CRIS as an Interconnector: IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRIS Maximilian Stempfhuber & Engin Sagbas GESIS-IZ Social Science Information Centre Bonn, Germany euroCRIS Membership Meeting 2008, Moscow

IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber Agenda Why a thematic CRIS? The idea behind IConnectEU The IConnectEU Portal Feasibility – Lessons learned so far Future steps Conclusions

IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber3 Obstacles in accessing research information… …in the way it is currently produced by researchers Different target groups / different information needs Dispersed information (websites), hard to get an overview Heterogeneous information Lack of interlinked information Lack of interactive access and visualization Lack of sustainability of results (after end of projects)  Integrating and organizing the available information provides added value for the users

IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber4 Typical questions regarding research information Which projects are working on a specific topic? Which persons and institutes are cooperating in the project? Is there statistical data for this country? Which resources are available for/from a specific country? Which project is doing research on a specific country? Which are a person's publications? Which outcomes are available from a specific project?  Mix between typical CRIS entities (projects, publications etc.) and documentation-oriented aspects (geographic coverage, research method etc.; discipline-specific)

IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber5 The idea behind IConnectEU Researchers noticed: Each project normally has its own dissemination activities There is a demand from the researches involved in the projects to access the outcomes of their colleagues They know each other from conferences  Exchange of information between researchers is driven by a common research interest (not by a general need for information, a common funding scheme, the country they live in, the institution they work at, …)

IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber6 The idea behind IConnectEU (cont.) Commission noticed: For “third parties” (political stakeholders, general public etc.) it is difficult to identify complementary research activities and information (they are no scientists) Most dissemination activities are targeted at other researchers (conferences, scientific publications etc.) and are not directly useful for other groups of users: –Hard to find –Difficult to get an overview what is there –Not easy to understand and determine consequences  IConnectEU = CRIS as a dissemination tool for researchers = researchers take the active role

IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber7 The idea behind IConnectEU (cont.) Goal: Connect complementary research via joint dissemination

IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber8 The idea behind IConnectEU (cont.) Adding value by thematic integration

IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber9 IConnectEU – The project Funded by the European Commission under FP6 as SSA Duration: Partners: 8 projects from FP 6, Priority 7 “Citizens and Governance in a Knowledge-based Society” + an social sciences information provider Project coordinator Information technology

IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber10 IConnectEU – The project Central work packages: Pilot portal as a joint activity for joint dissemination of results from complementary projects: IConnectEU.org –Technology: Web-based catalogue based on existing software, implementing CERIF core entities & relationships –Data entry: Project coordinators of the 8 projects –Contents: 8 projects, 150 institutes, 700 persons, 550 publications, 250 events (Core CERIF), 15 information systems / databases, etc. ; constantly growing, e.g. primary data Guidelines for reusing the technology and concepts for other topics & in other disciplines

IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber11 IConnectEU.org: Homepage

IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber12 IConnectEU.org: Projects

IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber13 IConnectEU.org: Projects

IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber14 IConnectEU.org: Projects

IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber15 IConnectEU.org: Institutes

IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber16 IConnectEU.org: Institutes

IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber17 IConnectEU.org: Persons

IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber18 IConnectEU.org: Results

IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber19 Feasibility: Lessons learned so far Researchers are willing to provide information… –… in the case of IConnectEU coordinators, but they are more able to represent researchers then administration is –… if the process is monitored at an adequate level –… if they see an immediate benefit / incentive –… if they can do it within and for their “research environment” (for their colleagues) Researchers don’t want to enter everything multiple times: –Why not get data back from CORDIS (“We already delivered it during negotiation”)? –We want to upload from our systems (e.g. EndNote)

IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber20 IConnectEU: Future developments SSOAR.info – Social Science Open Access Repository

IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber21 Conclusions IConnectEU.org as a CRIS From the researcher’s view As a means for active dissemination by reserachers Linking (past) results & future activities Thematically focused Bridging FPs at the topic level IConnectEU.org as a Pilot for thematically focused dissemination Test case for new types of dissemination Model for other topics & disciplines Application of CERIF core model to an existing cataloguing system (perspective: exchange)

IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber Thank You! Dr. Maximilian Stempfhuber GESIS-IZ Social Science Information Centre Lennéstr. 30, Bonn, Germany