Funded by:

What is Research Data Management and why does it matter?

Sarah Jones & Joy DavidsonHATII, University of Glasgow

sarah.jones@glasgow.ac.uk

joy.davidson@glasgow.ac.uk

•POPP conference, CCA, Glasgow

All manner of things that you produce in the course of your research

What is research data?

Research data are collected, observed or created, for the purposes of analysis to produce and validate original research results

Both analogue and digital materials are 'data'

Digital data can be: created in a digital form ("born digital")converted to a digital form (digitised)

Defining research data

“the active management and appraisal of data over the lifecycle of scholarly and

scientific interest”

Data management is part of good research practice

What is research data management?

4.Deposit

PhD & Data

5.Preservation

& Re-Use

1.Create

2.Active Use

3.Selection &Evaluation

Why manage your data well?

- so you can find and understand it when needed

- to avoid unnecessary duplication

- so you can finish your PhD!

- to validate results if required

- so your research is visible and has impact

- to get credit when others cite your work

What is involved in RDM?

- Data management planning

- Creating data

- Documenting data

- Storing data

- Sharing data

- Preserving data

Good data management is about making informed decisions

•http://xkcd.com/949

Data management planning

Write a brief plan at the start of your project to define:• how your data will be created?• how it will be documented?• who will access it?• where it will be stored?• who will back it up?• whether (and how) it will be shared & preserved?

DMPs are often submitted as part of grant applications, but are useful whenever you’re creating data.

Data management planning: advice

Decide what do you (and others) want to do with the data? make decisions that allow for this

Talk to support staff to see which option works best

Use the guidance and templates that are available

DMP template for PhD students: http://blogs.bath.ac.uk/research360/2012/03/postgraduate-dmp-template-first-draft

How to write a DMP: www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/how-guides/develop-data-plan

Creating data

What type and format of data will you create?- formats may be determined by the tools/software you use- common, widespread formats may be better to enable reuse

How will you create your data? - What methodologies and standards will you use?- How will you address ethical concerns and protect participants?- Will you control variations to provide quality assurance?

Creating data: advice

Data can take many forms

• Still images, video & audio

• Notebooks & lab books

• Survey results & interview transcripts

• Experimental observations

• Text corpuses

• Models & software

• ….

Good formats for long-term access• Unencrypted• Uncompressed• Non-proprietary/patent-encumbered• Open, documented standard• Standard representation (ASCII, Unicode)

Type Recommended Avoid for data sharing

Tabular data CSV, TSV, SPSS portable Excel

Text Plain text, HTML, RTFPDF/A only if layout matters

Word

Media Container: MP4, OggCodec: Theora, Dirac, FLAC

QuicktimeH264

Images TIFF, JPEG2000, PNG GIF, JPG

Structured data XML, RDF RDBMS

•Further examples: http://www.data-archive.ac.uk/create-manage/format/formats-table

Use existing models

Sample consent form from Managing and Sharing Data a guide by UK Data Archive

http://data-archive.ac.uk/media/ 2894/managingsharing.pdf

Documenting data

What information do users need to understand the data?- descriptions of all variables / fields and their values - code labels, classification schema, abbreviations list- information about the project and data creators- tips on usage e.g. exceptions, quirks, questionable results

How will you capture this?

Are there standards you can use?

Documenting data: advice

Document at the time – it’s hard to do later, as you forget

Think about how to name, structure & version your fileswww.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/crossmedia/advice/choosing-a-file-name

Record contextual information in a text file (such as a‘read me’ file) in the same directory as the data

Be consistent so your first year data makes sense when you come to write up!

Storing data

What is available to you?

What facilities do you need?- remote access to work from home- file sharing with others- high-levels of security for sensitive data

How will the data be backed up?

Storing data: advice

Speak to your local IT Team for advice

Use managed storage (i.e. the uni network) if possible

Remember that all storage is fallible – need to back-up if this is not already done for you (e.g. by uni) - keep 2+ copies on different types of media in different locations- manage back-ups (migrate media, test integrity)

Choose appropriate methods to transfer / share data- email, dropbox, ftp, encrypted media, filestore, VREs...

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•CC image by Sharyn Morrow on Flickr

One copy = risk of data loss

Sharing & preserving data

Are you expected to share / preserve your data?

Do you need to destroy some data e.g. because of consent

How will you share your data - can anyone help?

Sharing & preserving data: advice

Know what you’re expected to share/preserve (or not!)

Use available data centres - http://datacite.org/repolist

Share your data where possible- there are benefits!

More citations: 69% ↑

(Piwowar, 2007 in PLoS)

Tips for managing your data

Find out what support is available – Speak to the library & local IT support– Ask your supervisor for advice– Check out what facilities are in your department– See what others in your discipline are doing

Training course on managing creative arts datawww.projectcairo.org/module/unit1-0.html

Thanks - any questions?

For DCC guidance, tools and case studies see:www.dcc.ac.uk/resources

Follow us on twitter @digitalcuration and #ukdcc

Content for various slides adapted from Research360 project at University of Bath

Discussion exercise

• What types of data are you creating?

• What issues do you have in managing your data? – Storage & backup– Accessing data from home– Understanding your data– ...

• What have you learnt that may help in the future?