1. 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

2. IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber205.06.2008 Agenda Why a thematic CRIS? The idea behind IConnectEU The IConnectEU Portal Feasibility – Lessons learned so far Future steps Conclusions

3. 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 05.06.2008

4. 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) 05.06.2008

5. 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, …) 05.06.2008

6. 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 05.06.2008

7. IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber7 The idea behind IConnectEU (cont.) 05.06.2008 Goal: Connect complementary research via joint dissemination

8. IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber8 The idea behind IConnectEU (cont.) 05.06.2008 Adding value by thematic integration

9. IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber9 IConnectEU – The project Funded by the European Commission under FP6 as SSA Duration: 01.03.2006 - 31.10.2008 Partners: 8 projects from FP 6, Priority 7 “Citizens and Governance in a Knowledge-based Society” + an social sciences information provider 05.06.2008 + Project coordinator Information technology

10. 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 05.06.2008

11. IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber11 IConnectEU.org: Homepage 05.06.2008 www.IConnectEU.org

12. IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber12 IConnectEU.org: Projects 05.06.2008

13. IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber13 IConnectEU.org: Projects 05.06.2008

14. IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber14 IConnectEU.org: Projects 05.06.2008

15. IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber15 IConnectEU.org: Institutes 05.06.2008 www.IConnectEU.org

16. IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber16 IConnectEU.org: Institutes 05.06.2008

17. IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber17 IConnectEU.org: Persons 05.06.2008

18. IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber18 IConnectEU.org: Results 05.06.2008

19. 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) 05.06.2008

20. IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber20 IConnectEU: Future developments 05.06.2008 SSOAR.info – Social Science Open Access Repository

21. IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber21 Conclusions 05.06.2008 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)

22. IConnectEU - Building a thematic CRISMaximilian Stempfhuber2205.06.2008 Thank You! Dr. Maximilian Stempfhuber GESIS-IZ Social Science Information Centre Lennéstr. 30, 53113 Bonn, Germany max.stempfhuber@gesis.org