AIMS

Matrix of Use Cases and Functional Requirements for Research Data Repository Platforms

The RDA Repository Platforms for Research Data IG published a Matrix of Use
Cases and Functional Requirements for Research Data Repository Platforms. The resulting matrix may be useful to those developing, improving, selecting, deploying, customizing, or using a research data repository.

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“Institutions, developers, and other members of the research data community struggle to choose, utilize, deploy or develop the best possible repository platform to meet particular research data needs” - Repository Platforms for Research Data: Charter.

Within the 18-month timeframe, the Repository Platforms for Research Data (RPRD) Interest Group (IG) of the Research Data Alliance (RDA) gathered and analyzed research data use cases - in the context of repository platform requirements -, with the primary deliverable being a Matrix relating Use Cases with Functional Requirements for Research Data Repository Platforms for research data.

The target audience for the aforementioned matrix may include:

  • developers of repository software;
  • service providers of repository software;  
  • repository managers interested in identifying functional requirements that will satisfy specific use cases in their institution, consortium, or subject domain;
  • grant applicants who need to satisfy funder requirements by writing a research data management plan, which very likely includes aspects related to repository platforms;
  • funding agencies whose funding application reviewers may be aided by a listing of what may be expected from research data repository platforms;
  • researchers who may need to guide their institutions in selecting repository platforms for their emerging data needs.

The forty-four functional requirements (listed in the matrix) are based on eleven use cases: iRODS,  NORDR,  VecNet,  OpARA,  CurateND,  CUAC,  TAILwag, SURFsara, SURFsara,  Inst. Life-cycle, DKRZ Climate -  that describe their requirements for digital repository platforms. 

The matrix aligns a list of distilled research data use cases with functional requirements related to repository platforms. Each use case ticks a box under one or more functional requirements, indicating that the use case may be satisfied with a repository platform that supports the related functional requirement(s).

The intersection boxes of use cases and functional requirements also contain values expressing the importance or usefulness of the functionality for the use case, i.e. each functional requirement provides a score based on the use cases - functional requirements of greater importance are identified with higher functional requirement scores.) that describe their requirements for digital repository platforms.

Functional requirements scores can be used to:

  • assess research data repository platforms;
  • prioritize functional requirements for development and adoption.

Due to the non-scientific collection method for use cases, the resulting work cannot claim to be representative of all use cases and functional requirements for research data and repositories that may be used to store and deliver them. Nonetheless, the resulting matrix may be informative to those developing, improving, selecting, deploying, customizing, or using a research data repository.

Please click here to retrieve MATRIX (sheet/tab of the Excel worksheet, and the accompanying PDF file).

Documents, relevant to work on matrix can be found in RPRD Related Work, while the template and the resulting collected use cases can be found under Collection of use cases.

Repository Platforms for Research Data IG (launched at the 5th RDA Plenary Meeting, in 2015)

Repository Platforms for Research Data: Case Statement

Repository Platforms for Research Data: JOIN GROUP

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