The Research Infrastructure for Conservation and Heritage Science (RICHeS) was launched in October 2024, when UKRI Arts and Humanities Council (AHRC) unveiled 31 projects to create a distributed infrastructure of heritage science collections and equipment to grow the UK heritage economy and protect cultural heritage for future generations. One of those projects is the Heritage Science Data Service (HSDS), which provides core digital research services. The National Heritage Science Forum (NHSF) is undertaking a User Needs consultation on behalf of HSDS.

If you create or use heritage science data as an employee, volunteer or student, you are encouraged to complete this survey.  Your feedback will help shape and build the HSDS. The survey asks about your familiarity with heritage science and seeks your input on the development of the HSDS. It provides an opportunity to share how this platform could support your work or interests and will help us understand your expectations for new digital services.

The survey should take no longer than 20 minutes to complete and you can respond as either an organisation or an individual. A PDF version of the survey questions is provided to support those collecting views from colleagues to inform an organisational response.

The survey will remain open until the 31st May 2025.

Access the survey here: surveymonkey.com/r/NHSF_UserSurvey1

The User Needs consultation is being delivered by Dr Sam Paul and Dr Manda Forster, on behalf of NHSF. If you have any questions about the survey or consultation, please contact via email using: hello@tacit-heritage.co.uk