What We Do
Based in the UK and working globally, we have a reputation for the integrity, quality and impact of our work and always adding value for our clients.
Examples of the work we do are listed on this page together with what our clients say about us and what we have delivered for them. If you would like to discuss how we can help your organisation please get in touch
Cost-Benefit Analyses
Our expertise in digital preservation and research data management uniquely positioned us to consider long-term as well as short and medium term time horizons for cost-benefit. Our work was highly influential and brought significant impact and profile for our clients. For example our findings in Keeping Research Data Safe (KRDS) for Jisc on cost and benefit models were cited in the Royal Society Science as an open enterprise report. The KRDS work also provided a significant contribution to the foundations for Jisc’s successful EU project 4C on digital preservation costs and was used in Jisc’s research data management programme projects.
Biomedical Research Infrastructure Software Service (BRISSkit) for Leicester University Read More »
The Biomedical Research Infrastructure Software Service kit (BRISSkit) is funded by the JISC UMF Shared Services and the Cloud Programme. Its main aim is to design, deliver and begin to exploit a national data hosting service for researchers in the field of Biomedicine and Bioinformatics.The service is being developed in partnership between the University of Leicester and the Leicester Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit based at the Glenfield Hospital in the University Hospitals Leicester NHS Trust. Charles Beagrie is supporting the University in developing its Return on Investment (RoI) Report for the project.
Keeping Research Data Safe for Jisc Read More »
Lead consultants with associates and partners at: the Universities of Cambridge, King's College London, Oxford, and Southampton; the Archaeology Data Service; UK Data Archive; and OCLC Research, in JISC-funded studies to develop a cost model and benefits toolkit for long-term preservation of research data in UK universities.
E-Journal Archiving Study for Jisc Read More »
Principal and senior consultants in partnerships with Tee Em Consulting in a study for JISC of e-journal archiving solutions.
Evaluation and Impact Studies
We had a strong interest in helping clients demonstrate the value and impact of their investments in research infrastructure. We combined qualitative and quantitative approaches with a deep understanding of research services. Our work for ESRC on the economic evaluation of research infrastructures (focussing on the UK Economic and Social Data Service) was one of just three studies internationally considered to “stand out as being particularly good examples of good practice in the measurement of economic impacts” in the Big Science and Innovation report for the UK Dept of Business, Innovation and Skills.
The Value and Impact of the British Atmospheric Data Centre (BADC) for Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Read More »
A study and collaboration between Charles Beagrie Ltd (Neil Beagrie), and the Centre for Strategic Economic Studies Victoria University (Prof John Houghton) on the value and impact of the British Atmospheric Data Centre (BADC).The BADC, based at the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the UK, is the Natural Environment Research Council’s (NERC) Designated Data Centre for the Atmospheric Sciences.Users and depositors from all sectors were invited to participate in in-depth interviews, and secondly an online survey to gauge the levels of use, impacts, and perceptions of value amongst the broadest possible range of BADC users. Our economic analysis includes a range of approaches, starting with the most immediate and direct measures of value that are likely to represent lower bound estimates of the value of BADC data and services and moving outwards to estimates of the wider economic benefits.
Economic Evaluation of Research Data Infrastructure for Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Read More »
This study is being conducted jointly by Charles Beagrie Ltd with Prof John Houghton of the Centre for Strategic Economic Studies at Victoria University and is looking at the economic impact of the Economic and Social Data Service in the UK.
Formative/Summative Evaluation of Building the Research Information Infrastructure (BRII) project for Oxford University Read More »
The aim of the BRII project is to enable efficient sharing of research activity data (i.e. data about research at the University of Oxford) from a selection of existing data stores and to create exemplar services that disseminate and re-use that data using a lightweight solution based on semantic web technologies.
Impact of the Archaeology Data Service (ADS) for Jisc Read More »
This project will analyse and survey perceptions of the value of digital collections held by the Archaeology Data Service and how those perceptions of value can be measured. As part of this work, we will assess and quantify the economic impact of those collections with the ultimate objective of improving their prospects for sustainability. The project is being conducted by a consortium led by the University of York (the Archaeology Data Service) together with Charles Beagrie Limited and the Centre for Strategic Economic Studies Victoria University (Prof John Houghton).
Value and Impact Study of the EBI 2015-16 for European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) Read More »
We conducted a value and impact report as well as impact case studies for the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI). The institute is extending its evaluation processes in order to assess its realised benefits and impact, notably in the context of the Large Facilities Capital Fund (LFCF) programme.
National and Corporate Strategies
Our staff and associates worked in senior positions in libraries, data services and funding bodies and had many decades of experience in developing strategies and policies for preservation and access of digital materials. We applied that experience in a wide-range of organisations and countries. The impact and value of this work to clients is reflected in the client comments in the side-panel of this web page.
Digital Preservation Strategy for The UK National Archives Read More »
Assisted the UK National Archives (TNA) with development of a revised digital preservation strategy.
ILO Library Consultancy for International Labour Organisation Read More »
Charles Beagrie have been commissioned by the International Labour Organization (ILO) to help develop a new strategic vision for the ILO Library that will help it reposition itself in the collaborative, digital, mobile era.
National Strategy Report for Alliance of German Science Organisations Read More »
Charles Beagrie Limited were awarded the consultancy to develop recommendations for a national hosting strategy for electronic resources in Germany on behalf of the Alliance for German Scientific Organisations.Our local partners and sub-contractors were Globale Informationstechnik GmbH. The members of the Alliance of German Science Organisations are the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation), the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the German Rectors' Conference (Hochschulrektorenkonferenz - HRK), the Helmholtz Association, the Leibniz Association, the Max Planck Society, and the Wissenschaftsrat (German Council of Science and Humanities).
Research and Feasibility Studies
We had an extensive professional network as well as internal resources and expertise. This meant we could put together resources and teams tailored to a diverse range of study requirements involving IT, digital preservation, legal issues, and archive/library/information needs. We provided editors and source authors for the online DPC digital preservation technology watch reports that now have wide use in the community. We also put together teams that successfully research and deliver multi-disciplinary work such as Cloud Storage and Digital Preservation guidance for The National Archives (TNA) in the UK.
Technology Watch Reports for The Digital Preservation Coalition Read More »
The reports are intended as an advanced introduction to specific issues in IT, standards and tools for those charged with establishing or running services for long term access. Charles Beagrie Limited was sub-contracted to the DPC to commission and produce the Digital Preservation Technology Watch Reports Series under the general supervision of an editorial board and Neil Beagrie as principal investigator and managing editor. The 14 reports we produced include: Preserving Email; Preserving Moving Picture and Sound; Intellectual Property Rights for Preservation; Digital Forensics and Preservation; Web-Archiving; Preservation, Trust, and Continuing Access for e-Journals; Preserving eBooks; and The Open Archival Information System (OAIS) Reference Model: Introductory Guide (2nd Edition); Personal Digital Archiving; Preserving Social Media; Preserving Transactional Data; and Preservation with PDF/A. All the reports are open-access peer-reviewed publications and can be downloaded from the DPC website. http://www.dpconline.org/publications/technology-watch-reports
UK Research Data Service (UKRDS) Feasibility Study for Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) Read More »
Principal and senior consultants and research associates in partnership with Serco Consulting (lead consultancy) and Grant Thornton on the feasibility study for UKRDS. The study was funded by HEFCE (the Higher Education Funding Council for England) under its Shared Services programme and led by the Consortium of University Research Libraries (CURL) and the Russell Group of IT Directors (RUGIT).
National Digital Preservation Initiatives Research Report for Library of Congress and Council on Library and Information Resources Read More »
Researched and authored "National Digital Preservation Initiatives: an overview of developments in Australia, France, the Netherlands, and United Kingdom and related international activity" a report to the Library of Congress for the US National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP).
Sustainability, Business Cases and supporting Project to Service Transitions
Our expertise and international experience in modelling costs, identifying benefits, strategy, advocacy, and project management ideally positioned us to support and assist project-to-service transitions and developing business cases and sustainability planning for new innovative digital services for research data management, digital archiving or preservation. We had particular strengths in sustainability planning for public or open-access digital resources and non-profit organisations.
Biomedical Research Infrastructure Software Service (BRISSkit) for Leicester University Read More »
The Biomedical Research Infrastructure Software Service kit (BRISSkit) is funded by the JISC UMF Shared Services and the Cloud Programme. Its main aim is to design, deliver and begin to exploit a national data hosting service for researchers in the field of Biomedicine and Bioinformatics.The service is being developed in partnership between the University of Leicester and the Leicester Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit based at the Glenfield Hospital in the University Hospitals Leicester NHS Trust. Charles Beagrie is supporting the University in developing its Return on Investment (RoI) Report for the project.
Research 360 for Bath University Read More »
The Research 360 Project addresses the long-tail of high quality small science characterised by applied research and faculty-industry partnerships. Charles Beagrie are contributing to building the business case and applying the KRDS Benefits Toolkit with a focus on faculty research data drivers for the Research Excellence Framework (REF).
Dryad Repository Sustainability Plan for Duke University Read More »
Dryad is an emerging digital repository for supplementary data underlying published works in ecology, evolution, and related fields being developed by a consortium of the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) in the USA and relevant scientific societies and academic journals. Charles Beagrie Limited were commissioned to develop a sustainability plan for the Dryad repository.
Cost-Benefit Advocacy Toolkit for Consortium of European Social Science Data Archives Read More »
This toolkit is comprised of: Three factsheets - Benefits (KRDS benefits and more recent material), Costs (KRDS costs, 4C ,etc.), and Return on Investment (evidence from impact studies and for “costs of inaction”); Two worksheets - the Archive Development Canvas (a non-profit archive version of the Business Model Canvas), and the Benefits Summary for a Data Archive (an updated social science version of the KRDS Benefits Framework); Four case studies; and a user guide. All these materials are on open-access.