5 things to know about the new web face of CESSDA (Consortium of European Social Science Data Archives)

It has been less than a year since CESSDA’s main office opened in September 2014 in Bergen, Norway. A lot has happened since then! Not least a new website and corporate identity has been prepared for CESSDA. Here are five things about it that you should know.

The new CESSDA website…

The homepage has a clean layout, presenting information in a clear and structured way. The top horizontal navigation bar presents where to find more information on CESSDA. Images and boxes have been chosen to catch the eye and make the information easier to access from the homepage.

The homepage is laid out so that all the content appears on the viewer’s screen, thus eliminating the need for scrolling. The entire website is scalable so that it can be viewed on different devices, from desktop computers to smaller devices such as iPads or smartphones.

As part of CESSDA's new communication strategy, five target audiences for the different outputs of CESSDA have been identified. They are policy makers, data experts, the research community, data producers, and the general public.

They can be defined as follows:

• Policy makers: ministers, EU and national parliamentarians, European Commission officials, ministries in potential new member countries, relevant press offices
• Data experts: from its internal organs (Board of Directors, Service Providers, General Assembly, Scientific Advisory Board), Funding Councils, specialised media, other European Research Infrastructures, other European projects, other networks and multinational surveys
• Data producers: National Statistical Institutes, Eurostat
• Research Community: researchers, students, journals, student papers
• General public: lay people with an interest in CESSDA’s findings, generalist media

An interactive, modernised map has been created to present information on CESSDA’s member countries, observers and other data services in Europe that are outside of its membership. Information boxes appear when the mouse goes over a particular country, and there is a structured presentation for each country on available data services (e.g. Norway).

CESSDA offers a range of different services to its members and target audiences. CESSDA services break down into projects, media and resources, presenting information in a structured way which is easy to navigate. A main resource is the Data Catalogue, which represents a virtual common catalogue for the collective data holdings of the various CESSDA member archives. CESSDA Training promotes research data management and data curation in the social sciences.

About the website producers

The graphic profile is produced by RMM & Goosen Design, based in Bergen, Norway. Programming and web solution delivered by Open Concept, based in Kjøllefjord, Norway.