The Challenge

Drexel University has long dealt with the question of how to manage its research assets more effectively. As the University’s institutional repository was not designed to store and manage research data, Drexel faculty and curators have maintained research data in dispersed systems and separate collections. The University has not had a way to link research publication output and the data behind it, or to make it discoverable and available to the broader research community.  While Drexel leaders expect researchers to maintain their research output in a variety of repositories which are not singularly managed by Drexel, they would like to have a central place for collecting evidence of all output and data generated by Drexel researchers and making this output easily discoverable.

A New Approach

Recognizing the need for a strategic approach to research asset management, stakeholders from Drexel’s research office, compliance and security officers, graduate school, IT department, and libraries engaged in conversations to address these challenges. Their discussions focused on three key areas in particular: policies, communication, and technological systems required for success.