Managing your research data

Laura JeffreyResearcher Training Librarian

Outline

• Why manage data?• What is data management?• Data life cycle• Putting together a plan• Actively managing data– Metadata– Backups– Versions– Storing and sharing

What are data?

• Research data, unlike other types of information, is collected, observed, or created, for purposes of analysis to produce original research results.

• Qualitative or quantitative• Analogue or digital – both have challenges

Reasons to manage your data

• Responsible conduct of research• Funding body grant requirements• Research integrity and replication• Increase research efficiency• Save time and resources• Enhance data security• Prevent duplication of effort by enabling

others to use your data

Climategate

• 1,000 private emails and many other documents were stolen or leaked from the University of East Anglia's (UEA) Climatic Research Unit (CRU) in November 2009

• While HoC Select Committee cleared them of scientific failings, it did find room for improvement in research practices.

Activity

• What is data management?• In groups establish – A definition– Elements of data management– Questions/issues

“”

“ actively managing data for as long as it continues to be of scholarly, scientific, research and/or administrative interest […] managing it from its point of creation until it is determined not to be useful, and ensuring its long-term accessibility and preservation, authenticity and integrity.

Adapted from Digital Curation Centre definition for digital curation

It is not just archiving or preservation

A definition

What is data management?

• Planning• Creation• Processing– Describing, archiving and organisation

• Analysing• Preservation and security• Access and reuse– Ethics and privacy

• Disposal

creating

processing

analysing

preserving

giving access

reusing

Data life cycle

www.data-archive.ac.uk/create-manage/life-cycle

www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/curation-lifecycle-model

Data Planning

• Variety of approaches based around the life cycle

• Elements that are compulsory (as expected by funders) or which represent best practice

• Gives you the chance to think about management when applying for funding and, crucially, before you start to collect data

Specific Plans

• ICPSR Framework www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/content/ICPSR/dmp/framework.html

• Digital Curation Centre Data Management Plan www.dcc.ac.uk/dmponline

• Individual institutions e.g. Oxford www.admin.ox.ac.uk/rdm/dmp/plans/ and MIT http://libraries.mit.edu/guides/subjects/data-management/

Creating data

• Types of data e.g. text, numerical, models, multimedia, software

• Format e.g. Word or PDF, XML or Excel? Consider longevity and choose open formats

• How much data will you produce?• How will you document it?• Will the data change or be updated? Tracking?• Will it be reproducible?• What if it was lost?

Metadata

• Accurately describing your data so– you can find and understand it again efficiently– others can reuse your data easily

• Descriptive, administrative, structural• Basic – files and folders in Windows• Complex – XML, Dublin Core• Where will this be stored? With the data? Will

you need additional storage/software?

Basic metadata

• For own use • Project level descriptor then breakdown into useful

groupings• Unique element including date • PhD\Primary Research\Interviews\phase 1\

Government officials\Highlevel\MrSmith15062011.mp3• PhD\Primary Research\Interviews\phase 1\

Government officials\Highlevel\MrSmith15062011.docx

Flickr

More complex metadata

• Dublin core http://dublincore.org/ 1. Dates2. Funders3. Language4. Location5. Rights6. List of file names and relationships7. Formats8. Methodology

More complex metadata

9. Workflows10. Sources11. Versions12. Checksums13. Explanation of codes used in file names14. List of codes used in files

• Store metadata in a text file (such as a readme file or codebook) in the same directory as the data

Version control

• Will you retain originals or overwrite as you go?

• Will anyone else be editing the information and do you need to track these changes?

• Need to consider this before deciding on naming conventions

Storage

• Short term• Think about volume of data• Which media you will use do you need

something more than DVD/portable hard drive

• Security• Cost

Backups

• Make 3 copies which are geographical distributed (original + external/local + external/remote)

• ITS will do much of this for you but what if remote from Durham?

• How frequently?• Analogue data– Consider digitising if unique

Preservation

• Long-term, more strategic• Selection criteria• Time-scale – how long will it be saved for?• Disposal• Additional information necessary for deposit?• Does it need to be migrated?• Where will it be deposited? Will they

manage it for you?

Where to preserve your data

• UK Data Archive• Archaeology Data Service, History DS,

Economic and Social DS, Oxford Text Archive• No one repository at Durham University for

data, only outputs; speak to Sebastian Palucha at Main Library

Sharing

• Will you share it? Are you obliged to share it?• Who will be interested in it? How might they use

it?• Are there reasons not to fully disclose data?• How will it be accessed?• When will you make it available? Embargo?• Will you publish findings that rely on the data?• Consider FOI http://foiresearchdata.jiscpress.org/

Dissemination

• Deposit in a specialist data centre, dedicated to archiving digital data

• Submitting to a journal (may be required)• Deposit in a self-archiving system or an

institutional repository• Via a project or institutional website• Informally on a peer-to-peer basis

e.g. email

Activity

• Thinking about the data life cycle, look at the ICPSR guidance

• Try and fill in some of the sections of the DCC Data Management Plan

• Have you identified any areas on which you will need to seek further advice?

Sources of guidance

• Durham University• UK Data Archive (Social Sciences and

Humanities)– Create and Manage Data

• Digital Curation Centre• Research Information Network • Funders’ web sites

Conclusions

• Good data management = good research practice

• Needs management throughout its life cycle • Planning helpful and possibly a requirement of

funders• Depositing data for preservation and access• Slides available at www.dur.ac.uk

/library/research/