Introduction to research data management Slides provided by DaMaRO Project, University of Oxford Research Services.
Download ReportTranscript Introduction to research data management Slides provided by DaMaRO Project, University of Oxford Research Services.
Introduction to research data management
Slides provided by DaMaRO Project, University of Oxford
Research Services
WHAT IS RESEARCH DATA MANAGEMENT?
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What is data?
“A reinterpretable representation of information in a formalized manner suitable for communication, interpretation, or processing.” Digital Curation Centre
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Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project Introduction to research data management Page 3
What is data?
Any information you use in your research
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Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project Introduction to research data management Page 4
In small groups…
Introduce yourself What sort of data do you use? Where does it come from?
Are you creating new data?
Are you working with pre-existing data?
Where is your data stored?
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What is data management?
Data management is a general term covering how you organize, structure, store, and care for the information used or generated during a research project It includes: How you deal with information on a day-to-day basis over the lifetime of a project What happens to data in the longer term – what you do with it after the project concludes
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Why spend time and effort on this?
So you can work efficiently and effectively Save time and reduce frustration Highlight patterns or connections that might otherwise be missed Because your data is precious To enable data re-use and sharing To meet funders’ and institutional requirements
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University of Oxford policy
Introduced July 2012
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University of Oxford policy
The full policy can be viewed on the University of Oxford Research Data Management website Research data is the information needed outputs’ ‘to support or validate a research project’s observations, findings or Research data should be: Accurate, complete, identifiable, retrievable, and securely stored Able to be made available to others
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University of Oxford policy
Research data should be retained for ‘as long as they are of continuing value to the researcher and the wider research community’ – but a
minimum
of three years Specific requirements from funders take precedence Researchers are responsible for: Developing and documenting clear data management procedures Planning for the ongoing custodianship of their data Ensuring that legal, ethical, and funding body requirements are met Policy applies to University staff and doctoral students Depositing relevant research data may ultimately become a condition of award for doctorates
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Funders’ requirements
Funding bodies are taking an increasing interest in what happens to research data You may be required to make your data publicly available at the end of a project Check the small print in your grant conditions Many funders require a data management plan as part of grant applications Oxford’s RDM website provides a summary of requirements
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DAY-TO-DAY DATA MANAGEMENT
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Can you find what you need, when you need it?
‘What a mess’ by .pst, via Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/psteichen/3915657914 / .
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Questions to ask
Are you using the most appropriate software or other tools to store and analyse your data?
Do you have a system in place for dealing with new data when you acquire it?
If so, is it realistic?
Are you recording all the necessary contextual information?
Are you using helpful, consistent file naming conventions? Is your file structure clear?
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File naming
Aim for concise but informative names Ideally, you should be able to tell what’s in a file without opening it Think about the ordering of elements within a filename YYYY-MM-DD dates allow chronological sorting You can force an order by adding a number at the beginning of the name Consider including version information
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File naming strategies – examples
Order by date: Order by type: Interview-recording_MBD_2012-12-15.mp3
Interview-recording_THD_2013-04-12.mp3
the newspaper articles I downloaded… I named the Interview-transcript_THD_2013-04-12.docx
mentioning the name of the periodical and the year Order by subject: Forced order with numbering: of publication, which would have been very useful MBD_interview-recording_2012-12-15.mp3
01_THD_interview-recording_2013-04-12.mp3
later, when I began writing the thesis. MBD_interview-transcript_2012-12-15.docx
02_THD_interview-transcript_2013-04-12.docx
THD_interview-transcript_2013-04-12.docx
03_MBD_interview-recording_2012-12-15.mp3
04_MBD_interview-transcript_2012-12-15.docx
Research Services
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Research Skills Toolkit
Website and hands on workshops A guide to software, University services, and other tools and resources for research Requires SSO login
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http://www.skillstoolkit.ox.ac.uk/ Introduction to research data management Page 17
IT Learning Programme
Over 200 different IT courses Covering software, skills, and new technologies http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/itlp/ ITLP Portfolio offers course materials and other resources
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http://portfolio.it.ox.ac.uk/ Introduction to research data management Page 18
ORDS – Online Research Database Service
Specifically designed for academic research data Cloud-hosted and automatically backed up Web interface makes collaboration straightforward If desired, databases can easily be made public Designed to permit easy archiving Currently recruiting early adopters – free use of system in return for feedback Contact [email protected]
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KEEPING YOUR DATA SAFE
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http://blogs.ch.cam.ac.uk/pmr/2011/08/01/why-you-need-a-data-management-plan/
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Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project Introduction to research data management Page 21
What would happen to your data if there was a fire in your office, department or home?
‘Fire’ by andrewmalone, via Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewmalone/2032844649/
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Make multiple copies… …and keep them in different places Automate the process if you can
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Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project Introduction to research data management Page 23
Example back-up plan
Back-up strategy for a recent postdoc research project: Working data stored on personal laptop Weekly back-up to external hard drive, and to two memory sticks Key files also sent as email attachments, or saved to Dropbox Post-project, data copied to DVDs for long-term storage
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IT Services: Data Back-up on the HFS
HFS is Oxford’s central back-up and archiving service Free of charge to University staff and postgraduates Automated back-ups of machines connected to University network Copies kept in multiple places
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Think about your storage media… … and about file formats
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Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project Introduction to research data management Page 26
In small groups…
What data management challenges have you encountered?
What strategies have you personally found useful?
Be ready to feed back to the group
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DOCUMENTATION AND METADATA
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Documentation and metadata
Documentation is the contextual information required to make data intelligible and aid interpretation A users’ guide to your data Metadata is similar, but usually more structured Conforms to set standards Machine readable
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Make material understandable
What’s obvious now might not be in a few months, years, decades…
MAKE SURE YOU CAN UNDERSTAND IT LATER
A dapted from ‘Clay Tablets with Linear B Script’ by Dennis, via Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/archer10/5692813531 /
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Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project Introduction to research data management Page 30
Make material verifiable
• Detailing your methods helps people understand what you did • And helps make your work reproducible • Conclusions can be verified Image by woodleywonderworks , via Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/4588700881/
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Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project Introduction to research data management Page 31
Make material reusable
You may wish to re-use your own data later on Or you may wish to make it available for others to use Provide context to minimize the risk of misunderstanding or misuse Good metadata makes it easier to locate relevant data
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Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project Introduction to research data management Page 32
Documentation – what to include
•
Who
created it,
when
and
why
• • • • •
Description
of the item
Methodology
and
methods Units
of measurement
Definitions
of jargon, acronyms and code
References
to related data www.texample.net
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Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project Introduction to research data management Page 33
Metadata – data about data
A formal, structured description of a dataset Used by archives to create catalogue records
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Missing metadata – or the riddle of the sixth toe
This painting shows Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire as Diana … or Cynthia She has six toes – but no one knows why Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Georgiana_Cavendish,_Duchess_of_Devonshire_as_Diana.jpg
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WHAT HAPPENS AT THE END OF THE PROJECT?
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Data archiving
Data generated during a research project is valuable Don’t leave it languishing on your hard drive Consider depositing it in an archive or repository A number of national disciplinary archives exist DataBib provides a catalogue: http://databib.org/ Oxford will soon have its own data archive If possible, make it available for others to re-use
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Why share data? Reputation
Get credit for high quality research Recognition for contribution to research community Open data leads to increased citations Of the data itself Of associated papers
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Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project Introduction to research data management Page 38
Why share data? Reuse
Reduces duplication of effort Allows public research funding to be used more effectively Contexts not currently envisaged Extend research beyond your discipline
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Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project Introduction to research data management Page 39
Why share data? Be a trailblazer!
A paradigm shift in how research outputs are viewed is occurring Data outputs are of increasing importance – and are likely to become even more so Major journals are increasingly looking to publish datasets alongside articles Be at the forefront of an important shift in the academic world
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Video by NYU Health Sciences Libraries: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2zK3sAtr-4
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Data sharing – concerns
Ethical concerns Confidential or sensitive data Legal concerns Third party data Professional concerns Intended publication Commercial issues (e.g. patent protection)
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Data sharing – concerns
• Redact or embargo if there is good reason • Planning ahead can reduce difficulties
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Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project Introduction to research data management Page 43
Data licensing
A licence clarifies the conditions for accessing and making use of a dataset User knows what’s allowed without asking further permission Doesn’t exclude possibility of specific requests to go beyond the terms of the licence For databases, structure and content may be covered by separate rights
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Data licences - examples
Creative Common licences Widely used and recognized Six different flavours, plus CC0 public domain dedication http://creativecommons.org/ Open Data Commons Specifically designed for datasets Recognizes the structure/content distinction http://opendatacommons.org/
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Data licensing - guidance
‘How to License Research Data’ A guide from the Digital Curation Centre http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/how-guides/license-research-data
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DATA MANAGEMENT PLANNING
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Data management plans
A document which may be created in the early stages of a project While planning, applying for funding, or setting up An initial plan may be expanded later Details plans and expectations for data Nature of data and its creation or acquisition Storage and security Preservation and sharing
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Exercise
Using the resources available, have a go at drafting a data management plan for your own research If there are questions you can’t answer at this stage, make a note of What you need to find out Decisions you need to make
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Digital Curation Centre
A national service providing advice and resources Create a data management plan using the DMP
online
tool http://www.dcc.ac.uk/
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https://dmponline.dcc.ac.uk/ Introduction to research data management Page 50
‘In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless but planning is indispensable .’ Dwight D. Eisenhower
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UNIVERSITY SERVICES
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DataBank and DataFinder
Two new University of Oxford services Scheduled to launch later in 2013
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DataBank
University of Oxford’s institutional data archive Long term preservation for datasets without another natural home In some cases, may a suitable home for DPhil data Datasets will be assigned DOIs Will work alongside ORA, the University archive for research publications Possible to link publications in ORA to datasets in DataBank Depositors can opt to make datasets publicly available, embargoed for a fixed period, or hidden
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DataFinder
A catalogue of datasets Information on the nature, location, and availability of the data Will harvest metadata from DataBank and other compatible data stores So anything in DataBank will have a record in DataFinder Researchers depositing data elsewhere strongly encouraged to add a record to DataFinder Should provide a substantial resource for researchers seeking datasets for reuse
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FURTHER INFORMATION AND RESOURCES
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Research data management website
Oxford’s central advisory website Covers data management planning, back-up and security, data sharing and archiving, funder requirements, etc.
University policy is available http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/rdm/
Research Services
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IT Services: Support for Research
Can assist with technical aspects of research projects at all stages of the project lifecycle But the earlier you seek advice, the better Includes the DaMaRO (Data Management Rollout at Oxford) Project For more information, email [email protected]
Research Services
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Research Data MANTRA
Free online interactive training modules Aimed at postgraduates and early career researchers
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http://datalib.edina.ac.uk/mantra/ Introduction to research data management Page 59
Any questions?
Ask now, or email us on [email protected]
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Rights and re-use
This slideshow is part of a series of research data management training resources prepared by the DaMaRO Project at the University of Oxford With the exception of clip art used with permission from Microsoft , the slideshow is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike License Parts of this slideshow draw on teaching materials produced by the PrePARe Project , DATUM for Health , and DataTrain Archaeology Within the terms of this licence, we actively encourage sharing, adaptation, and re-use of this material
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