JISC

Start date: 1 February 2005

End date: 31 January 2007

Funding programme: Virtual Research Environments programme (phase 1)

Project website: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/elvi

JISC theme(s): e-Research

Nottingham is at the forefront in the UK in its implementation of a ‘Virtual Research Environment’ through the use of Portal technology for the benefit of its research community. We will utilise an installed userbase of over 3000 research-active staff across 32 Schools, ranging from the Arts to the Physical Sciences and from Engineering to Medicine.

Aims and Objectives

This project will:

• produce and demonstrate a practical framework for the effective deployment of a generic VRE in an HE environment
• identify and demonstrate the components of a generic VRE that have the most impact and/or are of the most value to the end-users
• identify and demonstrate practical solutions for the development and deployment of those components - including the resolution of cultural change and technical issues
• assess the impact that greater transparency and facilitated communication brings in each of three key areas – collaboration, decision-making, and workflow – across all the disciplines represented at the University of Nottingham.

Project Methodology

1. Each one of the 12 proposed ‘Generic VRE Components’ will be assessed through consultation (meetings, focus groups and interviews) with the stakeholders and a summary of the benefits and barriers produced. This will adopt a consistent form based on a template developed at the start of the project which will effectively provide the sector with a business case outlining cost-benefit and added value of each of the components permitting institutions to make informed decisions as to where their own resources may be deployed for maximum return.
2. Each one of the 32 ‘Schools’ at Nottingham will be investigated and their needs identified (also using a combination of meetings, focus groups and interviews) and mapped to the Generic VRE components, highlighting gaps where they exist. Various strategies will be adopted to encourage take-up of the components most suited to them as well as the refinement to components where it is felt that this will significantly help adoption.
3. Adopting a staggered approach, both of the investigations noted above are then repeated after 12 months. This will provide sufficient time for the changes to be embedded and refinements to tools to be achieved. The ‘before and after’ approach will determine how well the needs of users were met initially, the impact and/or issues raised by the changes, and where gaps in their requirements, if any, continue to exist. As before, the results will be summarised in a consistent form by utilising a template agreed at the start of the project.

Implications/ Deliverables/ Stakeholders

The project’s website will be set-up in the first month of the project where quarterly pdf newsletters summarising progress will be posted as well as executive summaries of the 32 ‘School’ (or 6 ‘Cognate Area’), 10 ‘Lifecycle Area’ and 12 ‘Generic VRE Component’ reports, plus the 24 monthly project status reports over the lifetime of the project.

The main benefits and deliverables will be in the production of the reports which will be explicitly designed to help other HE institutions considering adopting a VRE to prioritise their resource deployment by focusing on key areas first (ie. those which provide maximal added-value) while also avoiding potential problem areas. They will achieve this by demonstrating examples of best practice in areas ranging from change management, to mechanisms to meet end-user needs, and the relative importance of presentation and design, as well as specific practical solutions.