This page offers an overview of the various functionalities which should be offered by a VRE. For more information on the functionalities that can be offered, please consult the section on technology.
F1
User management
F1.1
Account registration: Principal researchers who want to start a project can be registered by VRE administrators.
F1.2
Add additional users: Principal researchers can select and add researchers to existing research projects, groups and roles.
F1.3
Authorisation: Internal and external users can be authorised in order to log in and use the VRE. User authentication method depends on institutional policy.
F2
Document sharing
F2.1
Document sharing: Researchers can upload documents to the VRE. Examples of documents include text files, images and presentations as well as template files. The environment will record which user was responsible for the contribution, and will also record the details of all modifications. The VRE supports as many file formats as possible. When the file format is not supported, the files can effectively be converted using conversion tools.
F2.2
Add workflow: researchers can create workflows to facilitate collaborative work on documents. As part of a workflow, users may ask for feedback or for approval.
F2.3
Version management: It is possible to record all previous versions of documents which are stored in the VRE. When changes are made to a document, it must receive a new version number. For each version, it must be clear when the document was modified and which user was responsible for this version. Users should also be able to annotate versions of documents. The version number indicates the status of a document. For example 0.2 is a draft, 2.0 is a second version.
F2.4
Batch upload. Large quantities of existing documents or data can easily be imported into the VRE.
F3
Document organisation
F3.1
Organise documents with metadata: Users are able to organise collections of documents through the use of categories (based on keywords). Users should also have the possibility to annotate documents. Documents can be described in a structured way, using a metadata scheme that can easily be adapted by authorised users. It must be possible to apply only those fields which are relevant for the research group.
F3.2
Organise documents with folders: Users should be able to organise collections of documents through the creation of subfolders.
F4
Subsites: Authorised users can create subsites within the VRE for specific tasks or research groups.
F5
Access rights: Users who have contributed documents to the VRE can specify which other users are allowed to access these documents. Access rights can be specified at the level of individuals or at the level of user groups. A distinction can be made between reading rights and writing rights. Access rights can be specified for individual documents, for document libraries or for the site or subsite in its entirety. Users should be able to find out who has access to a resource and what they can do with it (authentication and authorization).
F6
Usage statistics
F6.1
VRE reports: The VRE administrator can generate statistics about the contents of the VRE.
F6.2
Monitor usage: The VRE administrator can generate statistics about the usage of the VRE.
F7
Search facilities
F7.1
Searching inside the VRE: Users should be able to search the contents of the VRE, on the basis of keywords, date of modification or user. It must be possible to search both the full text of documents and the metadata.
F7.2
Searching outside the VRE: VRE should facilitate search in external systems such as Scopus, Web of Science, Worldcat, Jstor and Google Scholar (for example by adding widgets). Search results including alerts (for example by using RSS feeds) from external systems can also be stored in the VRE.
F8
Project and task management
F8.1
Project management tools: VRE supports existing project management tools such as MS Projects.
F8.2
Task lists: Users can create, maintain and share lists of activities which need to be carried out collectively.
F9
Information sharing
F9.1
Shared bookmarks: Researchers can collectively create lists of relevant websites. Websites can also be annotated or tagged.
F9.2
Shared contact lists: A list of contacts can be created. A mailing list can be created from this contact list.
F9.3
Shared calendar: Users can create a shared calendar to record events which are important for the team as a whole. The shared calendar can also be synchronised with individual calendars in MS Outlook.
F10
Asynchronous communication
F10.1
Discussion board: Researchers can organise online discussions using a web forum. This discussion board may also be used to contact the helpdesk.
F10.2
Weblog, RSS, Wiki: Researchers can share information and discuss topics, using a weblog or RSS feeds and Wikis.
F11
Synchronous communication
F11.1
Presence detection: Users can see which other users are online and start chat sessions.
F11.2
Web conference: Researchers can use the VRE to communicate online with partners on remote locations.
F12
Public website
C12.1
Public website: Parts of the VRE can be made available to a wider audience, and as such, these can function as a public project website. On these public pages, contact information may be provided.
C12.2
Profile pages: All team members can be given their own profile page, with personal information about the researches (expertise, publications, picture), or links to personal profile pages on the institutional websites.
C12.3
News and announcements: Users can post announcements (like seminars, conference events) on the public website of the VRE.
F13
Archive
F13.1
Archive folder: It must be possible to create a library or a subsite in which the final versions of documents can be stored. It should not be possible to change or delete the archived documents. In addition, documents which are linked to other documents or metadata in the archive cannot be removed.
F13.2
Open standards and preferred formats: To ensure that files can be used in the future, it must be possible to use open standards and to convert formats whose longevity seems problematic into more durable formats.
F13.3
Integrity, readability and visual quality: Unauthorized change or damage of documents is impossible. A special authorized application manager is able to delete archived documents when needed (i.e. privacy reasons). Never deleting documents is an acceptable alternative.
F14
Migration to external repositories
F14.1
Institutional repositories: The VRE supports migration of documents (text, images, videos) to institutional repositories for exposure or long-term digital curation.
F14.2
Data repositories: VRE supports migration of research data to institutional data repositories for exposure or for long-term digital curation.
F15
Research registration: The VRE supports good integration of a CRIS (current research information system), such as METIS. Users can access articles about research subjects in the CRIS via the VRE.
F16
Alerts: Users can receive notifications though e-mail of all changes in the VRE.
F17
Reference management
F17.1
Bibliografic data can be copied easily from external databases such as Worldcat, PiCarta, Jstor.
F17.2
References can be tagged using keywords which have been defined by the users.
F17.3
It must be possible to define collections, so that records can be clustered effectively.
F17.4
It must be possible to add attachments to all bibliographic references.
F17.5
It must be possible to annotate all bibliographic references. An annotation may consist of a summary or table of contents of the described work.
F17.6
It must be possible to export the database, preferably in XML format.
F17.7
It must be possible to publish the references selectively. It must be possible to hide specific sections, such as the research annotations.
F18
Conference Website: Users should be enabled to create and maintain a conference website.
F18.1
Conference organisers can use the VRE to disseminate information about the programme, speakers and presentations.
F18.2
Participants can register for a conference using a web-based form.
F18.3
Conference speakers can upload their abstract to conference website.
F19
Federated authentication: Users who have logged in at the VRE should be enabled to access licensed content on external locations via single-sign on.