The UK Research Data (Metadata) Registry (UKRDR) pilot project is implementing a prototype registry for the UK’s research data assets, enabling the holdings of subject-based data centres and institutional data repositories alike to be searched from a single location. The purpose of the prototype is to prove the concept of the registry, and uncover challenges that will need to be addressed if and when the registry is developed into a sustainable service. The prototype is being tested using metadata records harvested from nine UK data centres and the data repositories of nine UK universities.

The UK Research Data (Metadata) Registry (UKRDR) Pilot Project, funded by Jisc, is implementing a prototype registry for the research data assets created by UK researchers. The vision for the registry is to allow a single search to query the holdings of all UK data centres and institutional data repositories at once. We anticipate this will be useful not only for researchers working in disciplines without a dedicated data centre, or across disciplines, but also for funders and university administrators to track the outputs of research projects. In the first phase of the project, we set up a prototype registry using software written for ANDS' Research Data Australia, and used it to harvest metadata from nine data centres and nine institutional data repositories. We reflect on this experience, and what it tells us about the feasibility and value of developing the prototype into a full service.

Digital curation involves a wide range of activities, many of which could benefit from cloud deployment to a greater or lesser extent. These range from infrequent, resource-intensive tasks which benefit from the ability to rapidly provision resources to day-to-day collaborative activities which can be facilitated by networked cloud services. Associated benefits are offset by risks such as loss of data or service level, legal and governance incompatibilities and transfer bottlenecks. There is considerable variability across both risks and benefits according to the service and deployment models being adopted and the context in which activities are performed. Some risks, such as legal liabilities, are mitigated by the use of alternative, e.g., private cloud models, but this is typically at the expense of benefits such as resource elasticity and economies of scale. Infrastructure as a Service model may provide a basis on which more specialised software services may be provided. There is considerable work to be done in helping institutions understand the cloud and its associated costs, risks and benefits, and how these compare to their current working methods, in order that the most beneficial uses of cloud technologies may be identified. Specific proposals, echoing recent work coordinated by EPSRC and JISC are the development of advisory, costing and brokering services to facilitate appropriate cloud deployments, the exploration of opportunities for certifying or accrediting cloud preservation providers, and the targeted publicity of outputs from pilot studies to the full range of stakeholders within the curation lifecycle, including data creators and owners, repositories, institutional IT support professionals and senior managers

Predicting the costs of long-term digital preservation is a crucial yet complex task for even the largest repositories and institutions. For smaller projects and individual researchers faced with preservation requirements, the problem is even more overwhelming, as they lack the accumulated experience of the former. Yet, being able to estimate future preservation costs is vital to answering a range of important questions for each. The LIFE (Life Cycle Information for E-Literature) project, which has just completed its third phase, helps institutions and researchers address these concerns, reducing the financial and preservation risks, and allowing decision makers to assess a range of options in order to achieve effective preservation while operating within financial restraints. The project is a collaboration among University College London (UCL), The British Library, and the Humanities Advanced Technology and Information Institute (HATII) at the University of Glasgow. Funding has been supplied in the United Kingdom by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) and the Research Information Network (RIN).