FSD Bulletin

Issue 26 (1/2009)
8.5.2009

ISSN 1795-5262

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FSD Bulletin is the electronic newsletter of the Finnish Social Science Data Archive. The Bulletin provides information and news related to the data archive and social science research.


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Finnish Social Science Data Archive
E-mail: fsd@tuni.fi

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In Brief

» CESSDA Expert Seminar 2008 – Data Archiving Professionals Share Experiences on Producing Metadata
» Registration for IASSIST/IFDO 2009 Conference Continues
» Sami Borg Continues as Director of FSD
» Data Archives on Roadmap of National-Level Research Infrastructures
» Ethics Review Report on Circulation for Comment
» Academy of Finland Requires Data Management Plan


CESSDA Expert Seminar 2008 – Data Archiving Professionals Share Experiences on Producing Metadata

In the expert seminar organised last autumn in Odense, Denmark, European data archiving professionals exchanged views on good practices in producing metadata. However, co-operation is not restricted to seminars only. Data archives have plenty in common as regards producing metadata. Application development requires and accumulates experience worth sharing with others.

More information:
» The seminar website and presentations

Registration for IASSIST/IFDO 2009 Conference Continues

The registration for the international IASSIST/IFDO 2009 Conference opened in February, and the Early Bird Rate was available until March 24. However, registration is still open. The conference will take place on May 26–29, 2009, and the main conference venue will be Tampere Hall. The conference theme will be Mobile Data and the Life Cycle. More information on registration, fees, programme, pre-conference workshops, posters, accommodation, and excursions can be found on the conference website.

More information:
» The conference website

Sami Borg Continues as Director of FSD

The post of director of the FSD was vacant in the autumn, as the director's second five-year period ended. The post was filled permanently. Sami Borg (Doctor of Social Sciences, Docent), who has served as the director of the FSD since the beginning, continues in the post.


Data Archives on Roadmap of National-Level Research Infrastructures

The final report of the project assigned to chart the present state and the so-called roadmap of national research infrastructures in Finland was published in Helsinki on February 11, 2009. The FSD is one of the existing 24 national-level research infrastructures identified by the executive board of the project. The list includes altogether 9 infrastructures from the social sciences and humanities. The board also selected 20 initiatives to be included in the roadmap, which is a plan of new research infrastructures or major upgrades of existing ones. The preparations for these initiatives have advanced so well that they can be realised within a couple of years. The European data archives' joint preparatory phase ESFRI project CESSDA PPP is also on the roadmap. The FSD plays an active role in the project. The executive board recommends that financing for seven initiatives should be put on the fast track - one of them being the data archives' project CESSDA PPP. In addition, 13 of the 20 initiatives to be included in the roadmap were identified as projects that may potentially develop into national-level infrastructures. One of these initiatives was the plan for updating and developing the FSD's services. At the publication of the report, Minister of Education Henna Virkkunen promised to support the development of national infrastructures. Several speakers wished for funds earmarked for research infrastructures in the state budget. For the time being, research infrastructures are not listed as a separate entity in the state budget. The roadmap is to be updated approximately every third year. The Federation of Finnish Learned Societies conducted the first, now published, survey on behalf of the Ministry of Education, and formulated the roadmap for developing new projects.

More information:
» "Research Infrastructures of National Importance" press release
» "National-Level Research Infrastructures: Present State and Roadmap" publication
» CESSDA PPP project
» Finnish Social Science Data Archive
» Federation of Finnish Learned Societies

Ethics Review Report on Circulation for Comment

In January, the HYMY II working group on research ethics in the humanities and social sciences filed its report on ethics review in research. The report is now on wide circulation for comment. The National Advisory Board on Research Ethics appointed the HYMY II working group on November 1, 2007 to ascertain the need for ethics review in the humanities and social sciences. Development manager Arja Kuula from the FSD served as the chair of the working group.

More information:
» HYMY II working group on research ethics in the humanities and social sciences

Academy of Finland Requires Data Management Plan

The Academy of Finland requires researchers applying for funding to submit a data management plan as part of the research plan appended to the funding application. A data management plan should describe how research data will be collected, how the data will be used and stored during the research project, and how its reuse will be enabled and long-term preservation ensured after the original research is completed. The Academy of Finland recommends depositing social science data in the Finnish Social Science Data Archive.

More information:
» Academy of Finland's application guidelines for research funding
» Data management planning and concrete examples
» Informing research participants
» Finnish Social Science Data Archive
» Depositing data