Informationsinfrastrukturen im Wandel. Changing ... - DINI

342 Bettina Böhm, Wilhelm Held, Beate Tröger
9. Summary
With the MIRO project (and the already existing IKM-Service) the
Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster takes an important step towards
a modern information management infrastructure supporting work in
research and teaching and, thus, enhancing the efficiency of key activities
of one of Germany‟s largest universities. MIRO is supported by the German
Research Foundation (DFG) which has granted funding for eight research
scientists. Another eight positions are financed by the university
from the regular budget. The same holds for most of the other expenses
(software, hardware etc.). In the long run, however, MIRO and IKM are
expected to lower the expenditure in many areas because of the various
synergies to be expected and because double work can be identified and
avoided.
From an organizational point of view IKM-Service and MIRO can be
seen as an attempt to link together central and decentral administration
units that acted quite independently in the past. This link is accompanied –
and in some cases possibly even brought about – by a change in the technical
infrastructure. The structural basis for this change lies in users continuously
communicating, seeking help, or controlling processes via the system
of IVVs, cHL user group, and IVL. User interviews and polls will help
getting feedback necessary for adjusting to real user needs.
The MIRO-Beirat (MIRO Scientific Advisory Council), whose members
are senior representatives of universities and of the business sector,
acts as a consulting body for MIRO.
10. Acknowledgement
The project is supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German
Research Foundation) as a part of their program “Leistungszentren
für Forschungsinformation” (University Research Information Centres,
German subtitle: „Förderinitiative zur Stärkung der Informations-
Infrastruktur an deutschen Hochschulen und Forschungseinrichtungen“ –
Initiative for Strengthening the Information Infrastructure at German Universities
and Research Institutions).