Establishment of a model research data repository for universities in Zimbabwe
Funding Area: Critical shared infrastructure / Infraestructura compartida critica
Problem Statement: It is now a global trend for researchers to get funding for their research projects if they collect research data and have deposited it in a research data repository. As a result, this has increased the need for research data repositories for researchers. High-performance servers are thus a prerequisite to enable researchers to deposit their work. The institution, however, lacks the infrastructure to host such research data repositories. Currently, there are challenges in maintaining DSpace which has been in use for managing repository. An alternative software, viz. Omeka has been identified but there is limited knowledge about the software and a high-performance server is required for the software. Bindura University of Science Education Library would want to pioneer the use of Omeka and work as a demonstration site for other university libraries in Zimbabwe to learn from.
Proposed Activities: The project will entail purchasing of server, installation and configuration of Omeka for the research data repository (four weeks). Technical expertise would be required to assist with the installation and configurations. The project team comprising of scholarly communications librarian, systems librarian and subject librarian would need to travel to other libraries to find out how these libraries have been managing their repositories. This would help to avoid foreseeable pitfalls (2 weeks). Testing and uploading of content will follow afterwards. Research data collected from the university community will be used. This stage will take at least four weeks and would be ongoing. Once satisfied with the performance of the system, demonstration and training on how to install Omeka, setting up and configuring the software will be provided to at least 40 librarians selected from the Zimbabwe University Libraries Consortium. These will include scholarly communications librarians, systems librarian and subject librarians (one week). A follow up training meant to market, promote and raise awareness of research data management would follow afterwards for a week. The training workshop would target 40 selected researchers and staff from research units at universities in Zimbabwe. Meals and accommodation would be required for the participants at both workshops. Upon completion of the project, the project team intends to share its experiences at an international conference that advocates for open science, preferably at the UbuntuNet Connect Conference. Funding would therefore be required for travel and conference fees.
Openness: The research data repository be shall openly available under the Creative Commons license. The server will be available for sharing with expertise from other universities who would want to learn more about research data repositories and Omeka software. The project team will be readily available to assist other institutions to replicate the same project at no cost.
Challenges: Anticipated challenges include non-availability of policies on research data management and slow uptake of the concept by researchers. Internet challenges may stifle accessibility of the server and its content by other sister institutions.
Neglectedness: This is a relatively new concept in Zimbabwe and we are yet to identify other potential sources of funding.
Success: An operational research data repository at Bindura University of Science Education, successfully hosting training workshops for librarians, researchers and staff responsible for research units at universities in Zimbabwe are the key success indicators. The ability of other universities to set up similar repositories under the guidance of the project would also demonstrate that the project has been successful. Sharing the project results at a conference would sum up the success story.
Total Budget: US$18, 700-00
Budget File: pdf
Affiliations: Bindura University of Science Education, Zimbabwe University Libraries Consortium
LMIE Carveout: Yes, both Bindura University of Science Education and Zimbabwe University Libraries Consortium are located and operate in Zimbabwe which is a Low Income Economy.
Team Skills: Blessing Chiparausha is a PhD (Information Science) holder and University Librarian at Bindura University of Science Education. He has led project teams responsible for migrating the university's library systems to newer ones (e.g. Mandarin Oasis to Koha) and the establishment of modern student learning spaces among others. He is the Vice Chairperson of the Zimbabwe University Libraries Consortium. Magreth Madzivadondo is the Deputy Librarian at Bindura University of Science Education where her chief responsibility is spearheading ICT projects in the library. She holds an MSc in Library and Information Science, a Special Honours Degree in Monitoring and Evaluation. Onias Topodzi is an Assistant Librarian at Bindura University of Science Education. His key responsibilities include managing the university’s open journal systems, library-faculty liaison and training researchers on research data management. Onias holds an MSc in Library and Information Science. He has experience in managing and archiving scholarly content using DSpace. Monica Vimbai Chatikobo is the Systems Librarian at Bindura University of Science Education who takes the leading role in exploration and implementation of ICT applications in the library. She is currently studying towards an MSc in Library and Information Science.
Submission Number: 49
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