The Office of Information Technology, the Office of the Vice President for Reseach, and the University Libraries at the University of Minnesota are interested in learning the state of research technology around the university, in particular the state of the infrastructure used for research and data management. Right now a picture is needed of:

the types of computationally intensive research underway at the university;
the ways in which researchers are managing their data; and
the infrastructure and support they are relying on to get the job done.

This investigation is a prelude to the development of central information technology solutions aimed to serve the university's research community.

Description

The consultant will interview key technology staff and researchers in three to five research centers of the university using a standard set of questions as the launching point for the interviews. A report of the findings would be prepared.

The interviews should include a discussions of how centers manage their data, what systems they rely on, how are they getting this work done now, what infrastructure support they depend on (internal, university, worldwide), where do the self-perceived gaps lie. The interviews will be structured to last about an hour each, with at least two interviews for each research center (one with a tech type, one with a PI).

Target

Technologists and PI's in three to five research centers. These are likely to include CLA, AHC, and CFANS, though the final list will be determined by Ann Hill Duin.

Assumptions

The project will not entail analysis of the data gathered, simply reporting of the interviews and some consolidation of the results.

Timeline

The consultant will spend a week developing a set of questions for review by Ann Hill Duin. These basic questions will be agreed to by the end of October.

Ann Hill Duin will prepare a list of contacts for the consultant to interview. Interviews will commence in take place in mid- to late-November. This assumes six to ten interviews of three to five research centers.

A report will be prepared by the consultant before Christmas 2007.

Costs

The consultant costs would be $4,000 plus incidental expenses (parking at the University, primarily). The first $1,000 would be invoiced after the completion of the basic questions in October, the rest would be invoiced with the submission of the report in December 2007.

Eric Celeste

Eric brings over 15 years of library and 25 years of technology experience to his consulting. At MIT Eric shepherded the creation of DSpace, open source digital repository management software developed with HP and now deployed at hundreds of institutions worldwide. At the University of Minnesota Libraries he encouraged the development of the UThink blog service, a wiki-based staff intranet, LibData, and the University Digital Conservancy. He works with non-profit institutions on appropriate uses of technology for informing, communicating, and collaborating with their constituencies.