Efficiency of RCUK Outcomes System

I am attending the PURE UK User Group today to discuss the forthcoming launch of the RCUK Outcomes System. 

Dale Heenan and Helen Meade gave an overview of the current status of the project noting EPSRC, AHRC, BBSRC, and ESRC awards holder outcomes will be included from launch.

NERC have thier own system but expect them to review the situation and may join in the standard offering within a year.

MRC and STFC have e-VAL.

For the short term 4 systems will exist though the aspiration is that within 3-5 years all RC’s will share one outcomes reporting system.

The biggest concern is that we cannot bulk upload from research organisation systems.  It would be useful to have this live when the system goes live to avoid unnecessary duplicate data entry and data cleansing and checking.  RCUK are working with HEI’s on this but the timeframe is currently expected to be after go live so there is an issue.

Late October HEI’s will be given administrative access with go live planned for mid November.

 

 

 

 

RCUK Outcomes System Testing

Hi All,

Just started doing some testing of the RCUK outcomes system.  Some initial thoughts that will be included in my feedback to RCUK and I expect they will publish a summary of feedback and future plans:

• Bulk upload is only currently available per award and only for outcome types publication and conference so this is very limited use
• Online definitions require a bit of rooting about to determine where certain information should go and there is potential overlap
• Concern over staff development data – people might inadvertently fill in something that is inaccurate or inappropriate – I am seeking advice from our HR department

I will look forward to moving towards an efficient solution to this requirement.  At present I am not sure how we will minimise burden on staff and ensure useful information is provided to Research Council’s but thought process and discussion is on-going.

 

IRIOS – Research Council Awards and Outputs

The presentations from the recent IRIOS event and demonstration are available on the blog:

http://www.irios.sunderland.ac.uk/

http://www.irios.sunderland.ac.uk/index.cfm/2011/7/28/IRIOS-Workshop-Presentations

A report will be added to the blog soon.

You can also try the demonstrator yourself via the blog entry:

http://www.irios.sunderland.ac.uk/index.cfm/2011/7/22/IRIOS-Demonstrator

 

Repositories and CRIS: Working Smartly Together

The slides from the event can be viewed via the download buttons at:

http://www.rsp.ac.uk/events/repositories-and-cris-systems-working-smartly-together/

The event touched on impact, output, REF, RCUK outcomes, ePrints and more.

MRC e-VAL – Outcomes Collection

Just come from a meetingwith MRC representatives and their supplier for the new e-VAL system.

The system looks very good – user-friendly and runs quickly.

The 2011 exercise will run on the existing process cOct/Nov and the new version is expected to be deployed next year.

Other funders could potentially use this system too.

MRC cross references publications with Thomson Reuters (Web of Science) who they work with to verify publications.

 We spoke a lot about how to synchronise data with core data stores at research organisations and minimise duplicate data entry and agreed we will continue to discuss such issues.

Discussions between Research Council’s about the holy grail of one system are on-going but it may be some time before we have only one or two systems as there are lots of issues for us to work on together.

 

Specification for Outputs Available from RCUK

The Research Outcome Types, and the fields to be collected, have been finalised.  If you would like a copy, the website says you should email researchoutcomes@rcuk.ac.uk but I have obtained and attached a copy here RCUK_Outcome_Fields_Specification_External_Version

21/07/11 NOTE THERE MIGHT BE THINGS MISSING FROM THIS SPEC e.g. on doing a gap analysis against our internal data stores I found patent is missing from the dropdown list but should be there.  RCUK have started testing and I expect an updated spec and definitions will be available thereafter.

See the following page for updates and FAQ:

http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/research/ResearchOutcomes/Pages/home.aspx

Impact and Output Data Management

William Nixon will be updating the University of Glasgow Enlighten ( ePrints repository) blog with news about our developments for impact and output management.

See:

http://enlightenrepository.wordpress.com/2011/04/22/eprints-impact-and-our-miniref-exercise/

Reporting from Institutional Systems Workshop – Report and Virtual Goody Bag

 

Many thanks to everyone who attended the workshop in Glasgow last Friday and contributed to the  lively exchange.  It was great to see so many colleagues travelling from near and far to take part and share their experiences.

The workshop consisted of a mix of presentations and discussions. The following report outlines some of the salient points raised:

Workshop Report

RCUK new output fields

We were lucky enough to receive presentations from several speakers on their own experiences of  reporting

Laura Tyler on Glasgow’s Mini REF
William Nixon on Enlighten at Glasgow
Helen Muir on QMU outputs collection process
Simon Kerridge on Sunderland’s outputs collection, and IRIOS & RMAS projects
A virtual presentation from Darren Hunter of RCUK RCUK slide show with accompanying sound file at http://www.gla.ac.uk/r-e/pub/special/ops/enquire/feb2011workshop.wma

If you have anything to add to the report, please don’t hesitate to get in touch using the comment button below or by email to aimee.cook@glasgow.ac.uk or valerie.mccutcheon@glasgow.ac.uk
Once again, thanks to everyone who helped to make this a success.

Event – Reporting from Institutional Systems – 28th February 2011

Register your interest now for this forthcoming event at the University of Glasgow.  The event will include an overview of ePrints functionality that we have adapted for impact and output reporting using our recent internal miniREF exercise as a testbed.

There is no cost to attendees from HE and FE institutions and affiliated organisations.

Click here to see the draft agenda:

RIS_Workshop_Agenda

To request a place please email aimee.cook@glasgow.ac.uk
** Registration for this event is now closed**

Further details will be posted on this blog soon.

Workshop and Demonstration – Date for your Diary

We will be running a workshop on 28th February looking at latest developments in output and impact reporting and demonstrating code that will be freely available under ePrints as a result of the Enquire project at the University of Glasgow.

The event will run approx 10.30-3.30pm at the University of Glasgow.    There will be no cost to attendees and a lunch will be included.

An agenda will be posted here soon.

In the meantime if you want to reserve a space please email aimee.cook@glasgow.ac.uk and we will send you further information.