HARVEX: Integrating multiple academic information resources into a researcher's profiling tool

In recent years, quite some energy has been invested in steering the CRIS used by Dutch universities (METIS) in a more researcher-oriented direction. This paper focuses on one of these initiatives: the HARVEX project (harvesting excellence), a cooperation between the Erasmus University Rotterdam(1) and the Radboud University Nijmegen(2). The outcome of the project is a Profile Management System (PROMAS), a browser-based tool which integrates existing information from various academic data sources (CRIS, repositories, teaching info, plus others). PROMAS enables academics and institutes alike to create academic profiles in various formats, depending on the situation. The system is based on an ORACLE database with a JAVA interface. Advantages are that the information is always up-to-date and only already existing information is being used. The HARVEX project was co-financed by "SURF" the Dutch universities' ICT organization.