Is Democracy the Right System? Collaborative Approaches to Building an Engaged RDM Community
When developing new products, tools or services, one always need to think about the end users to ensure a wide-spread adoption. While this applies equally to services developed at higher education institutions, sometimes these services are driven by policies and not by the needs of end users. This p...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of Edinburgh
2018-02-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Digital Curation |
| Online Access: | http://www.ijdc.net/article/view/561 |
| _version_ | 1811286252583911424 |
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| author | Marta Teperek Rosie Higman Danny Kingsley |
| author_facet | Marta Teperek Rosie Higman Danny Kingsley |
| author_sort | Marta Teperek |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | When developing new products, tools or services, one always need to think about the end users to ensure a wide-spread adoption. While this applies equally to services developed at higher education institutions, sometimes these services are driven by policies and not by the needs of end users. This policy-driven approach can prove challenging for building effective community engagement. The initial development of Research Data Management support services at the University of Cambridge was policy-driven and subsequently failed in the first instance to engage the community of researchers for whom these services were created.
In this practice paper, we describe the initial approach undertaken at Cambridge when developing RDM services, the results of this approach and lessons learnt. We then provide an overview of alternative, democratic strategies employed and their positive effects on community engagement. We summarise by performing a cost-benefit analysis of the two approaches. This paper might be a useful case study for any institutions aiming to develop central support services for researchers, with conclusions applicable to the wider sector, and extending beyond Research Data Management services. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T02:56:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7514d8944f28465689d14b92ff8f47b9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1746-8256 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T02:56:50Z |
| publishDate | 2018-02-01 |
| publisher | University of Edinburgh |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Digital Curation |
| spelling | doaj.art-7514d8944f28465689d14b92ff8f47b92022-12-22T03:05:37ZengUniversity of EdinburghInternational Journal of Digital Curation1746-82562018-02-0112210.2218/ijdc.v12i2.561Is Democracy the Right System? Collaborative Approaches to Building an Engaged RDM CommunityMarta Teperek0Rosie Higman1Danny Kingsley2TU DelftUniversity of ManchesterUniversity of CambridgeWhen developing new products, tools or services, one always need to think about the end users to ensure a wide-spread adoption. While this applies equally to services developed at higher education institutions, sometimes these services are driven by policies and not by the needs of end users. This policy-driven approach can prove challenging for building effective community engagement. The initial development of Research Data Management support services at the University of Cambridge was policy-driven and subsequently failed in the first instance to engage the community of researchers for whom these services were created. In this practice paper, we describe the initial approach undertaken at Cambridge when developing RDM services, the results of this approach and lessons learnt. We then provide an overview of alternative, democratic strategies employed and their positive effects on community engagement. We summarise by performing a cost-benefit analysis of the two approaches. This paper might be a useful case study for any institutions aiming to develop central support services for researchers, with conclusions applicable to the wider sector, and extending beyond Research Data Management services.http://www.ijdc.net/article/view/561 |
| spellingShingle | Marta Teperek Rosie Higman Danny Kingsley Is Democracy the Right System? Collaborative Approaches to Building an Engaged RDM Community International Journal of Digital Curation |
| title | Is Democracy the Right System? Collaborative Approaches to Building an Engaged RDM Community |
| title_full | Is Democracy the Right System? Collaborative Approaches to Building an Engaged RDM Community |
| title_fullStr | Is Democracy the Right System? Collaborative Approaches to Building an Engaged RDM Community |
| title_full_unstemmed | Is Democracy the Right System? Collaborative Approaches to Building an Engaged RDM Community |
| title_short | Is Democracy the Right System? Collaborative Approaches to Building an Engaged RDM Community |
| title_sort | is democracy the right system collaborative approaches to building an engaged rdm community |
| url | http://www.ijdc.net/article/view/561 |
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