JISC Project Plan
Overview of Project
1. Background
The cross-disciplinary ‘Roots of the British’ collaboration (www2.le.ac.uk/projects/roots-of-the-british) between scholars in humanities and genetics seeks to interrogate the evidence for the migration and/or continuity of human populations in the British Isles in the distant past.
The HALOGEN project (History, Archaeology, Linguistics, Onomastics and GENetics) will support the data management needs of the researchers involved and thus establish organisational best practice in terms of data management planning and the support of diverse cross-disciplinary research data. The project will be a pilot study focusing on a specific set of geographical regions and research questions. It will cover all phases of the project life cycle from requirements analyses through to the implementation of a practical, cost effective solution to meet the needs of the research team for data access, sharing, curation and preservation.
The solution will be designed to exploit the existing research storage assets within the organisation in terms of hardware, software and technical expertise both within IT Services and other centres of excellence within the University, for example Library Services, Physics & Astronomy and Geography. The project will address some of the University’s immediate needs and complement its role as a UK Research Data Service (UKRDS) Pathfinder institution.
2. Aims and Objectives
The primary aim of HALOGEN is to deliver an effective and scalable research data storage infrastructure to support the research project both during its pilot phase and thereafter. This will establish best practice for similar initiatives both within the University of Leicester and for any future projects where inter-disciplinary collaboration is required.
In achieving this, the following additional objectives will be met.
An assessment will be made of the effectiveness of the Data Audit Framework, Data Management Plans and other tools promoted by the Digital Curation Centre (DCC). These tools will be used to facilitate requirements analyses and design activities. The definition of data management infrastructure, service delivery models, strategy
and policies to support research data management will be shared with the JISC community.
The technical solution deployed will seek to maximise the use of the existing data management infrastructure, central IT support functions and other centres of excellence within the University.
When identifying and evaluating specific data management tools and technologies, open source solutions and relatively cheap, high capacity storage solutions will be considered, the aim being to reduce the ‘barrier to entry’ for other institutions wishing to adopt the approaches piloted by UoL.
From a research project perspective there are additional objectives. The two geographical areas chosen for the HALOGEN pilot (West Lancs +Wirral/Cheshire, and
Leicestershire/Warwickshire) both contain transitions from high to low degrees of Scandinavian cultural influence, as evidenced in place-name densities.
For the Western region, the influence is from Norse Vikings who settled from Ireland at the beginning of the 10th century, while the Central region spans the boundary of the Danelaw, the region under the administrative control of Vikings of Danish origin from the late 9th century.
The aim is to assess if the transitions seen in place-names are mirrored in the other datasets assembled within the HALOGEN database. For the genetic data, it is known that modern Norwegian populations are readily distinguishable from modern British ones, so the genetic evidence will be relatively informative. For Denmark this is not necessarily so, and the project will allow us to assess the informativeness of the genetic data in Central England. It is acknowledged that getting a definitive answer to the research questions relating to the Roots of the British in a year is challenging. As well as historical questions, important methodological questions can be addressed. For example:
What is the best way to code geographical locations across different data types? What geographical units should we use as classifiers - current counties, pre-1974
counties, parishes, poor law unions?
What is the impact of different geographical resolutions in the different data types? If we use interpolation methods to infer data at non-sampled sites, which ones are
most suitable to the different data types?
Through this project we will learn valuable lessons on developing a robust database for future use and we will gain an insight into issues of handling, managing and quality-controlling large volumes of internal and external data.
3. Overall Approach
The project will be split into two broad phases. The first phase will run for c.6 months and will cover the requirements gathering and technical design work. The second phase will run to the end of the year and cover the delivery of the infrastructure and database required by HALOGEN.
Requirements with be gathered by conducting structured interviews and workshops with key stakeholders. The information will be documented using the JISC Data Management Plan
template. This will allow the value of this tool to be assessed.
In practice both the requirements analyses and technical design phases of the project may overlap. A pragmatic approach will be adopted and if appropriate key ITS staff will be involved in requirements workshops.
Solution will be delivered by the University’s IT Services function and we will look to leverage the existing IT infrastructure of the University.
4. Project Outputs & Outcomes
Deliverables Additional Outcomes
1. A Requirements Analysis for the research data management infrastructure required for the HALOGEN project.
This would be in the form of a GAP analyses which would start with an assessment of the current position in terms of the number, type and quality of data sources and the data management practices currently used by the HALOGEN research team (which may be common across Genetics) and IT Services. The detailed requirements of the
HALOGEN project (which will include issues to do with using external data sources, collaboration and dissemination of information within and outside of the University) can then be assessed against current practice to identify process and technology changes.
A contribution to wider JISC/UK RDS community to help develop awareness of good practice. An assessment of the
effectiveness of the DCC’s Data Audit Framework.
An assessment of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in current research data management practices.
2. A Data Management Plan for the HALOGEN research project (e.g.
http://www.dcc.ac.uk/docs/templates/DMP_checklist. pdf )
This would cover requirements, policy and practice recommendations with a model Data Management Plan.
An assessment of the
effectiveness of the DCC’s drafts DMP as an aid to research data management.
Information and lessons learned to source a JISC Data
Management case study.
3. Data Management Infrastructure Design
A contribution to wider JISC/UK RDS community to help develop awareness of good practice. 4. An Implementation Plan for the Research Data
Management Infrastructure (possibly with options)
A contribution to wider JISC/UK RDS community to help develop awareness of good practice. 5. A scalable research data management infrastructure
to support HALOGEN from its pilot phase to its end goal of becoming a nationally available source of information.
Enhanced ability to support cross-functional research at UoL. A best practice model for deploying and supporting further infrastructure for other research initiatives at other Universities.
Deliverables Additional Outcomes
6. Guidance regarding use of the institutional repository
Clarity with regard to the relative appropriateness of archiving data within the data management infrastructure and / or institutional repository for various data types.
7. A model for the long term delivery of a data
management service within the institution (including its support, maintenance, governance and charging policies)
A complete service management model for the new service to include recommendations for which aspects of service provision should be ‘free at the point of use’ (i.e. covered by overheads) and which should be chargeable to the research project on an indirectly allocated basis.
A contribution to wider JISC/UK RDS community to help develop awareness of good practice.
8. HALOGEN Case Study and model data management plans for genetics data.
HALOGEN Project findings presented to a wider audience and model data management plans to help researchers in genetics prepare their data for interdisciplinary reuse.
9. Six monthly interim reports Compliance with JISC
requirements for project control.
10. A project website
Sector-wide dissemination of findings and engagement with key stakeholder communities.
5. Stakeholder Analysis
At this stage the key stakeholders who will be involved in the requirements definition and analyses have been identified and are specified below. As the project progresses through each stage this list will be reviewed and re-evaluated.
Stakeholder Interest / stake Importance
Mark Jobling – Genetics Turi King – Genetics
Daniel Zadik – Genetic (Bioinformatics) Hayley Dunn – Archaeology/Genetics PhD Jo Story – Early Medieval History
Ian Whitbread - Archaeology & Ancient History Deirdre O’Sullivan – Archaeology & Ancient History
Richard Jones - English Local History
Philip Shaw – English Language & Old English
Stakeholders internal to the University of Leicester. These individuals may have specific requirements of the
HALOGEN database and service.
Nick Tate – Geography (GIS system design) Jeff Lusted – Astronomy/IT Services (query language design)
Heads of College
Research Management Forums Research Support Office Library repositories
Stakeholders internal to University who have relevant design expertise.
Stakeholders internal to the University who will be
interested in the progress and outputs of the project.
High
High
Jayne Carroll – Institute for Name Studies (Nottingham)
Steve Archer - surname geography, 1881 census; stephenarcher@waitrose.com Kevin Schürer – surname geography, 1996 census (Essex)
Richard Deswarte – Historical Data Service (Essex)
Matthew Woollard – UK Data Archive, historical names (Essex)
Pablo Mateos – 19th
Century surname atlas (UCL)
Patricia Balaresque – genetics (Toulouse) Rus Hoelzel – ancient DNA (Durham) Ian Densham, James Reid, Claire Grover – geoparsing tools (Edinburgh)
Helen Geake, Sally Worrell - Portable Antiquities Scheme
Peter Stokes (pas39@le.ac.uk) - Langscape database
Mark Blackburn – Coins database; Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
Paul Longley (UCL) – surname placement interpolation
JISC – Simon Hodson UKRDS – John Milner
JISC Research Data Management related Projects
Stakeholders external to the University who manage external sources of data that may be relevant to
HALOGEN.
Stakeholders external to the University who will be
interested in the progress and outputs of the project.
High
High
6. Risk Analysis
The risks documented in the original JISC submission have been reviewed and are
still valid and complete. They are included below for completeness.
No Risk Probability Impact Mitigation
1
Staffing not in place at project start
low low
Key project directing/managing staff already in post
Research Liaison Manager required to support requirements gathering is now in post.
2
Absence, illness or loss of key staff during the project
low low
A ‘pool’ of analysts and technical resource exists within IT Services the workload of these could be reprioritised to support this initiative.
Team-based culture with collaborative practice to share learning and knowledge amongst team members.
3 Scope of project
over-ambitious low medium
Strong Project Board involvement to provide realistic and pragmatic project guidance. Early refinement of detailed work packages
in consultation with stakeholders represented on Project Board.
Approach to project is to pilot in specific geographical regions and address specific research questions. 4 Lack of buy-in, engagement or commitment from internal stakeholders low high
Very high level commitment at senior levels in Genetics and IT Services
Issues with and priority of addressing
research data management well understood within UoL
Strategic importance of developing integrated approach recognised
5
Technology-related failures low low
Experienced in-house technical resource available to help with design and
implementation of technical solutions. Objective is to exploit existing data
management infrastructure within IT Services and UoL. The technical solution will be aligned with the UoL IT Strategy. The evaluation criteria for any new
infrastructure components will be weighted to reflect the need for ‘well proven’ and ‘robust’ solutions where ever possible.
6 Failure to enable wider adoption and scaling-up of Research Data Management solution medium high
Key role of Project Executive and IT Director will be to facilitate the internalisation of lessons learned and promote the roll out of good Research Data Management practise within the UoL.
There is already an awareness of the organisational risks associated with current research data management practices within the UoL. Evidence of this is UoL commitment and active involvement in the UK RDS initiative.
7
The large number of potential sources of data, and their complexity, could compromise the delivery of a system within 12 months. High Medium
The project team will be encouraged to prioritise their data requirements and sources as part of the requirements gathering
exercise.
A pragmatic approach to delivery will be adopted with the pilot project focusing on integrating only key data sources.
8 Lack of relevance of lessons learned to wider JISC/UK RDS Community medium medium
Involvement of JISC and UKRDS on Project Board to align initiatives with broader
requirements of the HE community
7. Standards
Name of standard or specification
Version Notes
PRINCE2 Project Management Methodology
DCC Data Management Plans & Framework
Will be used as an aid to requirements gathering
At this stage many of the standards that the University will adopt during the HALOGEN project’s life cycle are not known. A desired outcome is that the HALOGEN project will help establish organisational best practice in terms of data management planning and the support of diverse cross-disciplinary research data.
8. Technical Development
Technical developments will be undertaken in accordance with the University’s in-house standards. At this stage in the project it is not possible to be more specific.
9. Intellectual Property Rights
With the exception of potentially sensitive commercial, budgetary and personnel information, the UoL offers a non-exclusive licence to JISC and its representatives to utilise, archive and disseminate any documentation produced as part of this project. This information will be made available in the public domain via the project website and via regular project reports to JISC. Technical developments will be licensed as open source where appropriate and will be made available to the JISC and the wider educational community.
Project Resources
10. Project Partners
There are no external project partners involved in this initiative.
11. Project Management
The project will be managed in line with the University’s Project Management Methodology which is based on PRINCE2. A Project Board and Project Team have been established. Whilst membership of the Board will be relatively fixed for the duration of the project, it is envisaged that membership of the project team will change in line with the activities being undertaken.
Project Board
Meetings to be held quarterly/as required. The first meeting is to be scheduled in early February.
Annette Cashmore (Executive) Simon Hodson (JISC)
Mark Jobling (Senior User) Mary Visser (Senior Supplier) David Carter (Project Manager) Project Team
Mark Jobling – Genetics Turi King – Genetics Daniel Zadik - Genetics Jo Story – Historical Studies
Simon James – Archaeology & Ancient History Philip Shaw – English
Dave Carter – IT Services Jonathan Tedds – IT Services
Jayne Carroll – University of Nottingham Meetings are to be held monthly.
Project progress reporting will be in line with the University’s monthly reporting schedule. Additional reports will be produced for JISC as required.
12. Programme Support
At this stage it is not envisaged additional support will be required from JISC.
13. Budget
At this stage there is no variance in the budget defined in the Project proposal. This has been included as Appendix A for completeness.
Detailed Project Planning
14. Workpackages
See Appendix B.
15. Evaluation & Quality Plan
In accordance with the PRINCE2 project management approach that is used for all IT related projects at UoL the quality of the project will be evaluated and managed by:
Ensuring that all key deliverables are reviewed and signed off by the Project Board
Defining, developing and implementing relevant quality assurance measures throughout the life of the project.
Holding a Post Implementation Review to ensure planned benefits have been realised
Timing Factors to evaluate Measures of success
April 2010 Requirements Specification for HALOGEN research project data management infrastructure
Requirements Specification signed off by Project Board Stakeholders engaged at all levels
June 2010
Design Document for HALOGEN Research Data Infrastructure Plan for
Implementation
Design Document signed off by Project Board
Proposed design presented to, and approved by, UoL Research Committee and Information and
Communications Policy Committee
Summary of Requirements, Design and Implementation Plan approved by JISC
Timing Factors to evaluate Measures of success Dec 2010 Implemented Service Service Management Model Post Implementation Review JISC Data Management Case Study and Model DMP’s.
System and user testing completed with no major outstanding faults.
New service signed off by Project Board and launched HALOGEN researchers delighted
Institutional approval for long-term data management model won along with sustained investment in
infrastructure and supporting services
JISC endorsement of the case study and model data management plans.
16. Dissemination Plan
Throughout the life of the project stakeholder analyses will be conducted and relevant
communication activities defined. The following table indicates the initial activities planned by the project.
Context Activities
Web
Project website within c.2 months of project launch to provide public visibility and project updates - maintained for five years
Contribute to the DCC’s Research Data Management Forum
Meetings (internal)
One to one meetings with the most influential stakeholders (e.g. PVC Research, Registrar, four Heads of College)*
Requirements gathering workshops for those researchers directly involved in project
2-3 seminars for other researchers at UoL - part of scheduled ‘Lunch and Learn’ series.
Presentations to Senior Management Team, Information and
Communication Strategy and Policy Committee, and Research Committee* Presentations to four College Research Committees*
* Communication to these groups will focus on general data management issues, lessons learned and good practice recommendations at the institutional, as opposed to project, level.
Meetings (external)
Contributions to JISC and UKRDS events as required (e.g. JISC strand meetings)
Dissemination of Case Study, Findings and Model Data Management Plans to researchers in Genetics, to the Wellcome Trust, and to communities using GIS to help data management and interoperability.
17. Exit and Sustainability Plans
At this stage a detailed exit and sustainability plan has not been defined. This is viewed as a key deliverable following the analyses and design phases of the project. When these
activities are complete the team will be in a stronger position to clearly define the products produced by the project. With this information it will be possible to make realistic plans and commitments.
The project team have agreed the following key sustainability principles that will apply to project outputs.
The new research data management facilities implemented as part of this project will be managed by the central IT Services function at UoL. In line with the organisation’s IT Strategy it will become part of the sustainable infrastructure that is used to support shared research services. Rolling investment to maintain and replace components of the pilot infrastructure as necessary will be absorbed into the general University IT budget.
The intent is that the data management infrastructure deployed as part of this initiative will be developed and scaled up to provide similar services to researchers across the University through the University’s own resources and other initiatives such as UKRDS.
Additional funding applications will be made to scale up the HALOGEN pilot infrastructure with the end of goal of providing a national service. This funding may come from a number of sources for example JISC, the Wellcome Trust and/or the UKRDS programme.
