PowerPoint Presentation

ResearchServices

Introduction to researchdata management

Slides provided by DaMaRO Project,University of Oxford

ResearchServices

WHAT IS RESEARCH DATAMANAGEMENT?

Introduction to researchdata management

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What is data?

“A reinterpretable representation of information in a formalizedmanner suitable for communication, interpretation, or processing.”

Digital Curation Centre

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Slide adapted fromthe PrePARe Project

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What is data?

Any information you use in yourresearch

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Slide adapted fromthe PrePARe Project

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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 youorganize, structure, store, and care for the informationused or generated during a research project

It includes:

How you deal with information on a day-to-daybasis over the lifetime of a project

What happens to data in the longer term – what youdo 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 mightotherwise 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

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Introduced July 2012Introduced July 2012

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University of Oxford policy

The full policy can be viewed on the University ofOxford Research Data Management website

Research data is the information needed ‘to support orvalidate a research project’s observations, findings oroutputs’

Research data should be:

Accurate, complete, identifiable, retrievable, andsecurely 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 theyare of continuing value to the researcher and the widerresearch 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 conditionof award for doctorates

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Funders’ requirements

Funding bodies are taking an increasinginterest in what happens to research data

You may be required to make your datapublicly available at the end of a project

Check the small print in your grant conditions

Many funders require a data management planas part of grant applications

Oxford’s RDM website provides a summary of requirements

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DAY-TO-DAY DATAMANAGEMENT

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‘What a mess’ by .pst, via Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/psteichen/3915657914 /.

Can you find what youneed, when you need it?Can you find what youneed, when you need it?

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Questions to ask

Are you using the most appropriate software orother tools to store and analyse your data?

Do you have a system in place for dealing withnew data when you acquire it?

If so, is it realistic?

Are you recording all the necessary contextualinformation?

Are you using helpful, consistent file namingconventions? 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 filewithout opening it

Think about the ordering of elements within afilename

YYYY-MM-DD dates allow chronological sorting

You can force an order by adding a number atthe beginning of the name

Consider including version information

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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

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In retrospect I am not very happy with the method Iused for naming files. The biggest problem was withthe newspaper articles I downloaded… I named thefiles only based on the topic of the article, withoutmentioning the name of the periodical and the yearof publication, which would have been very usefullater, when I began writing the thesis.

– Doctoral student researching communication history

ResearchServices

Research Skills Toolkit

Website and hands-on workshops

A guide to software,University services,and other tools andresources forresearch

Requires SSO login

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http://www.skillstoolkit.ox.ac.uk/

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IT Learning Programme

Over 200 different ITcourses

Covering software, skills,and new technologies

ITLP Portfolio offerscourse materials andother resources

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http://portfolio.it.ox.ac.uk/

http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/itlp/

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ORDS – Online Research DatabaseService

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 forfeedback

Contact ords@it.ox.ac.uk

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KEEPING YOUR DATA SAFE

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DON’T LET THIS BEYOU!DON’T LET THIS BEYOU!

http://blogs.ch.cam.ac.uk/pmr/2011/08/01/why-you-need-a-data-management-plan/

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Slide adapted fromthe PrePARe Project

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‘Fire’ by andrewmalone, via Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewmalone/2032844649/

What would happen to yourdata if there was a fire inyour office, department orhome?What would happen to yourdata if there was a fire inyour office, department orhome?

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Slide adapted fromthe PrePARe Project

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Make multiple copies…

…and keep them in different places

Automate theprocess if you can

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Slide adapted fromthe PrePARe Project

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Example back-up plan

Back-up strategy for a recent postdoc researchproject:

Working data stored on personal laptop

Weekly back-up to external hard drive, and to twomemory sticks

Key files also sent as email attachments, orsaved to Dropbox

Post-project, data copied to DVDs for long-termstorage

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IT Services: Data Back-up on the HFS

HFS is Oxford’s central back-up and archivingservice

Free of charge to University staff andpostgraduates

Automated back-ups of machines connected toUniversity network

Copies kept in multiple places

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Think about your storage media…

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… and about file formats

Slide adapted fromthe PrePARe Project

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In small groups…

What data management challenges have youencountered?

What strategies have you personally founduseful?

Be ready to feed back to the group

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DOCUMENTATION ANDMETADATA

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Documentation and metadata

Documentation is the contextual informationrequired to make data intelligible and aidinterpretation

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 obviousnow might notbe in a fewmonths, years,decades…

Adapted from ‘Clay Tablets with Linear B Script’ by Dennis, via Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/archer10/5692813531 /

MAKE SUREYOU CANUNDERSTANDIT LATER

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Slide adapted fromthe PrePARe Project

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Make material verifiable

•Detailing yourmethods helpspeople understandwhat you did

•And helps make yourwork reproducible

•Conclusions can beverified

http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4065/4588700881_4a065edc73_z.jpg

Image by woodleywonderworks , via Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/4588700881/

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Slide adapted fromthe PrePARe Project

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You may wish to re-use yourown data later on

Or you may wish to make itavailable for others to use

Provide context to minimizethe risk of misunderstandingor misuse

Good metadata makes iteasier to locate relevant data

Make material reusable

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Slide adapted fromthe PrePARe Project

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•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

Documentation – what to include

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M. Farinelli et al.(2012) PLoS ONE7(3): e34047

www.texample.net

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Slide adapted fromthe PrePARe Project

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Metadata – data about data

A formal,structureddescriptionof a dataset

Used byarchivesto createcataloguerecords

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Introduction to researchdata management

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Missing metadata – or the riddle of thesixth toe

This painting showsGeorgiana, Duchess ofDevonshire as Diana

… or Cynthia

She has six toes – butno one knows why

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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 ENDOF THE PROJECT?

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Data archiving

Data generated during a research project isvaluable

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 qualityresearch

Recognition for contributionto research community

Open data leads to increasedcitations

Of the data itself

Of associated papers

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Slide adapted fromthe PrePARe Project

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Why share data? Reuse

Reduces duplication ofeffort

Allows public researchfunding to be used moreeffectively

Contexts not currentlyenvisaged

Extend research beyondyour discipline

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Slide adapted fromthe PrePARe Project

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Why share data? Be a trailblazer!

A paradigm shift in how research outputs areviewed is occurring

Data outputs are of increasing importance –and are likely to become even more so

Major journals are increasinglylooking to publish datasetsalongside articles

Be at the forefront of animportant shift in theacademic 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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EMBARGOED

•Redact or embargo if there is good reason

•Planning ahead can reduce difficulties

Data sharing – concerns

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Slide adapted fromthe PrePARe Project

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Data licensing

A licence clarifies the conditions for accessingand making use of a dataset

User knows what’s allowed without asking furtherpermission

Doesn’t exclude possibility of specific requests togo beyond the terms of the licence

For databases, structure and content may becovered 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

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http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/how-guides/license-research-data

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DATA MANAGEMENTPLANNING

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Data management plans

A document which may be created in the earlystages 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 atdrafting a data management plan for your ownresearch

If there are questions you can’t answer at thisstage, make a note of

What you need to find out

Decisions you need to make

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Digital Curation Centre

A national serviceproviding advice andresources

Create a datamanagement planusing the DMP onlinetool

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DMP Online - The DCC Data Management Planning Tool

https://dmponline.dcc.ac.uk/

http://www.dcc.ac.uk/

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‘In preparing forbattle, I have alwaysfound that plans areuseless but planningis indispensable.’

Dwight D. Eisenhower

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File:Dwight D. Eisenhower, official Presidential portrait.jpg

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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 anothernatural home

In some cases, may a suitable home for DPhil data

Datasets will be assigned DOIs

Will work alongside ORA, the University archive forresearch 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 othercompatible data stores

So anything in DataBank will have a record in DataFinder

Researchers depositing data elsewhere stronglyencouraged to add a record to DataFinder

Should provide a substantial resource for researchersseeking datasets for reuse

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FURTHER INFORMATION ANDRESOURCES

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Research data management website

Oxford’s centraladvisory website

Covers datamanagementplanning, back-up andsecurity, data sharingand archiving, funderrequirements, etc.

University policy isavailable

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http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/rdm/

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IT Services: Support for Research

Can assist with technical aspects of researchprojects at all stages of the project lifecycle

But the earlier you seek advice, the better

Includes the DaMaRO (Data ManagementRollout at Oxford) Project

For more information, emailresearchsupport@it.ox.ac.uk

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Research Data MANTRA

Free onlineinteractivetraining modules

Aimed atpostgraduatesand early careerresearchers

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http://datalib.edina.ac.uk/mantra/

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Any questions?

Ask now, or email us ondamaro@oucs.ox.ac.uk

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Rights and re-use

This slideshow is part of a series of research data managementtraining resources prepared by the DaMaRO Project at theUniversity of Oxford

With the exception of clip art used with permission fromMicrosoft, the slideshow is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike License

Parts of this slideshow draw on teaching materials produced bythe 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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