Http:// Building the Foundations of an Ecology Caroline Drury RUBRIC Senior Technical Officer RUBRIC Project [email protected]

http://www.rubric.edu.au

Building the Foundations of an Building the Foundations of an EcologyEcology

Caroline DruryRUBRIC Senior Technical Officer

RUBRIC [email protected]


Sponsorship & FundingSponsorship & Funding

The RUBRIC project is sponsored by the

Australian Commonwealth Department of Education,

Science and Training as part of the Commonwealth Government's Backing Australia's Ability –

An Innovation Action Plan for the Future.


RUBRICRUBRIC

Regional Universities Building Research Infrastructure Collaboratively

Developing research infrastructure and capability across regional and smaller universities to maximise access to digital research resources


The RUBRIC “ecology”The RUBRIC “ecology”

Late 2005 – project began with 8 partners

Partners distributed across Australia and New Zealand

Project ends Dec 2007


RUBRIC Partners - distributionRUBRIC Partners - distribution


The RUBRIC “ecology” The RUBRIC “ecology”

A two year learning process… 8 partners including lead institution Different backgrounds Different skill sets Different needs Different contributions to the project

How do all these different members become part of a single “ecology”?


The RUBRIC “ecology” - commonalitiesThe RUBRIC “ecology” - commonalities

All partners had in common: Needed to establish IR infrastructure Needed to complete within the timeframe Limited resources from within own

institutions All are either small or regional universities


The RUBRIC “ecology” - beginningsThe RUBRIC “ecology” - beginnings

Establishment of central core team known as “RUBRIC Central” (RC)

Recognition of need for huge commitment to communication and establishment of TRUST

Recognition of need for tools to help cover the distance between us

Recognition of hard road ahead!


RUBRIC CentralRUBRIC Central

Consisted of the following components: Technical Team Metadata Specialist Administrative and Business Staff

Core purpose: To support 8 partner project managers in establishing sustainable institutional repository infrastructure at each institution


OverviewOverview

PPM8

PPM7

PPM6

PPM5

PPM4

PPM3

PPM2

PPM1

RUBRICCentral

T/CONF

PHONE

FACE TOFACE

CHAT

TRAC

Del.icio.us

BLOGSS/POINT

WIKIEMAIL


ToolsTools

Wiki (closed and authenticated) Trac tickets Email Weekly teleconferences Chat Phone contact Face-to-face meetings


How is this like an ecology?How is this like an ecology?

Group contains many members All members reliant upon each other for

provision of some type of service Without any given element, ecology

would not have developed in the same way

Trust of members that they would contribute to mutual benefit of ecology


Repository EcologyRepository Ecology

7 Components that make up an ecology (Stoddard, 1995) Sunlight and Shade Average temperatures Average precipitation Wind Latitude and altitude Nature of soil Fire

For example, a forest ecology…


Sunlight and ShadeSunlight and Shade

Can trees grow without sunlight? RUBRIC partners as sole representative

from within their institution Varying levels of receptiveness from within

institution Varying levels of passive / active support from

within institutionsShade=stunted growth Sunlight=healthy growth


Average TemperaturesAverage Temperatures

Cold to hot Mood from within institution Mood from immediate supervisors of

partner project managers (PPMs) Mood from PPMs’ colleagues, and PPMs

themselves

Cold = Disinterest; Hot = Enthusiasm


Average precipitation and distributionAverage precipitation and distribution

Watering the plants – how much encouragement comes from within the institution?

What sort of institutional support exists? Funding – is there any?

Arid=little fundsRainy=sufficient funds


WindWind

Obstructions to final goals Do these obstructions hinder the

progress, or do they merely shape the progress?

Calm=easy to walk

Windy=difficult to walk


Latitude and altitudeLatitude and altitude

Partners were geographically remote from one another (closest partners were still over an hour away)

How can an ecology survive if it’s so distributed? Use of tools to link members of ecology

Poor communication links=isolation

Good communication links=collaboration


Nature of soilNature of soil

What was the driving force behind participation in the project?

Will the IR become a part of the institution or will it remain an outlier?

Is there institutional policy to embed this system into the institution?

Poor soil=weak rootsGood soil=strong roots


FireFire

Major (drastic) changes within the institution (restructuring, staff cuts, budget cuts)

Major changes and pressures outside the institution (in Australia – RQF)

Threat to environment of trust

Fire=Threat of destruction


The “ecology” metaphor - UsesThe “ecology” metaphor - Uses

Useful for: describing the participants and members of

a repository ecology defining progression through repository

establishment process, particularly at systems level but also at higher, people level


The “ecology” metaphor - LimitationsThe “ecology” metaphor - Limitations

Not able to: Capture degree to which people’s own

personalities and experiences affect development of IR

An ecology assumes a level of cooperation and trust. This is not necessarily the case with people and projects and must be built

Useful for lower-level systemic description, but without the higher-level, people-based description, ecology is at risk

Self-sustainability…?


SustainabilitySustainability

A difficult task as there are many agendas

Cyclical How to sustain cycles? How to begin cycles? RUBRIC now at the end of a cycle…


Sustainability - end of cycleSustainability - end of cycle

Ecology metaphor – can the end of the cycle feed into the start of the next cycle

What happens to knowledge, relationships, technical products?

Tangible output of process RUBRIC Project – RUBRIC Toolkit

Useful for further generations of repository ecologies

Only sustainable until the next cycle starts


Thank you!Thank you!

Thank you!

Questions? Comments?

Documents

Http:// Building the Foundations of an Ecology Caroline Drury RUBRIC Senior Technical Officer RUBRIC Project [email protected]