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There and back again: A Pure administrators’ tale Karen Clews, University of Birmingham Paul Jones, Aston University | 2
Our journey
• When did we set out on our adventures.
• The different paths we took.
• Who we met along the way; friends and foes.
• How we got to where we are.
• What’s our next adventure? | 3
Birmingham
• 34 Million visitors a year
• One of the youngest cities in Europe (40% of people under 25)
• Home to 5 universities (73,000 students)
• 90% of UK is within 4 hours of Birmingham
• Birmingham has more canals than Venice
• Birmingham’s Bullring is one of the largest shopping centres in Europe
• ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ were inspired by places and people in Birmingham
• Birmingham is the birth place of heavy metal | 4
The two towers institutions- Aston University
• Located in the city centre with approx. 10, 500 students
• 365 academic staff with research responsibility
• Strong links with industry and high levels of student placement years. High levels of graduate employability | 5
The two towers institutions- The University of Birmingham
Aston • Campus a few miles University outside of the city centre home to approx. 29,000 students
• 1390 academic staff with research responsibility
• And…….. | 6
……home to one of the actual two towers! | 7
Who we are… | 8
Who we are… | 9
Who we are
Paul Karen Deputy Head of Research Planning and Research Systems Manager Research Information Manager
• Oversight of work on research information within • Focus is on administration, training and the Planning Office working with other teams to reporting coordinate work • Around 80% of the role is PURE focussed • Development of reporting and skills around • Also perform other reporting activities research metrics • Administrate new awards management system • Previous experience includes a lucky escape from life as an English teacher, project • Previous experience includes Business management, events and communications and Development, Human Resources and general university administration Occupational Psychology • Chair of the Pure UK User Group | 10
Where the journey started
• Both institutions started working with Pure in 2011
• The Research Excellent Framework (REF) is the system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions and was the primary driver for purchasing Pure for both Aston University and University of Birmingham
• Paul came into post once initial Pure implementation was completed and has built a strong network within the institution
• Karen project managed the implementation of Pure and has worked to develop more support structures around the system | 11
Knowledge and The Aston fellowship Research Exchange also includes:
• Strategic Business Partnerships PVC for Director of Library • KTPs and Industry Research and and Information funding Knowledge Services Exchange • European Funding • Pre and post Grant Award Management Director of • IP and Director of Information Commercialisation Research Impact Resources And and Strategy Research Services
Professional Research REF Impact Development Systems Manager Advisor Manager | 12
The Birmingham fellowship Research Planning Team
PVC for • Impact development and support Research and • REF process development • Coordination of work around Open Director of Knowledge Exchange Research Strategic • Responsible use of research Planning metrics • Various research environment projects Deputy Director, • Work with, but not part of, the Research funding and award management Planning teams
Research Impact Public Close relationship with Information development Engagement the Library, but no Management dotted line | 13
One does not simply walk into Mordor…… does one? Birmingham Aston • Quick 6 month implementation • Pure up and running in early 2012 project in 2012 • Around one year in • Rolled out to the Library and REF implementation stage to plan and teams within weeks on technical deliver it across the university implementation • Focus on advocacy and promotion • Quickly followed by academic of Pure before launch users • Small team of people delivering • Some awareness comms, but no training out to 4 schools of study training • Mixture of winning hearts and • Consideration of long term minds and more formal ‘how to’ Differences in size of support requirements not sessions institution may have allowed considered as part of the original project Aston to have a much more focused approach | 14
Starting from the same place
Locally hosted, with research projects, student and HR records synchronised into Pure
Aston Birmingham • Finance system was previously • New finance and HR system project will synchronised but with limited fields. A new mean some big changes for Pure. awards management system will have to be re-synchronised with PURE • The project have identified Pure as a key risk for the delivery of the project • The previous HR system was synchronised with PURE. Since switching HR systems • Also getting a new awards management there has been problems synchronising data system | 15
Repository or not?
Both institutions have a bespoke portal to expose information in Pure to the web
Aston Birmingham • Use ePrints as repository for publications • Pure is the repository for publications and data • ePrints currently being implemented for • Pure pushes publications to ePrints, but datsets datasets are recorded completely separately to Pure • There will be a separate interface for deposit, but working on the best way to • Eprints repositories also have their own on- transfer metadata between the two systems line portals • Portal only just been released. | 16
Bringing people on the journey with us
Activities have included • 1-2-1 coaching At Birmingham we have • Formal training courses focused more on the briefings and online support • Briefings/roadshows in local meetings • Suite of manuals / guides that help people At Aston there has been more who prefer to learn on their own work to offer training and • Regular drip feeding of information to keep hands on support Pure in people’s minds • Drop in sessions • Integrating Pure into other processes | 17
Making the most of Pure
Both institutions have worked to integrate Pure into internal processes
Aston Birmingham • Pure used to collect activities information • Working to use Pure to supply reports for such as external examination details promotions and internal review
• Collection of evidence for impact funding also collected in Pure
• Working towards collecting engagement information using activities module | 18
Challenges along the way
• People only log in intermittently and so forget how to do things
• Motivation to use PURE varies wildly across staff academic staff have varied computer skills and system understanding
• High workloads means a low priority for Pure use sometimes
• People learn in different ways and have different ignore Pure!! expectations | 19
Winning them over to our side
• Regularly drip feeding information can help though it can be hard to vary content
• Flexible is important for support
• Linking aspects of Pure to internal processes – what is the benefit of using Pure for the individual
• Key individuals in local departments spreading the right message are important to ensuring people use Pure regularly
Disclaimer – we are definitely not comparing Pure users to Gollum! | 20
Building relationships
Key to for both institutions has been the development of relationships between teams within the institutions. Working with colleagues in Library, Research and Knowledge Transfer Office, IT and academic leadership
Aston has a strong network of Birmingham’s strength is the administrators in the schools who relationship with IT Services and the advocate for Pure, enabling them to high status the system has been disseminate messages easily given | 21
Everyone working towards the same goal
• Building relationships and helping others understand the importance of issues
• Helping IT understand the context of an issue, rather than just presenting a problem, helps achieve more elegant and appropriate solutions to problems
• Working with Research Administration staff helps build relationships with academics and leads on to increased use of PURE
• Working with library staff, understanding their needs, working together to produce accurate reports / information and running sessions jointly has been a success | 22
What works
Aston Birmingham • Meetings • Pure Operations Group meets monthly to discuss developments and support. - PURE / Eprints Management group • Membership includes: - Library meeting - IT Service Owner - REF Group - Research systems business analyst - Developer - Timed slots at pre-arranged meetings - Research Information Manager / committees - Pure administrator • An IT Road Map - shared document online - Representative from the Library that keeps track of upcoming projects, upgrades. • Pure as a way to achieve something else • Update staff through newsletters • Reports every month on publications • Increased buy-in with academic leadership | 23
5 years on have we achieved what we set out to do?
Can we retire to the Grey Havens now? | 24 Thanks for listening
Always happy to answer questions and talk about our experiences
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