Following the updates to the DataCite member model earlier this year, we have been working with several organizations on establishing DataCite consortia. We are therefore very excited to announce that the DataCite Canada Consortium will launch on January 1, 2020!
For the past ten years, DOIs in Canada were provided through the National Research Council Canada (NRC). When we started conversations about forming a DataCite consortium, the NRC suggested that the Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN) might be willing to play a role. CRKN is the national collective negotiating body for academic libraries in Canada. As part of their diverse portfolio of projects, tools, and services, CRKN leads the Canadian ORCID consortium, and therefore has experience building a community around persistent identifier (PID) infrastructure.
To develop the DataCite Canada Consortium, CRKN partnered with the Canadian Association of Research Libraries’ (CARL) Portage Network. Through this partnership, CRKN will act as the administrative lead for the DataCite Canada Consortium and CARL Portage will oversee community support and engagement.
Rebecca Ross, Acting Executive Director of CRKN said “We are thrilled to support Canadian institutions in managing and providing DOIs through the launch of the DataCite Canada Consortium. Working in partnership with CARL Portage ensures that the Canadian community is not only supported administratively through this new consortial approach, but also provided with community support and expertise.”
Jeff Moon, Director of Portage noted “It has been a pleasure working with CRKN, NRC, and the data management community, including Research Data Canada, to arrive at this positive and much-needed solution.”
DataCite is really excited to have two strong organizations lead this ‘new-style’ consortium and hopes that many other countries will follow Canada’s lead. The new consortium will not only serve the needs of existing Canadian clients, but also provides an opportunity to welcome new organizations to the DataCite community!
If you have any questions or would like to know more about the set-up of the Canadian consortium, feel free to reach out to support@datacite.org and we can connect you. Interested in starting a consortium yourself? Email us and we’ll be happy to help you get started.
