7.2 Data Management Support as Core Business of Research Libraries: Lessons Learned at Radboud University Library

University policies on research data management (RDM) generally state that researchers must store and manage their research data and make them accessible to others. Remarkably, these policies often overlook the very practical questions on storing, sharing and documenting data that researchers may have. We argue that robust IT infrastructures and adequate support services are vital to tackle the demands concerning RDM within universities. In this paper, we take you on a journey to Nijmegen in The Netherlands. We present a case study in which the Library of Radboud University very smoothly acquired an integrated support role for the wider university. Our approach may be interesting to institutions that are developing research data management support. Radboud University Library acts as service desk to guide researchers through all phases of the data life cycle, and it provides a well-documented website, regular PhD training and tailor made workshops. The Library is actively contributing in a development that may be called innovative for Dutch standards: integrating data preservation and sharing in the Current Research Information System (CRIS). The result is a one-stop-shop for researchers for archiving and registering research data, registering publications and uploading full text, and for registering the relationships between these products of research (Research Information Services, RIS). The Library provides support and training on both research data and publication management, thus emerging as a steady factor in the RDM world of temporarily projects and pilots. Via the RIS interface, research data is automatically transferred to and preserved in the national DANS EASY data archive. It results in the further elaboration of the ‘front office back office’ model between DANS and Radboud University. For our RIS datasets, the Library is currently taking over part of the data curation process of the DANS EASY archive, checking Radboud University datasets with regard to metadata, preferred formats and anonymity. Alongside this development, the Library is also involved in the encouragement of disciplinary RDM policies, with the help of a specially designed checklist that allows research institutes to supplement Radboud University’s general policy. In this paper, we illustrate that fundamental to both the RIS interface and the development of disciplinary policies is a solid partnership between the University Library, the IT section and Radboud University’s strategic department. There is an increasing need for research libraries to acquire competence in research data management as part of their core business. The case study of Radboud University shows that the Library can become a strong and stable player in the field of research data management. We sense that the supportive and strategic steps we have taken worked out very well and that our challenges may inspire other libraries to deal with similar RDM issues. Mijke Jetten is Project Manager for Expert Centre Research Data in Radboud University Library, and has spent the last two years setting up a service desk for research data management support at the Library. As a result, the Library now guides researchers through all phases of the data life cycle, and it provides a well-documented website, regular PhD training and tailor-made workshops. She has broad experience of empirical research: she graduated in Philosophy as well as in Religious Studies from Radboud University and, currently, she is finishing her PhD on interreligious adult education between Christians and Muslims