Robertson Library awarded CANARIE funding to update Islandora
UPEI’s Robertson Library has been awarded funding from CANARIE’s Research Data Management (RDM) program to integrate RDM practices and workflows into the new, as-yet-unreleased version of Islandora. Islandora is an open-source software framework designed to help organizations collaboratively manage, discover, and share digital assets using a best-practices, standards-based approach.
The Robertson Library, one of nine successful recipients, will collaborate with Simon Fraser University and the Islandora Foundation to develop software components and tools that will facilitate the adoption of best practices by Canadian researchers in managing data resulting from scientific research. The Library team will build RDM capacity and integrations using the latest version of Islandora.
“This funding provides us with a fantastic opportunity to develop an innovative and open data management platform for researchers,” said Donald Moses, interim university librarian at UPEI, “and will benefit the entire community by providing access to research data.”
Mark Jordan, Chair of the Islandora Foundation’s Board of Directors, says “This work funded by CANARIE will significantly accelerate the development of the next generation of the Islandora platform and enable it to serve as a robust platform for Research Data Management and other repository services.”
Data management practices impact the entire research lifecycle, from project planning and execution, to sharing, publication and reuse of data, and finally to its long-term preservation after the investigation is complete. RDM best practices help ensure the protection of data during the research lifecycle and beyond. The project will develop integrations with identifier, metadata, authentication, storage and dissemination systems that are informed by FAIR principles and the research data lifecycle.
“Islandora is a software, but it’s also a fantastic community that has a ton of expertise based on diverse-use cases and needs,” said Rosemary Le Faive, digital infrastructure and discovery librarian at UPEI. “But migration to this latest version is daunting. It’s a paradigm shift. We’ll be one of the first institutions to jump aboard, and by building out real-use cases with real data, we hope to make the transition easier for the community.”
CANARIE and its twelve provincial and territorial partners form Canada’s National Research and Education Network. This ultra-high-speed network connects Canada’s researchers, educators and innovators to each other and to global data, technology, and colleagues. Beyond the network, CANARIE funds and promotes reusable research software tools and national research data management initiatives to accelerate discovery, provides identity management services to the academic community, and offers advanced networking and cloud resources to boost commercialization in Canada’s technology sector. Established in 1993, CANARIE is a non-profit corporation, with the majority of its funding provided by the Government of Canada.
The University of Prince Edward Island prides itself on people, excellence, and impact and is committed to assisting students reach their full potential in both the classroom and community. With roots stemming from two founding institutions—Prince of Wales College and Saint Dunstan’s University—UPEI has a reputation for academic excellence, research innovation, and creating positive impacts locally, nationally, and internationally. UPEI is the only degree granting institution in the province and is proud to be a key contributor to the growth and prosperity of Prince Edward Island.
