Introduction to r esearch data management

1. Introduction to research data management Slides provided by DaMaRO Project, University of Oxford

2. What Is Research Data Management? Introduction to research data management

3. What is data? “A reinterpretable representation of information in a formalized manner suitable for communication, interpretation, or processing.” Digital Curation Centre Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project Introduction to research data management

4. What is data? Any information you use in your research Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project Introduction to research data management

5. 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? Introduction to research data management

6. 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 Introduction to research data management

7. 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 Introduction to research data management

8. University of Oxford policy Introduced July 2012 Introduction to research data management

9. 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 ‘to support or validate a research project’s observations, findings or outputs’ • Research data should be: • Accurate, complete, identifiable, retrievable, and securely stored • Able to be made available to others Introduction to research data management

10. 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 ongoingcustodianship 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 Introduction to research data management

11. 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 Introduction to research data management

12. Day-to-Day Data Management Introduction to research data management

13. Can you find what you need, when you need it? ‘What a mess’ by .pst, via Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/psteichen/3915657914/. Introduction to research data management

14. 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? Introduction to research data management

15. 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 Introduction to research data management

16. File naming strategies – examples • Order by date: 2013-04-12_interview-recording_THD.mp3 2013-04-12_interview-transcript_THD.docx 2012-12-15_interview-recording_MBD.mp3 2012-12-15_interview-transcript_MBD.docx • Order by subject: MBD_interview-recording_2012-12-15.mp3 MBD_interview-transcript_2012-12-15.docx THD_interview-recording_2013-04-12.mp3 THD_interview-transcript_2013-04-12.docx • Order by type: Interview-recording_MBD_2012-12-15.mp3 Interview-recording_THD_2013-04-12.mp3 Interview-transcript_MBD_2012-12-15.docx Interview-transcript_THD_2013-04-12.docx • Forced order with numbering: 01_THD_interview-recording_2013-04-12.mp3 02_THD_interview-transcript_2013-04-12.docx 03_MBD_interview-recording_2012-12-15.mp3 04_MBD_interview-transcript_2012-12-15.docx In retrospect I am not very happy with the method I used for naming files. The biggest problem was with the newspaper articles I downloaded… I named the files only based on the topic of the article, without mentioning the name of the periodical and the year of publication, which would have been very useful later, when I began writing the thesis. – Doctoral student researching communication history Introduction to research data management

17. Research Skills Toolkit • Website and hands-on workshops • A guide to software, University services, and other tools and resources for research • Requires SSO login http://www.skillstoolkit.ox.ac.uk/ Introduction to research data management

18. IT Learning Programme • Over 200 different IT courses • Covering software, skills, and new technologies • ITLP Portfolio offers course materials and other resources http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/itlp/ http://portfolio.it.ox.ac.uk/ Introduction to research data management

19. 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 ords@it.ox.ac.uk Introduction to research data management

20. Keeping your data safe Introduction to research data management

21. DON’T LET THIS BE YOU! http://blogs.ch.cam.ac.uk/pmr/2011/08/01/why-you-need-a-data-management-plan/ Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project Introduction to research data management

22. 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/ Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project Introduction to research data management

23. …and keep them in different places Automate the process if you can Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project Introduction to research data management Make multiple copies…

24. 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 Introduction to research data management

25. 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 Introduction to research data management

26. Think about your storage media… … and about file formats Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project Introduction to research data management

27. 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 Introduction to research data management

28. Documentation and metadata Introduction to research data management

29. 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 Introduction to research data management

30. Make material understandable MAKE SURE YOU CAN UNDERSTAND IT LATER What’s obvious now might not be in a few months, years, decades… Adapted from ‘Clay Tablets with Linear B Script’ by Dennis, via Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/archer10/5692813531/ Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project Introduction to research data management

31. 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/ Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project Introduction to research data management

32. 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 Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project Introduction to research data management

33. 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 ? M. Farinelli et al. (2012) PLoSONE 7(3): e34047 www.texample.net Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project Introduction to research data management

34. Metadata – data about data • A formal, structured description of a dataset • Used by archives to create catalogue records Introduction to research data management

35. 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 Introduction to research data management

36. What Happens at the end of the Project? Introduction to research data management

37. 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 Introduction to research data management

38. 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 Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project Introduction to research data management

39. 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 Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project Introduction to research data management

40. 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 increasinglylooking to publish datasets alongside articles • Be at the forefront of an important shift in the academic world Introduction to research data management

41. Video by NYU Health Sciences Libraries: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2zK3sAtr-4 Introduction to research data management

42. Data sharing – concerns • Ethical concerns • Confidential or sensitive data • Legal concerns • Third party data • Professional concerns • Intended publication • Commercial issues (e.g. patent protection) Introduction to research data management

43. Data sharing – concerns • Redact or embargo if there is good reason • Planning ahead can reduce difficulties EMBARGOED Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project Introduction to research data management

44. 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 Introduction to research data management

45. 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/ Introduction to research data management

46. 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 Introduction to research data management

47. Data Management Planning Introduction to research data management

48. 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 Introduction to research data management

49. 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 Introduction to research data management

50. 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/ https://dmponline.dcc.ac.uk/ Introduction to research data management