The Sustainable Digital Scholarship (SDS) service was first launched in the Humanities Division in February 2021, following many years of planning and consultation.
There was an incredibly positive response to the service following its launch, and by the summer of 2021, work had already begun to consider the wider appetite for the adoption of the SDS service beyond the Humanities Division.
This work culminated in the publication of a report in March 2022, which concluded that the SDS service does indeed have the potential to offer a meaningful solution for the management of research data outputs more widely across the university. For further information, this Scoping Report, and other supporting literature, is available to access on our SDS platform.
Following the success of an initial pilot rollout to a second academic division (Social Sciences (SSD)), plans are being made for the delivery of a phased rollout of the SDS service to the rest of the University by the summer of 2023. To help achieve this, the SDS service will be:
- Developing a Communication, Engagement & Business Change Strategy, to help devise a plan for rolling out the service to researchers at the University
- Completing the technical implementation of the University of Oxford division/department/faculty hierarchy on the SDS platform - our online, open-access repository
- Undertaking a series of targeted engagement activities to help promote SDS to relevant user groups
- Continuing the excellent service and support already being offered to researchers in the Humanities Division and SSD
- Providing comprehensive onboarding for researchers and projects from the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division (MPLS), Medical Sciences Division (MSD) and Gardens, Libraries and Museums (GLAM)
As part of planning for the above, like during the initial Scoping Phase (May 21 - Feb 22) and Definition Phase (Mar - Sep 22), the SDS Project team will be continuing consultation with key stakeholders across the University, to inform how best to consider a targeted approach to researchers from a wide-ranging set of academic discipline types. The SDS Programme and Expansion Project, entered the Delivery Phase in October 2022 and by summer 2023 we anticipate the SDS service will be fully expanded to all academic divisions at the University.
If you are interested in learning more, why not watch the "Introduction to the SDS service and Platform" and " Example Research Project Migrations" videos below. If you have any questions about the plans to expand access to the SDS service, do get in touch.
