Category: News

Call for Participation: Portage Research Intelligence Expert Group

September 6, 2018 – Portage is currently seeking expressions of interest to join its Research Intelligence Expert Group (RIEG). The objective of REIG is to provide Portage with intelligence on research data management (RDM) in Canada.

RIEG members will identify and work to address knowledge gaps in a variety of RDM related topics.  Members will work closely with other Portage groups and provide oversight of targeted studies that gather supporting evidence.  We are seeking volunteers from both the library and broader research community (e.g. data managers, curators, researchers) who can contribute their in-depth expertise in various fields of research.

If you would like to join RIEG or to learn more, please contact Dylanne Dearborn (dylanne.dearborn@utoronto.ca) (Chair of RIEG) and Jeff Moon (portagedir@carl-abrc.ca) (Portage Director) with a brief expression of interest. Submission deadline is September 21st, 2018.

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About CARL and Portage:

The Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) provides leadership on behalf of Canada’s research libraries, promotes effective and sustainable knowledge creation, dissemination, and preservation, and enhances its members’ capacity to advance research and higher education. CARL members include Canada’s 29 largest university libraries and two federal institutions. CARL has launched Portage, comprising a library-based network of expertise on Research Data Management (RDM) and national platforms for planning, preserving, and discovering research data.

Appointment of Sarah Wilkinson as a CARL Project Officer

September 6, 2018 – The Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) is pleased to announce the appointment of Sarah Wilkinson as a CARL Project Officer. Ms. Wilkinson recently completed her Master of Information at the University of Toronto and is a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at the University of Victoria. During her studies she interned at University of Toronto Libraries and taught at the University of Victoria. Her responsibilities at CARL will include communications, support to the Assessment Committee and Statistics Program, as well as supporting Portage operations on a half-time basis. She will be based at the CARL office in Ottawa.

A new comprehensive overview of the Portage Network: “Addressing Gaps in Canadian Research Data Management.”

September 5, 2018 – Steven N. Liss, Vice-President (Research and Innovation) at Ryerson University and Chair of the Portage Advisory Committee, has written an article for University Affairs entitled ‘Addressing Gaps in Canadian Research Data Management.’ A comprehensive overview of the Portage Network, it describes how the Network of Experts and other stakeholders are working to develop the tools, resources, and services Canadian researchers need to meet the RDM challenges ahead. [Full Text]

Portage Comments on Draft Tri-Agency Research Data Management Policy

Portage’s draft response to the Tri-Agency RDM Policy is now available online. Three Town Hall teleconferences, with over 30 participants, helped inform this response. Portage welcomes any feedback from the community and plans to submit a final formal response by the August 31st deadline set by the Tri-Agencies. (PDF)

Portage Progress Report: Spring 2018

July 19, 2018 – The Portage progress report for the second quarter of 2018 is now available. It summarizes Portage activities and accomplishments corresponding to the goals outlined in the Portage Business Plan: 2017-2018 and provides an update on Portage operations and communications undertaken in this period.

Read the progress report in English or in French.

Highlights from this reporting period include:

• The release of the Preservation Expert Group’s White Paper, Research Data Preservation in Canada.
• Portage submissions to the CANARIE RDM funding call.
• Progress made on version 2.0 of the DMP Assistant.
• FRDR’s repository services are being offered to a growing list of Canadian researchers.
• Work towards a national instance of Dataverse (as proposed by Dataverse North’s Business Models Sub-Group).
• Working Group on Responsible RDM Practices for Sensitive Data establishes three sub-groups.
• Portage response to the Tri-Agency RDM Policy Consultation.
• Portage and Compute Canada work to develop a common and collaborative vision of ARC and RDM within the realm of DRI to share with ISED.

Portage Network Releases White Paper on Research Data Preservation in Canada

May 17, 2018. – The Portage Network has just released a white paper entitled Research Data Preservation in Canada, written by members of the Portage Preservation Expert Group (PEG), on behalf of the Canadian Association of Research Libraries: Umar Qasim – PEG Chair (University of Alberta), Corey Davis (University of Victoria and Council of Prairie and Pacific University Libraries), Alex Garnett (Simon Fraser University), Steve Marks (University of Toronto), Michael Moosberger (Dalhousie University).

The Preservation Expert Group (PEG) was created to advise Portage on developing research data management (RDM) infrastructure and best practices for preserving research data and metadata in Canada. The members of PEG have written this White Paper as a foundation document to describe the current digital preservation landscape, highlighting some of the digital preservation work already being undertaken in Canada, and to identify challenges that need to be addressed by Portage and other stakeholders to develop and improve RDM capacity and infrastructure across the country. This White

Paper is intended to stimulate discussion of digital preservation initiatives and directions in Canada, and how Portage, in collaboration with other stakeholders, can play a role in helping to define and advance these initiatives.

Research Data Preservation in Canada (PDF) 

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About Portage:

Portage is a national research data management initiative to assist researchers and other research data management stakeholders through a library-based network of expertise on RDM and national platforms for planning, preserving, and discovering research data. Portage is managed by the Canadian Association of Research Libraries.

For more information, please contact:

Umar Qasim, Chair, Portage Preservation Expert Group

Umar.Qasim@ualberta.ca

Jeffrey Moon, Portage Director, Canadian Association of Research Libraries

moonj@queensu.ca

Portage Progress Report: Winter 2018

May 04, 2018 – The Portage progress report for the first quarter of 2018 is now available describing the status of activities and accomplishments made toward the goals outlined in the Portage Business Plan: 2017-2018, as well as operations and communications for this period.

Read the progress report in English or in French.

 Highlights from this reporting period include:

• The signing of an MOU between CARL-Portage and the Bureau de coopération interuniversitaire (BCI)
• The publication of an institutional RDM strategy template and guidance documents
• Submissions by Portage Expert Groups to the CANARIE community consultation
• Progress made on version 2.0 of the DMP Assistant
• Outputs proposed by the Working Group on Responsible RDM Practices for Sensitive Data
• The inclusion of new research groups into the limited production phase of the Federated Research Data Repository

Portage Releases Draft Institutional RDM Strategy Template

March 01, 2018 – In response to the anticipated Tri-Agency research data management (RDM) policy, the Portage Institutional RDM Strategy Working Group has released a draft template and supporting guidance document that are designed to assist Canadian research institutions in developing an overarching strategy for RDM. These resources will exist as living documents, to be updated by the Working Group as needed.

Strategy Template: English and French

Guidance Document: English and French

The Working Group requests community feedback on the strategy template and guidance document be sent to portage@carl-abrc.ca. 

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About the Portage Institutional RDM Strategy Working Group:

The Institutional RDM Strategy Working Group is an inter-organizational group convened by Portage to provide institutions with resources for facilitating discussions and processes for preparing an institutional strategy for RDM. Membership is drawn from organizations across Canada, with representatives of the Canadian Association of Research Administrators (CARA), the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL), the Canadian University Council of Chief Information Officers (CUCCIO), CASRAI-CA, Research Data Canada (RDC) and the Tri-Agency Data Management Working Group.

About Portage:

Portage is a national research data management initiative to assist researchers and other RDM stakeholders through a library-based network of expertise and national platforms for planning, preserving, and discovering research data. Portage is managed by the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL).

Agreement Between CARL and BCI on RDM and Digital Preservation

The following announcement has just been posted to the CARL website:

CARL and BCI Reach Agreement for the Advancement Research Data Management and Digital Preservation in Canada (February 22, 2018)

Event summary: Portage and RDM in Canada – Toronto

February 5, 2018 – On January 30, 2018, Portage brought together stakeholders from across the academic sphere to discuss topics in research data management in Canada and the Portage network. The event was hosted by Ryerson University, and drew more than 80 participants representing over 30 organizations from across Canada.

The day of activities began with a presentation by Matthew Lucas (Executive Director,‎ Corporate Strategy and Performance, SSHRC) discussing the current Tri-Agency data management policy initiative (view slides). Jeff Moon (Director, Portage) also delivered an update on the development of the Portage network (view slides).

The morning concluded with a panel discussion moderated by Steven Liss (Vice-President Research and Innovation, Ryerson University), which brought together researchers and university administrators to speak to the topic of RDM best-practices and the need for coordinated institutional, domain, and national data management services in Canada (view panelist bios). A video recording of the morning events is also available to view online.

Concurrent workshops were offered in the afternoon: “Portage and the DMP Assistant” provided an overview of data management plans and their value to researchers and those involved in providing research services on campus (view slides); while, “Portage Supported RDM Platforms – FRDR and Dataverse” provided an overview of Portage-supported RDM platforms with an examination of the Federated Research Data Repository (FRDR) and Dataverse (view slides).

The event organizers wish to thank both presenters and participants for their insights and engagement, and look forward to future Portage events across the country.