What I wish I’d known at the start! What I wish I’d known at the start! Lessons learned the hard way when setting up RDM services; Stephen Grace, London South Bank University, Sarah Jones, DCC; Research Data Network

1. What I wish I’d known at
the start!
Lessons learned the hard way
when setting up RDM services
Stephen Grace, Sarah Jones, Rachel Proudfoot,
Hardy Schwamm, Marta Teperek, Mary Donaldson

3. What went well
• Support from senior management (new Pro-
VC for Research), Steering Group
• Got data repository up and running on time
• First wave of top-down advocacy
• Good feedback on existing RDM service and
training offers
• Got involved in Jisc and other RDM projects
• Collaboration with IT, RSO and others

4. What didn’t go so well
• Senior academics are fairly quiet about
RDM
• Difficult to embed training in PGR courses
• Interest in RDM services slowed down
• Measuring of RDM compliance

5. What I’d do differently
• Start with a more positive message about
Open Research, not compliance and
policy driven
• Find pilot projects, especially in arts &
humanities and allies, e.g. in Data Science
• Focus on bottom-up advocacy and
engagement

7. What went well at UEL
• Adopted an RDM policy in 9 weeks
• Secured funding for infrastructure and staff
member
• Keen support from library senior managers
• Training adopted as part of Graduate
School programme
• Jisc-funded TRaD project (blog)
• DCC engagement support

8. What didn’t go so well at UEL
• No steering group, so no “buy-in”
• No senior academic championing
• Seen as “niche” within library service
• Little to no engagement with IT and
Research Office

9. What I’d do differently
• Get some level of senior championing
• Bottom-up advocacy and engagement
• Greater willingness to experiment (if time
permits)
• More concerted engagement with
professional service colleagues (though it
takes two to tango!)

11. What went well
• Asking others for help and listening to advice from
experts – thank you all 
• Research Community Engagement:
– Data Champions
– Open Research Pilot
• Engagement of other service providers at the Uni
– RDM Project Group - inclusive approach
• Transparency of the approach & experience
sharing
• Training on various aspects of RDM
• Speed of service creation and delivery
• Involvement in the Jisc pilot, DAF survey

12. What didn’t go so well
• Business case
• Insufficient senior leadership engagement
• Constraints of working with proprietary
systems
• Communication between the various
(internal) stakeholders
• Saying ‘yes’ to everything

13. What I’d do differently
• Dedicated workshops and sessions for
senior leaders (PIs)
• Re-brand the name of the service
– Negative association with Open Access
• Design benchmarking strategies and
robust reporting systems from the start
• More time for thinking

15. What went well
• Senior champion
• Dedicated Steering Group and ‘Working’
Group
• Structure and momentum
• EPSRC requirements
• A catalyst for cross-service working
• Business case

16. What didn’t go so well
• Business case (lot of effort)
• Too much agonising? Sometimes there is
no ‘right’ answer
• Lack of integration with other workflows
and technical infrastructure (outwith our
control?)

17. What I’d do differently
• Not try to boil the ocean
• Get low hanging fruit
• More concrete examples – training and
advocacy
• Get out even more!
• Would we use our own repository?

19. What went well
• Support from senior management and
research office
• Initial start-up funding as project
• Integration of systems
• Positive association with Open Access
• Dedicated archival storage
• RDM included in University policies
• Argument for sustainability
• Good tie-up with other services eg ethics

20. What didn’t go so well
• Integration with Arkivum
• Traction in certain fields of research
• Engagement with Arts and Humanities
• Poor communication with IT services
• Our workflow is quite manual

21. What I’d do differently
• Try to drive the ‘positive’ message more
(rather than compliance).
• Put more effort into gathering examples of
best practice
• Try to make case studies of RDM done
well by local researchers
• More engagement with our Biomedical
community

22. Thank you
Stephen Grace stephen.grace@lsbu.ac.uk
Sarah Jones sarah.jones@glasgow.ac.uk
Rachel Proudfoot R.E.Proudfoot@leeds.ac.uk
Hardy Schwamm h.schwamm@lancaster.ac.uk
Marta Teperek mt446@cam.ac.uk
Mary Donaldson mary.Donaldson@glasgow.ac.uk
NB Opinions expressed here are those of the
contributors, and not to be taken as official
statements from their respective institutions.