DuraCloud for Research (abbreviated DfR) is an open source project that has received initial funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The DfR project's primary goal is to create a software solution and set of services that will help researchers preserve and manage their project data. DfR is an extension of DuraCloud designed to meet the needs of researchers and their institutional data managers. DfR begins with the base DuraCloud service and adds capabilities that are specifically designed to support the needs of researchers and data curators, such as enabling a "safe" cloud storage infrastructure that will automatically make copies of research materials to a remote location that is still under the control of the researcher and/or institution. DfR will also integrate with secondary services that allow the researcher to visualize data, add new metadata to create richer visualizations, and apply compute services to transform, manipulate, and analyze the data. In the future, the application will be offered as a managed service by DuraSpace. To find out more, read the DuraCloud for Research project narrative.
The DuraCloud for Research project began in the fall of 2011. An initial workshop was conducted in November to identify the highest priority needs for the DfR software and service development. During the workshop, invited participants each presented key institutional successes, challenges, and priorities in developing and implementing data management strategies for research. They then refined and prioritized those needs to identify those that are most appropriate and necessary for the DfR system. A more thorough description of the outcomes of the workshop can be read in the DuraCloud for Research workshop report.
The DfR project is being developed using an iterative, agile methodology. The initial phase of development has been completed with Version 0.3 of the software published on GitHub. Work will be continuing with two collaborating projects and we are actively seeking partners to enable moving forward with DfR at a fast pace.
We need your input! If you are interested in participating in the DuraCloud for Research project at any capacity, please contact us today! In particular, we need individuals who are interested in helping us answer the following questions:
For the latest news about the DuraCloud for Research project, please sign up for the mailing list!