Ranking

Library of Theology and Religious Studies

The ‘Ranking’ project (‘A project to support the position of the University of Groningen in rankings’) is one of the projects in the context of University funding ‘IT 2010-2014’. The content of the project proposal was finally approved in May 2011, after various rounds of the University committee responsible for funding. The funding was not yet approved at this time, partly because the relevant regulations were tightened at the last moment. A sum of € 180K was eventually budgeted for the project, 50% from the IT funding and 50% to be matched by the Library.

The project’s objectives are straightforward, involving first and foremost the one-time downloading of the metadata for all University of Groningen publications since 1970 (from a number of criterion databases, in particular Web of Science and Scopus) and uploading or linking these to Metis, with a link to the correct University of Groningen author. The linking process is estimated to be the most complicated and high-risk aspect of the project.

The project also involves examining the continuation of this download/upload procedure to include future University of Groningen publications so that, from now on, Metis can be fed more easily through the ‘preloading’ of publication metadata.

When the project proposal was considered by the Board of the University in the spring, the Board’s view was that, although the project’s objectives were worthwhile, it would be better if it were part of a project with a wider scope. Since this has still to be developed, the proposal is still awaiting official approval and the project has not been implemented.

Shortly before the summer, the outline of the Board’s wishes was communicated to Marjolein Nieboer and Peter van Laarhoven by Bert Verveld, director at the Office of the University. A proposal is expected for a project that assesses and streamlines the complete registration and presentation processes for publications of the University of Groningen, with an outcome based on the examples of: Wageningen Yield and RePub of Erasmus University Rotterdam.

In fact, we are being asked to find a solution (or the starting point for a solution) for linking systems such as Metis (or its successor), the University of Groningen repository and MePa, and possibly systems such as PeopleSoft and the Office’s data warehouse. The MT sees this as a challenging task that aligns closely with what is described in the vision document as ‘communicating information from inside to outside’, and a sensitive task for which there are high expectations.

In the first few months of 2012, a new project proposal will be formulated on the basis of initial discussions within the University and working visits to Wageningen and Rotterdam. The original Ranking project will be incorporated in the new proposal. Jan Feringa and Jan-Herman Veldkamp will take the lead on behalf of the Library, and Jules van Rooij of AZIS will represent the Office. Ulco Kooystra and Peter van Laarhoven will contribute through the project group and steering group as necessary. It is not yet clear when the project proposal will be submitted. March 2012 – not earlier – appears to be a safe assumption.

Peter van Laarhoven