TRUST in the Loughborough University Research Repository
Do you trust the Loughborough University Research Repository? As someone who works behind the scenes, it’s obvious to me that you should 😉 but perhaps you’ve not thought about it. The TRUST Principles provide a common framework for demonstrating trust in a Research Repository. TRUST is a mnemonic acronym for Transparency, Responsibility, User focus, Sustainability, and Technology. Here’s what I know about our Research Repository that shows that you can trust it.
Transparency
To be transparent about specific repository services and data holdings that are verifiable by publicly accessible evidence.
Anyone in the world can search our Repository – and we have over 60 000 public items. Some of them might be embargoed, which means we will show the metadata even if you can’t download the full text. Many researchers have private items, as our Repository doubles for long-term storage as well.
You can read more about our services on the following webpages:
Responsibility
To be responsible for ensuring the authenticity and integrity of data holdings and for the reliability and persistence of its service.
Every item that is submitted to our Repository is checked by the Open Research team in the Library. We ensure accurate, high-quality metadata is added to each item that will improve the discoverability and reusability of the items. We are always on the lookout for copyright and GDPR compliance. One member of the team specializes in research ethics and is on hand to assist with risky deposits.
Furthermore, Loughborough University owns the metadata on the Repository and has full control over the files. Should we ever change platforms in the future (please, never in my lifetime!), we will be able to migrate without any loss of data. Every item is assigned a persistent identifier (DOI or handle), and these links will not break when (if!) we ever move.
User focus
To ensure that the data management norms and expectations of target user communities are met.
Our team is in daily contact with our user community and takes special note of its needs. We also monitor changes in the research landscape, such as legislation or changes to policies from funders, publishers, governments – basically anyone within the ecosystem.
Sometimes, all that’s needed is a tweak to one of our standard emails, other times a bigger response is needed, such as our Rights Retention policy.
Sustainability
To sustain services and preserve data holdings for the long-term.
Our Repository has a built-in checksum that guards against errors in transfer and storage. While this doesn’t prevent bit-rot, it does flag it when it happens. Where we think it’s possible, we will ask for lossless formats that are less likely to degrade over time.
The Open Research Policies for Open Access and Data and Methods commit the university to maintain both the infrastructure (more on this point below) and the service.
Technology
To provide infrastructure and capabilities to support secure, persistent, and reliable services.
We have a close working relationship with our current software provider, Figshare, and regularly provide input into their service development on behalf of our user community. They roll out monthly software updates as an agile approach to maintaining an excellent service.
Last words
That’s been a peek behind the scenes of what we do to support our users and our Repository, here at Loughborough University. You can TRUST that we are doing all we can to create the best showcase of the brilliant research we do here.
Read more
Lin, D., Crabtree, J., Dillo, I. et al. The TRUST Principles for digital repositories. Scientific Data 7, 144 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-020-0486-7
PS…
You might be wondering how LUPIN fits into this – we’ve got a webpage on that.
Open Research
Copyright, Open Access and all things Open Research