The establishment of  Tri-University Data Resources is the result of a joint venture between the University of Guelph, the University of Waterloo, and Wilfrid Laurier University. 

Members of the individual centres for data resources on each campus as well as representatives from the University of Guelph Computing and Communications Services and the University of Waterloo Information Systems and Technology have joined forces to create this centralized on-line data service.

The creation of this joint service arises from the need to dedicate resources to the centralization and distribution of data resources which have increasingly been produced in electronic format .Recent agreements on consortial use of data by Statistics Canada (through the DLI initiative) and ICPSR have allowed a rapid change in the way data is disseminated to educational institutions.   The resources required to manage this acquisition and distribution of data is more than is possible for many institutions to handle given the current financial climate.   The concept of regional centres for university data resources is being discussed and initiated throughout North America and Europe.

Users will benefit from the pooling of resources as data from the three institutions will be offered to members of the three participating universities.  Sharing technology and human resources will result in an increase in the ability to process, mount, and maintain new data as it arrives.  User support will also benefit as expertise is shared between the three institutions.

The main focus of the centralized service will be a joint web site where all data licensed to be shared is mounted and maintained on a single web site:
http://tdr.tug-libraries.uoguelph.ca

Individual institutions will continue to offer support and service to their respective communities of users.  Each institution will also maintain data licensed to its own community due to specific localized research needs and licensing restrictions.

Overviews of each data centre including services offered and hours of operation can be found by following the links provided below.

• University of Guelph Data Resource Centre
• University of Waterloo Electronic Data Service
• Wilfrid Laurier University

Background documents related to the creation of this joint venture can be found by following the Publications link listed below.

PUBLICATIONS