Storing Your Research Data

Storing Your Data

Kristin Briney, PhDData Services Librarian

Gail Steinhart, http://www.flickr.com/photos/gailst/7824341752/ (CC BY-NC-SA)

Gail Steinhart, http://www.flickr.com/photos/gailst/7824341752/ (CC BY-NC-SA)

justgrimes, https://www.flickr.com/photos/notbrucelee/8016192302 (CC BY-SA)

grover_net, http://www.flickr.com/photos/9246159@N06/599820538/ (CC BY-ND)

STORAGE AND BACKUPS

Storage

• Why?– Need good storage practices to prevent loss– Keep data secure

Storage

• How?– Library motto: Lots of Copies Keeps Stuff Safe!– Rule of 3: 2 onsite, 1 offsite

Storage

• How?– Computer– External hard drive– Shared drives/servers– Magnetic tape backup– CDs/DVDs– Cloud storage*– USB flash drive

Erica Wheelan, https://www.flickr.com/photos/reinventedwheel/5985479866 (CC BY)

*Cloud Storage

• Read the Terms of Service!• Eg. Google Drive

– “When you upload or otherwise submit content to our Services, you give Google (and those we work with) a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works (such as those resulting from translations, adaptations or other changes we make so that your content works better with our Services), communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such content. The rights you grant in this license are for the limited purpose of operating, promoting, and improving our Services, and to develop new ones”

Backups

http://toystory.disney.com/

Backups

• How?– Any backup is better than none– Automatic backup is better than manual– Your work is only as safe as your backup plan

Backups

• How?– Check your backups• Backups only as good as ability to recover data• Test your backups periodically

– Preferably a fixed schedule– 1 or 2 times a year may be enough– Bigger/more complex backups should be checked more often

• Test your backup whenever you change things

Example

• I keep my data– On my computer– Backed up manually on shared drive• I set a weekly reminder to do this

– Backed up automatically via SpiderOak cloud storage

WHAT TO DO FROM HERE

Chris Hoving, https://www.flickr.com/photos/pcrucifer/2433274595 (CC BY-ND)

Data Services

• uwm.edu/libraries/dataservices

• Data Services Librarian– Kristin Briney

Thank You!

• This presentation available under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license