Ms. Janine Lockhart1
1Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa
Biography:
Janine Lockhart has worked in academic libraries for 23 years. She is currently the Library Manager for the Scholarly Communication and Digitization Unit, which includes Research Data Management, various repositories, tools and research support services at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) Libraries. For six years she also managed the Faculty Support Team for the Faculty of Applied Sciences which provided valuable experience in supporting learning, teaching and research. Before this, she has worked in the area of Training, Development & Information Literacy. She has published and presented many papers at international conferences, has a Master’s degree in Business Administration and a Postgraduate Diploma in Library and Information Sciences. She is currently a PhD candidate. http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5176-6423
Abstract:
Situation: The Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), though the library, has ensured a functional environment to foster good Research Data Management (RDM) practices and services for the university community and in line with FAIR principles. The first RDM policy was approved in 2013 and subsequently reviewed, a research data repository, called eSango, powered by Figshare, was established in 2018 and a Data Management Plan (DMP) tool was developed and deployed. A preservation platform, Arkivum, was procured and a CoreTrustSeal submission is in process to secure and build trust in the research data repository.
Task: Even though these services were available, and awareness was created by communication through various Senate and/or university committees, workshops, training and other communication avenues, the uptake was initially slow.
Action: A key decision by the Higher Degrees Committee that postgraduate students need to submit a Data Management Plan with their proposal and make their research data available together with their thesis submission for graduation purposes, made a significant and impactful difference. A comprehensive review process was implemented on eSango to include the universities ethics manager and the supervisors for postgraduate students. The CoreTrustSeal application that is currently in process has highlighted gaps that lead to many improvements in the internal processes, workflows and strategies.
Result: This had a significance increase in the awareness and uptake of RDM services at the university and improved the overall advocacy, quality, and governance of RDM services towards eResearch.
