Poster by: Maude Frances, University Library, The University of New South Wales; Shane Cox, Chemical Sciences and Engineering, The University of New South Wales; Harry Sidhunata, University Library, The University of New South Wales.
The paper outlines the rationale for, design and implementation of MemRE (Membrane Research Environment), a component research infrastructure project of the Advanced Membrane Technologies for Water Treatment Research Cluster. MemRE supports a national collaborative research project funded by CSIRO flagship “Water for a healthy country”, with partners from nine universities and the CSIRO. The research cluster is a nationally distributed and multidisciplinary group of researchers including computational and physical chemists, physicists,
material scientists, and chemical and mechanical engineers. The cluster aims to develop novel membrane materials in order to reduce the energy associated with desalination by 40%.
The problem of energy efficient desalination has been addressed by various research groups over the last 50 years. Lack of consolidation of existing information and the absence of information infrastructure that promotes synergistic comparison of other membrane separation systems (such as biological models) or operating strategies is not conducive to the development of innovative solutions. With a view to accelerating the development and dissemination of information on the mechanics of desalination by membrane process, MemRE
has been designed and implemented as a solution for an integrated research development tool and learning environment. It aims to store and make accessible output from previous research alongside content developed throughout the research lifecycle of the present project.
MemRE was developed collaboratively by University of New South Wales members of the research cluster and the University Library. It comprises three components: a repository of publications, including reports not previously available online; a repository of data on membrane characterisation and function, and a wiki for online collaborative research and exchange of information on membrane properties, their characterisation and visualisation methods. The materials and publications repository uses a VITAL application based on a Fedora
repository, with a submission form based on VALET. The wiki was built using mediaWiki. Functionality of the submission process for the materials repository includes retrieval of data from the wiki. While access to the repository and wiki, via a single sign-on, is restricted to cluster members during the three years of the project, content will be made freely and publicly available online at the conclusion of the project.
The paper introduces planning and design for additional features for the repository and wiki, to be implemented during 2009. These include functionality for capturing and recording the research process, including collaborations and discussions from the wiki, for storage and long-term preservation in the repository. To facilitate re-use and exchange of data and other research material developed in the project, OAI-ORE resource maps will be published from aggregations of resources in MemRE as well as distributed web resources.
In addition to providing an outline of technologies and practices, the paper discusses MemRE as a model for research infrastructure development, based on collaboration between researchers, systems developers and librarians.