Researcher Development Initiative (RDI), 2005 - 2010

01/02/06 - 31/01/08

This project set out to create training opportunities for social science researchers in the area of geographical referencing. It addressed frequently-encountered challenges such as linking and mapping datasets with one or more geographical reference codes such as postcodes, census and administrative area codes. A library of online learning resources was created which can either be browsed directly or accessed via an interactive tool, which produces a customised tutorial based on the users responses to a questionnaire of their research needs. Particular care was taken to design learning resources that could be repurposed, including the creation of metadata records which would maximise their usefulness when searched or recombined. These materials were used as the basis for a series of training workshops run in various locations in 2006-7 and which were further developed in the Geo-Refer 2 project. The project team worked with some workshop attendees to create case study materials from their actual research projects and incorporated these into the online materials. All the learning resources from both projects can be accessed through the ReStore project site at http://www.restore.ac.uk/geo-refer

Principal Investigator: Professor David Martin, University of Southampton
Co-Investigators: Ms Samantha Cockings, University of Southampton,

Mr Samuel Leung, University of Southampton

Contact Details

Professor David Martin,
University of Southampton

Email: D.J.Martin@soton.ac.uk
Tel: 023 8059 3808