because good research needs good data
Research Data Management for Researchers
University of Aberdeen 7th October 2014
Jonathan RansDigital Curation Centre
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 UK: Scotland License.
What will we cover?
1. Definitions that we work to2. What does the EPSRC expect of you and your
institution?3. How can these requirements be satisfied and
how are other institutions addressing them?
Who we are
The (Est. 2004) is:» A national-level centre of expertise in digital
preservation with a particular focus on Research Data Management (RDM)
» Based across three sites – Edinburgh, Glasgow and Bath
» Working closely with a number of UK institutions to boost RDM capability across the HE sector
» Also involved in a variety of national and international collaborations
Definition of research data
Data are representations of observations, objects, or other entities used as evidence of phenomena for the
purposes of research or scholarship
C.L. Borgman (2015). Big Data, Little Data, No Data: Scholarship in the Networked World. MIT Press
So, what might this include?
Anything & everything produced in the course of
research
http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/dac/array_growth.html
http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/graphics/dacdata/globpop.gif
http://www.sbirc.ed.ac.uk/documents/lbc_protocol.pdf
Data management expectations
“Data arising from MRC-funded research must be properly curated
throughout its life-cycle…”
http://www.mrc.ac.uk/research/research-policy-ethics/data-sharing/policy/
What is research data management?
Research data management is an explicit process covering the creation and stewardship of research materials to enable their use for as
long as they retain value.- A. Whyte and J. Rans DCC
A simplified data lifecycle
Data Management PlanningCreationUseAppraisalDeposit and PublicationDiscovery and Reuse
Plan
Create
Use
Appraise
Deposit and Publish
Discover and Reuse
RCUK Principles
1. Data as freely and openly available as possible2. Data Management Plans required, preservation of
long-term data is required3. Appropriate metadata should be made openly
available4. Acknowledgement of constraints on data release5. Dataset users should acknowledge sources6. Limited period of privileged access7. It is appropriate to use public funds to support
preservation and management of data
The role of the institution
“The modern data-rich environment for research and learning and the open culture that is needed to exploit it presents new challenges for Universities…
creating a setting that will encourage researchers to adapt their ways of working and…
implementing strategies to manage the knowledge that they create.”Science as an open enterprise - The Royal Society 2012 p.71
Components of an RDM service
http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/how-guides/how-develop-rdm-services
Institutions investing in managed storage for active data are making substantial amounts available free
Institutional collaborative platforms5 TB
1 TB 0.5 TB
What is best practice for handling files?» Adopt file naming conventions:» http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/guide/choosing-a-file-name/
» Design a good project folder structure» http://
research-data-toolkit.herts.ac.uk/document/research-project-file-plan
How can I share sensitive data?» http://www.data-archive.ac.uk/create-manage/consent-ethics/
anonymisation
» http://www.data-archive.ac.uk/create-manage/consent-ethics/consent
What support is there for data cleaning?
Training materials» http://datalib.edina.ac.uk/mantra/ » http://www.jorum.ac.uk/
What help is there with data protection issues?» Institutional FOI and IP advice» http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/how-guides/license-research-data
UCL sensitive data service
Information governance adviceData safe havenTraining and Awareness service
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/isd/itforslms/services/handling-sens-data
http://libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk/blog/2013/12/06/the-four-quadrants-of-research-data-curation-systems/
“Sufficient metadata must be provided to enable the dataset to be used by others. Agreed best practice standards for metadata provision should be adopted where these are in place.”
http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/About-us/Policy/Spotlight-issues/Data-sharing/Guidance-for-researchers/index.htm
What metadata should be captured?» Minimum
» http://data.bris.ac.uk/2012/05/18/minimal-set-of-mandatory-metadata/
» Discovery» Readme file content http://
data.research.cornell.edu/content/readme
» Use» Data Documentation Initiative
http://www.ddialliance.org/ » DCC Metadata Catalogue http://
www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/metadata-standards
Do I need to archive non-digital data?How can I make data citable and get credit for sharing it?» Digital objects must have an associated DOI» http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/how-guides/cite-datasets
Orcid profiles can integrate with institutional infrastructure
» http://orcid.org/organizations/institutions
What if I want to host my own data?» Making the case for preserving a live database
» http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/developing-rdm-services/dmps-arts-and-humanities
» Using an institutional repository as a back-end» http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/developing-rdm-services/rep
ository-radar
How do I cost my RDM activities?» 4C project
» http://www.4cproject.eu/
» UKDA costing tool» http://www.data-archive.ac.uk/media/247429/costingtool.pdf
Thank-you!
Image Credits4 Quadrants of research data: Stuart Lewis, Edinburgh University, http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.873617 Metadata devil: http://www.truthdig.com/cartoon/item/nsa_its_just_metadata_20130812
Jonathan [email protected]
@JNRans