DEFRA research repository
SHARING KNOWLEDGE IN DEFRA – providing a central repository for Defra commissioned reports and a comprehensive search service
The issue
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) commissions significant amounts of research and consultancy work (around £145m per annum in the main science programmes alone), both as part of its scientific research programmes and elsewhere. However, knowledge about this work was not always routinely shared within the department and the results were often held in a number of different places and not easily accessible to others in Defra. This meant that existing research was often lost, ignored or even duplicated. Furthermore, it was realised that these risks were likely to increase significantly under the Renew Defra initiative, where the number of standing teams was being reduced and more work handled on a project basis.
The solution
In 2007, Defra’s Library and Translation Service developed a Central Research Repository in the library, together with a Comprehensive Search Service.
Defra business units are actively encouraged to deposit into the library copies of Defra commissioned research, including economic and other advice, consultancy studies, reviews, lessons learned reports etc. These are catalogued on the library’s Unicorn system and hence made accessible to all Defra staff via the department’s intranet.
The library offers a comprehensive search service, covering all relevant information sources from both inside and outside Defra:
- Information from the Research Repository
- Information from published/external information sources
- Information from the Defra Publications Collection
- Information from a central collection of papers published by Defra staff
- Information from other Defra Network libraries
- Information held in registered files, accredited shared drives etc (in conjunction with Records Management colleagues)
The outcome
The outcome of this initiative is that Defra staff now have easier access to Defra commissioned and other relevant research, the department can maximise the benefit of the research it has commissioned and lessons learned are now more easily shared.