Conference Agenda

DARIAH Research Data Management Working Group is a place where researchers, Research Data Management (RDM) professionals and GLAM personnel have come together since 2020. On the basis of this interdisciplinary, inter-professional and inter-institutional collaboration, we would like to reflect in the panel on:

1. How open-source, by-researchers-for-researchers tools and their workflows shape collaborations, and establish trust and transparency in interdisciplinary communities (Tugce Karatas);

2. How brand-new research data repositories can create trust from scratch among researchers also thanks to their workflows (Johan Van Der Eycken and Tom Gheldof);

3. How RDM professionals connect researchers working on cultural heritage and the institutions involved, harmonising the respective needs, policies and workflows (Bianca Gualandi);

4. How inter-institutional scientific collaboration can be documented by means of proprietary and open-source tools (Francesco Gelati).

Each paper will last 15 minutes.

1) Creating a plan for digital infrastructure for research data involves several crucial steps to ensure the smooth transition and effective management of data for research institutions. This paper investigates the challenges of designing and implementing a structured workflow that can transform research data into a machine-actionable format using digital curation strategies where researchers can streamline data exchange processes in the context of contemporary historical research at the Luxembourg Center for Contemporary and Digital History (C2DH). It aims to dissect the intricacies of integrating digital tools and workflows to facilitate computational analysis, reproducibility, transparency, publication, metadata standardisation and dissemination. Furthermore, it delves into the infrastructural dimension of developing a workflow to facilitate the requirements deriving from research data management, data protection policies, and FAIR principles using several bespoke tools including Data Steward Wizard in collaboration with Luxembourg’s National Data Service, Learning Center and Research Fund.

2) There are numerous online data repositories available, so researchers often get lost. However, one repository is not the same as another. Are the rights of the depositor guaranteed? What type of data is the repository for? What about sensitive data? Are there quality requirements?, etc. The uncertainty creates some distrust among researchers, especially when it comes to new repositories. Using the concrete example of www.sodha.be (the Belgian Social Sciences and Humanities data archive), which was developed in the framework of the ESFRI’s CESSDA and DARIAH, we will explain step by step what measures we have taken to gain the trust of researchers.The aim of this paper is to explain the difficulties we faced (and sometimes still face), how we were able to identify them and what solutions we came up with. Finally, we want to address the challenges of maintaining the reliability of the platform. We will discuss We will discuss the current challenges and the next steps (technically, legally, organisationally and communicatively) to maintain the trust of the researcher.

3) RDM professionals, such as data stewards, act as conduits between researchers on one side and universities and GLAM institutions on the other. A sort of human infrastructure, they provide strategic guidance, and connect researchers to support services and technical solutions available within their institutions and beyond. We present the experience of the University of Bologna and particularly the collaboration currently happening within the NRRP project CHANGES - Spoke 4 “Virtual technologies for museums and art collections”. The project investigates the different value-creation processes behind digital cultural heritage (DCH) and (in)tangible heritage, and the additional meaning that DCH brings into the knowledge and narrative of museums and art collections. We discuss how high-level data management strategies have been defined and a common data management plan is being maintained, creating a common framework for the many partners and GLAM institutions involved, and the several planned pilots.

4) The paper would like to reflect on how inter-institutional collaboration has been documented at the Hamburg University Archives.

• Strictly formalised but interoperable: the proprietary tool “Pure” is a Research Information Management System (RIMS). Interoperability is granted, since information can be exported and exchanged in the open-source file-format standard CERIF, but data is not freely available.

• Formalised but little interoperable: administrative and operational information is entered into the records management system (RMS) too. Since the RMS offer limited file-format conversion options, it seems we have a data silo with little data reusability;

• Little formalised but FAIR: Universitätsarchiv Hamburg’s GitLab instance also contains metadata about scientific collaborations, e.g. about the research project "Integrating Voices of the Community". Data is available there in a FAIR but little structured form.

The presenter will invite the audience to interact and to share tools they use for this goal.