Overview of Project
The University of Southern Queensland (USQ) is the lead institution for the RUBRIC project.
USQ is partnered by the:
University of New England
University of the Sunshine Coast
University of Newcastle (cross-sectoral partner, liaison for IRUA)
Massey University in New Zealand (international partner).
The e-Framework component of the project provides further avenues of collaboration, as this is a joint initiative between DEST and JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) in the UK.
The RUBRIC bid was submitted to DEST in May 2005 under the criteria "Maximising access to digital resources in Australian universities, especially regional universities" with the premise that regional and smaller universities have a need to access, manage and disseminate research information and learning resources in much the same way as the large established research universities but often face significant challenges in establishing appropriate infrastructure.
The project aims to meet the needs of smaller and regional universities by developing sustainable infrastructure for the deployment of best practice emerging from the SII first round projects known as FRODO (Federated Repositories of Digital Objects).
The project aims to:
Implement best practice at USQ
Clarify implementation issues surrounding repository based research infrastructure in regional Australia
Build capability
The project will provide a vehicle for an assisted take-up service with other regional universities. The inclusion of the University of Newcastle as an IRUA representative in this partnership will provide a strategic and operational link into other non-regional collaborations. They share the need to expose their research but encounter difficulties similar to regionals when compared with larger Universities. The University of Newcastle will apply RUBRIC defined practices within the IRUA consortium, with Macquarie University, Murdoch University and Flinders University having pledged cooperation.
Overall, the proposal will:
Build capability across smaller research universities
Enable the research output of those institutions to be available trans-nationally
Contributing to the research mission of higher education in Australia and internationally through collaboration with NZ partners.
