About DataverseNO

The organization, including repository structure, governance, data curation, and Designated Community, of DataverseNO is regulated in the following documents:

• DataverseNO Steering documents
  • Establishment of a Board for DataverseNO
  • Mandate Board for DataverseNO
  • Steering Document for DataverseNO
• DataverseNO Partner Agreement (including data processor agreement)
• DataverseNO Policy Framework
  • Access and Use Policy
  • Accession Policy
  • Deposit Agreement
  • Preservation Policy
• DataverseNO Guidelines
  • DataverseNO Administrator Guidelines for Repository
  • DataverseNO Administrator Guidelines for Collections
  • DataverseNO Curator Guidelines
  • DataverseNO Deposit Guidelines

Each partner institution is assigned its own institutional collection within the DataverseNO repository. The division of responsibilities between UiT The Arctic University of Norway (owner of DataverseNO) and the DataverseNO partner institutions is regulated in partner agreements.

Another type of collection within DataverseNO are special collections, which may be project-based and/or a subject-based. Such collections may be open for contribution from researchers outside Norwegian institutions. TROLLing – The Tromsø Repository of Language and Linguistics is a thematic collection, and currently the only special collection in DataverseNO. All special collections within DataverseNO are at the full responsibility of a DataverseNO partner institution. The creation of special collections must be approved by DataverseNO.

Data curation is carried out by data curators at the DataverseNO partner institutions. Datasets deposited in the top-level collection are curated by data curators at UiT The Arctic University of Norway (owner of DataverseNO). Data curators are staff members employed at the partner institutions, usually at the library of the institution. Data curators are responsible for ensuring that data published in each collection within DataverseNO (including the top-level collection) are curated according to the DataverseNO policies and guidelines, and in line with best practice recommendations and the needs of the different user communities at stake. Curators communicate with the different user communities represented in the collection(s) they curate, e.g. during curation, but also through other channels and in other venues. Curators also communicate with the management of their collection, and with curators of other collections within DataverseNO through the DataverseNO Network of Expertise. This network of curators covers the different aspects of data curation, including metadata, file formats, and licensing. In addition to enabling knowledge and experience exchange, this network also makes sure that curation practices across the repository are aligned with the DataverseNO policies and guidelines, and also seeks to align curation practices across institutional collections from different partner institutions containing data from the same or similar scholarly disciplines.

Since the DataverseNO repository provides free and open access to its collections, the Designated Community of the repository consists of both data contributors and data users. Data users include primarily researchers and research institutions, but also any other stakeholders in society reliant on access to knowledge, e.g. journalists, teachers, industry as well as the greater public. The interaction between data users and the repository happens primarily through direct contact with the contact person(s) for each dataset, and through the general contact information provided for each collection.

In a more narrow sense, the Designated Community of DataverseNO can be described as the different user groups that in addition to being data users also are data contributors to the repository. As outlined in the DataverseNO Organization Chart , these user groups fall into three main categories:

1. researchers from Norwegian research institutions that are partners of DataverseNO
2. researchers working within the scope of any special collection within the DataverseNO repository
3. researchers from Norwegian research institutions that are not partner of DataverseNO

Each collection is organized and managed in a way that ensures that the needs of the user group are met to the largest possible extent.

The current partner institutions carry out research within the following subject areas (as of February 2020):

• Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences (https://eng.inn.no/research/research-areas): Agricultural Sciences, Applied Ecology, Audiovisual Media and Creative Technologies, Biotechnology, Business, Education, Film, Health Sciences, Social Sciences
• Nord University (https://www.nord.no/en#Findresearch): Arts, Biosciences and Aquaculture, Business, Education, Nursing and Health Sciences, Social Sciences
• Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) (https://www.nmbu.no/en/faculty): Biosciences, Biotechnology, Chemistry, Economics and Business, Environmental Sciences, Food Science, Landscape and Society, Natural Resource Management, Science and Technology, Veterinary Medicine
• NTNU – Norwegian University of Science and Technology (https://www.ntnu.edu/research): Architecture, Electrical Engineering, Engineering Science, Fine Art, Humanities, Information Technology, Mathematics, Medicine, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Technology, Technology Management
• UiT The Arctic University of Norway (https://en.uit.no/forskning): Biosciences, Economics, Education, Engineering, Fine Arts, Fisheries, Health Sciences, Humanities, Law, Social Sciences, Science and Technology
• University of Agder (https://www.uia.no/en/research): Business and Law, Engineering and Science, Fine Arts, Health and Sport Sciences, Humanities and Education, Social Sciences
• University of Bergen (https://www.uib.no/en/research): Design, Fine Art, Humanities, Law, Mathematics, Medicine, Music, Natural Sciences, Psychology, Social Sciences
• University of Stavanger (https://www.uis.no/?lang=en_GB#Research): Archaeology, Arts and Education, Business, Health Sciences, Performing Arts, Science and Technology, Social Sciences
• Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (https://hvl.no/en/research/): Arts, Business Administration, Education, Engineering and Science, Health, Social Sciences, Sports

DataverseNO Curators respond to the needs of the Designated Community on the most detailed level. The curators of institutional collections are situated at the same institution as the user groups of the collection, and they communicate closely with the user groups also on other matters of research support, e.g. data management plans, Open Access publishing, grant applications, and literature search.

Members of the Designated Community may get into contact with their curator(s) in several ways, e.g. by depositing a dataset in an applicable collection, by contacting them at the address provided on the Support page of DataverseNO, by contacting them in events and meetings organized between research support services and researchers at their home institution, or by contacting them in events and meetings organized by networks like the ones mentioned above.

Members of the Designated Community may also communicate with the management of institutional collections within DataverseNO. A common use case of this type of contact is when researchers want to discuss the establishment of a collection within their institutional collection. In such cases, issues of data management are thoroughly discussed between the institutional collection managers and curators, and members of the Designated Community. The DataverseNO managers may also assist such discussions.

Collections within DataverseNO may also have their own advisory committees which give advice to the collection managers as well as to the Board of DataverseNO on high-level aspects of the operation and development of the collection at stake as well as the entire repository. User groups may raise high-level or general issues with representatives from the advisory committee of the collection at stake by contacting them directly. Currently, only TROLLing has formally established an advisory committee, the TROLLing Scientific Advisory Board. The TROLLing Scientific Advisory Board provide their advice to the managers of TROLLing.

The operation of institutional collections is part of the research support services and the institutional management at the DataverseNO partner institutions. Partner institutions have well-established venues in place where research support units, such as the University Library, discuss issues with representatives from the different research communities at the institution. Feedback from such discussions is provided to the managers of the institutional collection. On their part, managers of institutional collections discuss advice and feedback from the user groups of their institutional collections in the Advisory Committee of DataverseNO. This committee, illustrated with the blue box in the middle of the GOVERNANCE section of the DataverseNO Organization Chart, consists of representatives from all DataverseNO partner institutions (usually the collection managers), and the managers of DataverseNO.