Research data management – an introduction

Slides provided by the DaMaRO Project, University of Oxford April 27, 2020

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What is research data management?

 Research data is

all

the information you make use of in your research  Structured data (in databases, tables, etc.)   Unstructured data (in textual sources, images, audio recordings, personal notes, emails, etc.) Data management is how you organize, structure, and care for this  Storage, backing up, and data preservation  Preparing material for analysis, or to share with others

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Data management basics

 Be proactive – start early and think ahead  Take time to look at your existing ways of dealing with information  Do they meet your current needs?  Can you find what you need when you need it?  Are files and data suitably labelled to aid retrieval?

 Will they continue to do so for the duration of your research project?  What about after that? What do you need to do to enable further use of the data – by you or by others?

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Funding bodies’ requirements

 Funders are increasingly requiring researchers to meet certain data management criteria  When applying for funding, you may need to submit a technical or data management plan  You may be asked to make your data available through an archive  SHERPA JULIET provides a useful summary of funding bodies’ policies

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Storage and backing up

 How are you storing your data for the duration of your project? What’s your back-up plan?

 The HFS service offers free back-up to postgraduates and university staff  Do you have access to space on a departmental server?

 Synchronization software can help if you work on multiple computers  Dropbox is popular – though others exist

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Data management tools

  Are you using the best tools for the task in hand?

 Don’t struggle on with the wrong software or technique just because it’s what you know  If you’ve ever thought ‘I wish I could…’, maybe someone else has, too – and has written some software to make it possible  Tools exist to do a huge range of jobs – to help organize and analyse information, annotate Web pages, PDFs, or images, and much more Discover new tools via the Research Skills Toolkit website  You could also ask colleagues for recommendations, or search for online reviews

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Longer term goals

   If you return to your data in a year or two, will it still be intelligible?

 Does the format make it clear what everything means?

 Are there abbreviations that need explanation?

Is the data adequately documented?

 Where did it come from? Who created it?

 What changes have been made to it?

 Is any additional information needed to place the data in context?

 Are there any restrictions on how it can be used?

What’s your long term storage plan?

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Planning for data sharing and curation

 Data sharing is…  Good practice – helps make the most of data  Good for you – improve your citation rate  Now required by most major funders  Preserving and sharing data is much easier if planned for from the beginning of a project  Is the data in an appropriate format? Does it have the relevant documentation and metadata?

 Are there confidentiality or IP issues?

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Depositing your data

 Consider depositing data in a repository or archive  A straightforward way of ensuring long-term curation  There are many subject-specific repositories  In 2013 Oxford will launch two new services  DataBank – an institutional digital data archive  DataFinder – a catalogue of datasets  Email [email protected]

for information or advice  Bodleian Libraries can also advise on metadata and data standards, and can issue DOIs

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Training

 The IT Learning Programme offers courses on a wide range of software  Also database design, working with digital images, Web publishing...

 Look out for courses specifically focusing on data management  The Graduate Training site and the Skills Hub (both on WebLearn) detail other training opportunities

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Advice and support

  The OU Research Data Management website provides guidance and information about services IT Services’ InfoDev team for technical issues   Departmental IT support teams IT Services’ NSMS offers paid-for services  Bodleian Libraries for curation and metadata issues  Ask your subject librarian for discipline-specific help  The Digital Curation Centre is a national body which can provide advice on sharing and preservation

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Finally...

 See time spent on data management as an investment   Spend a little time now to save more later It can be a good task for times when you’re feeling tired and uninspired  But remember that it’s supposed to save time, not occupy it!

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