Institutional Responsibilities
The use of the data available through EDINA Digimap places responsibilities on EDINA, and on each participating institution.
Responsibilities of EDINA
As part of the operation of the Digimap service, EDINA will provide:
- access to the data
- software for end users to view and print maps and download the data for each Collection
- support for local support staff
- training for local support staff
- training material for local support staff to use with end users
- extensive on-line material to support local support staff and end users
- helpdesk support for support staff and end users
In collaboration with other organisations, EDINA may provide specialised training for end user communities.
Responsibilities of a subscribing institution
Each subscribing institution has responsibilities surrounding their use of EDINA Digimap. Some of these responsibilities arise as conditions of the Data Sub-Licence agreement(s) your institution has signed. Others are recommended for the effective and successful use of EDINA Digimap by your institution.
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Establishment of support structure
A subscribing institution should establish a structure for the support of users of EDINA Digimap. We suggest that you organise a single point of contact for dealing with queries and support of the service and use of the data. Usually this point of contact should be within the Computer Centre, Library or Learning Resources Centre. You may want to have a different contact for each Data Collection, although this is not necessary.
A subscribing institution should nominate one or more local support staff, including the following. EDINA will need to be notified of the names and contacts details of these people. These people should also be registered users of EDINA Digimap.
- An individual nominated to act as the EDINA Digimap Site Representative. Other staff may be deployed to assist in the support of the service.
- An individual nominated to deal with the technical infrastructure required. This may be the same person as the Site Representative.
- Local support from someone with experience of spatial data (as distinct from paper maps) will be very useful. This may be the same person as the Site Representative.
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Data care and security
Some Data Sub-Licence Agreements require that users and their institutions follow certain security and data care procedures concerning any maps and/or data downloaded from Digimap. To this end, each institution will need to establish procedures to allow them to conform to this requirement. This may require an extension to an institution's existing computer security policy. The specific details of the procedures are available in the respective Sub-Licence Agreements for each Collection (available from elsewhere in the EDINA website. (This link will open in a new window.) but, in summary, they include:
- familiarising users with the appropriate copyright and terms of use
- ensuring safe storage and legitimate use of any maps made and data downloaded
- reporting to EDINA any breaches of security
The institution will be required to appoint a Responsible Officer and a Deputy for each Data Collection. For the purpose of this document we assume that an institution will assign these individuals from among the local support staff. EDINA is required to maintain a register of Responsible Officers and Deputies at each institution. The same individuals may take this role for more than one Data Collection.
EDINA is a JISC National Data Centre based at the University of Edinburgh
