Dale Askey
Associate University Librarian
McMaster University
Jason Brodeur
Manager, Maps, Data, GIS
McMaster University
In 2017, the McMaster University Library initiated and led the implementation of VIVO software to represent the University’s faculty members and their scholarship in an open and semantic web-enabled format. Operating in an environment where research information was predominantly decentralized and discordant, the project team faced significant challenges in harmonizing information and building institution-wide support for its centralization. By implementing a campus-wide Research Information Management System (RIMS), the project team (and therefore the Library) provided a means of compiling the institution’s research information in a standardized format and then harvesting it for display in VIVO, as well as making it available for reuse by all interested campus groups. Through this work, the Library has established itself as a campus leader and authority in research information and identity management and has strengthened its relationships with groups across the institution. As the project transitions to a mature production phase, the team faces challenges associated with increasing adoption of its systems and scaling functionality in a sustainable manner to meet the requirements of various user groups. In this project briefing, we’ll outline the implementation process, discuss the challenges that were identified and overcome, and provide recommendations for other libraries seeking to develop similar solutions.
