Data are a valuable resource. Research institutes are important data and data-service providers both for in-house and third-party science to science interaction as well as non-science stakeholders. Data warehousing plus information systems are used to perform data-resource management, but they tend to fail, mostly because they i) are not taken up by the users, ii) inadequately reflect the needs or working practices of users, who then resort to the internet and/or desktop files, iii) don’t provide the information required, or iv) are too ambitious and become discontinued. Aim: Initiate user-driven identification/definition of components of a potential information/warehousing system (generic, task-specific, integrating, organizing, synthesising) by addressing the issues: • Do we need an information system? • Which types of information will it hold? • Which amount of development work will it take?