Netherlands Institute for Scientific Information Services

Relations between institutional and national current research information systems

The case of the Netherlands

By Marga van Meel

Hoofd Onderzoekinformatie
Postbus 95180
1090 HD Amsterdam
THE NETHERLANDS
tel: +31.20.462.8657
Marga.van.Meel@niwi.knaw.nl
http://www.nod.nboi.knaw.nl
http://www.niwi.knaw.nl/us/navigate/research.htm

In the Netherlands there are two systems

• The national (governmental) system: The NOD ( = Nederlandse Onderzoek Databank = Netherlands Research Database) with projects, experts and institutes
• The institutional (university) system: The OZIS (=OnderZoekInformatieSysteem) with projects, programms, publications

Development

The NOD started in 1993 as an online national database. From 1960 on there were several institutes who had several CRIS`s. In 1992 the NBOI was established. The NBOI (Netherlands Agency for Research Information) was one of the participants in the development of the Combiformat. From 1995 on the University of Nijmegen is the host of the NOD.

Several university-systems were made after Combiformat was a fact. The OZIS started in 1994. Now 7 universities have this system. End of this year the system will be online on WWW. The University of Nijmegen is the architect of the OZIS-system and the host of the NOD.

The WWW linking of university databases is an autonomous and seperate development parallel to the natoional governmental database.

Differences

• Accessibility: free vs. chargeable
• Content
  NOD: supplies information on projects, persons and institutes; university and non-university information
  OZIS: programms, publications, personell, with emphazis on publications
  information only on university research (from 7 universities)
• Quality control
  NOD: abstracts; OZIS: mostly titels
  Coverage: NOD has established long contacts with the faculties.
• Documentation
  NOD: keywords, classification codes
  OZIS: NABS-code
• Language
  NOD: English title mandatory
  OZIS: English not mandatory

Co-operation

• Although the systems differs they also have very much in common
• The systems should co-operate with each other otherwise they will be concurrents
• The NOD will be defeated by the WWW-network of the universities within a few years

How did we co-operate until now?

• Yearly electronuc delivery from the OZIS (projects, institutes, persons)
• NOD made the application possible for the exchange of information
• A rather one way cooperation

What can we supply?

• extra information on projects from other resources
• quality control
• keywords and classification
• marketing and public relations

The future

It would not be so efficient to duplicate the information in the NOD any longer.

The technique more and more leads to the model of distributed information storage instead of concentration of information at one place in one giant (national) database.

The solution can be the creation of a national network of research databases, including the university databases and the NOD.

To let the NOD focus on the Dutch research information outside the universities and on information on persons and institutes.

To let NIWI take care of the administration, the management, the representation, public relations and information supply of the national WWW network.