The University of Melbourne Research Data Repository Service SUM

Background

The University of Melbourne with guidance from Monash University has proposed a Research Data Service (business service, not computer/software service). This service was initially to meet the needs of the Centre for Structural Neurobiology, St. Vincent's Institute of Medical Research, but now also supports crystallographers from another department. It is intended to support researchers in general, particularly those with file-based datasets. The proposed system will allow:

• research datasets to be made publicly accessible, via the web

• easy access and discovery of research datasets

• long term archival storage of research datasets (potentially through an extension of this service)

• technical/discipline-specific metadata appropriate for participation in research federations/networks such as TARDIS

• citable datasets, either referenced from publications or shared as resolvable identifiers or URLs

• datasets that can be made publicly available after a defined period of time or specified date

A potentially novel aspect of this SUM is that it separates the Research Data Store from the Institutional Digital Repository allowing implementers to leverage existing production systems to provide a new business service. This separation decouples the management of large data sets, associated infrastructure maintenance and development from the institutional repository. Storage infrastructure and repository architectures can evolve independently.

-- LyleWinton

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