Obstacles and Opportunities in Research Information Management in the United States

Research information management (RIM) is a rapidly growing area of investment in US research universities, and the OCLC Research report series Research Information Management in the United States (published in October 2021) offers a comprehensive and strategic view of the uses, stakeholders, and infrastructures prevalent in the decentralized US landscape. In this presentation, the lead authors of the reports will share key findings of the project, which documents in detail the RIM practices at five US research universities. The presentation will describe six RIM use cases (such as public portals, faculty activity reporting, and strategic reporting) identified in the study, and it will also describe a new RIM System Framework model to facilitate understanding of the functional and technical elements of a RIM system. The presentation will conclude with recommendations for institutional decision makers.