UK Data Archive

2. Overview advancing data sharing Relu data policy
data management planning
data support service activities
data sharing
Data Management for ESRC Centres and Programmes, 3 Nov 2009

3. Rural Economy and Land Use programme
interdisciplinary research programme ( )
social, environmental, biological sciences
cross-research council funding, £24m
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
29 large awards - teams of social and natural scientists
challenges facing rural areas in the UK
food issues, flooding, land and water use, agriculture, plant/animal diseases
300+ researchers, 40 research disciplines
economy, ecology, geography, hydrology, sociology,…
Data Management for ESRC Centres and Programmes, 3 Nov 2009

4. Relu data management policy
ESRC & NERC data policies & best practices across research councils
publicly-funded research data = valuable, long term resource
data well managed by researchers
project data management plans
Relu funds support data management
data archived at the UK Data Archive (UKDA) and Environmental Information Data Centre (EIDC) – RC investments
responsibility of research councils
Data Management for ESRC Centres and Programmes, 3 Nov 2009

5. Relu data management plans
Data management planning at start of research:
need for access to existing data sources
datasets planned to be produced
planned quality assurance and back-up procedures for data
plans for management and archiving of collected data
expected difficulties in making data available for re-use
measures to overcome such difficulties
who holds copyright and intellectual property rights of data
data management roles and responsibilities
Data Management for ESRC Centres and Programmes, 3 Nov 2009

6. Relu Data Support Service
funded by research programme
oversee implementation of Relu data policy
coordinated between UKDA and EIDC
advise and support for Relu researchers
Data Management for ESRC Centres and Programmes, 3 Nov 2009

7. Pro-active data support
review data management plans - advice
data management information for award holders and grant applicants
online guidance on RELU-DSS website and UKDA website
Managing and Sharing Data - a best practice guide for researchers
training workshops for researchers
project visits
Data Management for ESRC Centres and Programmes, 3 Nov 2009

8. Key data management issues
data confidentiality, consent, ethical reviews limiting data sharing potential
documenting and describing data
copyright over data
timing of data management
e.g. consent for data sharing and documenting data easily ‘left for later’, often meaning ‘left too late’
Data Management for ESRC Centres and Programmes, 3 Nov 2009

9. Data archiving challenges
researchers’ attitude towards data sharing varies
researchers may be unfamiliar with data archiving
time … time … time
data archiving not necessarily a priority in research
fear of exploitation / competition
Data Management for ESRC Centres and Programmes, 3 Nov 2009

10. Addressing challenges
Relu-DSS meetings with individual project teams to discuss data management for specific research datasets
topical training workshops – with practical case studies
detailed, targeted practice guidance
ongoing discussions with researchers
discussions with Research Ethics Committees
Data Management for ESRC Centres and Programmes, 3 Nov 2009

11. Relu data sharing
assist archiving and resource discovery of interdisciplinary data collections - UKDA and EIDC
Relu knowledge portal - data and research outputs
gateway with online access to data and outputs
metadata about datasets held at UKDA and CEH
research outputs harvested from ESRC Society Today repository
Data Management for ESRC Centres and Programmes, 3 Nov 2009

12. Relu knowledge portal
Data Management for ESRC Centres and Programmes, 3 Nov 2009

13. Relu data archived at UKDA
SN  Implications of a Nutrition-Driven Food Policy for the Countryside,
SN  Managing Food Chain Risks,
SN  Warmwater Fish Production as a Niche Production and Market Diversification Strategy for Organic Arable Farmers,
SN  6159 Eating Biodiversity: An Investigation of the Links between Quality Food Production and Biodiversity Protection,  
SN  Rural Economy and Land Use Programme Sustainable Uplands Project: Social Network Analysis,
SN  Lake District Stakeholders' Perceptions of Personal, Organisational and Environmental Change,
Data Management for ESRC Centres and Programmes, 3 Nov 2009

14. Conclusion
focused, funded and pro-active data management and sharing approach for Relu
support of existing data policies and data sharing infrastructures
active support from programme directors
monitor impact of data support efforts on data sharing successes
example for other research programmes and for research centres?
Data Management for ESRC Centres and Programmes, 3 Nov 2009