Research Information Infrastructure Framework for Australian Higher Education

1.1 The vision of the Australian Research Information Infrastructure Framework is to facilitate access to information infrastructure resources which will optimise the efforts of researchers in the higher education sector to create, manage, discover, access and disseminate knowledge. Access to the research information infrastructure should not be constrained by the institutional affiliations, geographical locations or disciplines of individual researchers.

1.2 High quality research and research training are crucial to the success of Australian universities and to the economic, social and cultural well-being of the broader community. The theoretical and applied research undertaken within the higher education sector contributes to the development of knowledge and innovation nationally and internationally.

1.3 Researcher effectiveness depends on access to, and use of, those resources which constitute the physical and information infrastructures. The provision of physical facilities, such as buildings, equipment and communication networks, is essential to research but of little long-term value if researchers do not have access to the resources necessary to enable them to review the work of other scholars, access information and data in a variety of formats and to disseminate the results of their own endeavours.

1.4 Development of the national research information infrastructure has been somewhat uncoordinated and largely regarded as the responsibility of individual institutions. Collaboration among libraries has improved the effectiveness of institutional investment and, combined with access to libraries internationally, provides some Australian researchers with the majority of published information required for their research.

1.5 This access is not universal and some researchers, particularly those at smaller or regional institutions and those in specialised or emerging disciplines, often have difficulty accessing required information resources. Their difficulties are compounded by changes which are occurring in the scholarly communication process. Although there are now improved mechanisms for discovering the existence of information resources, access to them is often restricted by cost, licences and other conditions.

1.6 In recent years, much of the publishing part of the infrastructure has been undergoing significant change as publishers struggle to cope with changes in scholarly communication and the influence of computer and communication technologies. An increasing number of researchers are experiencing difficulty disseminating the results of their research using traditional publication mechanisms. Competition for publication in refereed journals has intensified as the number of researchers increases worldwide and their tenure and promotion depends heavily on publication success. The chances of most researchers publishing a monograph are slim unless they are able to underwrite the cost or their work has appeal beyond the academic community. Inadequate recognition is currently given to those scholars who publish only in digital, networked formats.

1.7 Internationally, key stakeholders in the academic community have established organisations, such as SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) and the Coalition for Networked Information. These organisations provide opportunities for the international academic community to regain control of scholarly publishing.

1.8 Computing and communication technologies provide new opportunities for the creation, management, storage and dissemination of information. Their use, however, requires infrastructure investment, the acquisition by researchers of different skills and the re-assessment of many aspects of the scholarly communication process. Most importantly, optimum deployment of technology can be achieved only by collaborative effort by the scholarly community guided by clear strategies and commitment to a common vision.

1.9 These opportunities and needs have been recognised by national strategic investment in information infrastructure in Singapore, Canada, United Kingdom and the United States and more limited initiatives by some other nations. A distinguishing characteristic of most such initiatives is the role of advisory bodies which provide system-wide opportunities for stakeholder involvement. There is no similar body in Australia which brings together government, academic, library and information technology professionals.

1.10 No Australian university has the resources or capacity to act unilaterally to effect changes which will influence the international scholarly communication environment in any lasting way. Expenditure on the information infrastructure and the research output of even the most productive universities are too small to make significant impact.

1.11 Only by collaborative action, nationally and internationally, can Australian universities hope to provide the infrastructure and resources which will enable researchers to perform effectively in a rapidly changing environment. Experience in Western Europe, United Kingdom, Canada and the United States testifies to the benefit of financial incentives provided by government. This support is required to encourage collaboration, innovation and investment in the information infrastructure and to highlight changes in scholarly communication.

1.12 These changes affect all aspects of research and are most evident in the publishing process. The academic community has largely lost its control and influence in the commercial print publication environment. Technologies are available which have the potential to revolutionise the ways in which research information is created, manipulated and published. If the academic community fails to take advantage of the technology, it will be shackled further by commercial entities interested primarily in profit and shareholder returns.

1.13 In April 2002, the Hon. Brendan Nelson, Minister for Education, Science and Training, established an advisory committee on information infrastructure to allow key stakeholders to provide advice on the research information infrastructure needs of the higher education sector. The Committee was requested to identify gaps and to provide advice on priorities for funding in the 2002 round of the Systemic Infrastructure Initiative.

1.14 After consultation with key stakeholders, the Committee identified three main areas in which action was required:

• discovery and management of research information
• access to research information resources
• creation and dissemination of Australian research information

1.15 In the course of its deliberations, the Committee recognised:

• importance of fostering the dissemination of Australian research outcomes
• need for ongoing investment in the information infrastructure
• benefits of past and future collaboration among institutions and among funding bodies
• desirability of a systemic mechanism for funding new priorities
• difficulty of separating the information infrastructure needs of research from those of teaching and learning
• lack of a mechanism to fund the complementary teaching and learning information infrastructure
• desirability of an advisory body to consider the wider strategic implications for the Australian higher education sector of changes in the information infrastructure environment
• benefits of a structure for coordinating the management of information infrastructure programmes funded by the Systemic Infrastructure Initiative

1.16 The Committee identified twelve broad priorities costing approximately $20 million and was cognizant that not all could be funded in 2003. It recommended that consideration be given to staging funding over several years. Priorities identified were:

• Discovery and Management of Research Information

• Research Discovery Mechanism (Appendix D)
• Subject Gateways (Appendix E)
• Research Information Skills Training (Appendix F)

• Access to Research Information Resources

• Humanities and Social Sciences Resources – JSTOR (Appendix G)
• Refereed Journal Literature – ISI Web of Science back files (Appendix H)
• Non-Bibliographic Data Sources (Appendix I)
• Storage Facilities (Appendix J)

• Creation and Dissemination of Australian Research Information

• E-print Repositiories (Appendix K)
• Digital Theses (Appendix L)
• E-publishing (Appendix M)
• Managing Access to Digital Publications (Appendix N)
• Australian Publications and Manuscripts (Appendix O)

1.17 The Committee considered the feasibility of assigning funding priorities to each of the projects. This proved difficult as the recommended projects do not exist in isolation from one another. As a consequence of consultation with the user community, a large number of potential projects were identified and a selection process undertaken.

1.18 The Committee elected to recommend only those projects which had the capacity to provide the greatest benefits to Australian research and which were achievable within a 12 to 24 month timeframe.

1.19 They constitute an integrated package of initiatives intended to improve the resources available to Australian researchers at a systemic level. The successful implementation of the identified projects, and future support for related initiatives, will provide researchers with an information infrastructure comparable to that available to their peers internationally.

1.20 Recommendations

The Information Infrastructure Advisory Committee recommends that:

1. funding for the priorities identified in Appendices D to O of this report be allocated from the Systemic Infrastructure Initiative to allow implementation commencing in 2003
2. institutional contributions to the projects be limited to their obligation to sustain the projects after Systemic Infrastructure Initiative funding has been utilised
3. expressions of interest be sought from consortia, with lead universities listed in Schedule 1 of the Higher Education Funding Act 1988, to achieve the objectives listed for each project. Where more than one bid is submitted for an expression of interest, potential consortia be required to consult with the aim of forming a single consortium
4. multiple projects designed to deliver similar outcomes not be funded
5. an Information Infrastructure Projects Management Committee have oversight of funded projects and their evaluation
6. a secretariat be funded to oversee the implementation of Information Infrastructure programmes including liaison with other funding bodies and support for the Advisory Committee
7. consideration be given to the establishment of a body to advise on the wider strategic implications for the Australian higher education sector of changes in scholarly information and its infrastructure needs to support teaching, learning and research.

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