Research Services Introduction to research data management Slides provided by DaMaRO Project, University of Oxford

Research Services WHAT IS RESEARCH DATA MANAGEMENT? Introduction to research data management Page 2

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

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

Research Services 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 Page 5

Research Services 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 Page 6

Research Services 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 Page 7

Research Services University of Oxford policy Introduction to research data management Page 8 Introduced July 2012

Research Services University of Oxford policy  The full policy can be viewed on the University of Oxford Research Data Management websiteResearch 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 Page 9

Research Services 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 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 condition of award for doctorates Introduction to research data management Page 10

Research Services 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 requirementssummary of requirements Introduction to research data management Page 11

Research Services DAY-TO-DAY DATA MANAGEMENT Introduction to research data management Page 12

Research Services Introduction to research data management Page 13 ‘What a mess’ by.pst, via Flickr: /. / Can you find what you need, when you need it?

Research Services 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 Page 14

Research Services 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 Page 15

Research Services File naming strategies – examples  Order by date: _interview-recording_THD.mp _interview-transcript_THD.docx _interview-recording_MBD.mp _interview-transcript_MBD.docx  Order by subject: MBD_interview-recording_ mp3 MBD_interview-transcript_ docx THD_interview-recording_ mp3 THD_interview-transcript_ docx  Order by type: Interview-recording_MBD_ mp3 Interview-recording_THD_ mp3 Interview-transcript_MBD_ docx Interview-transcript_THD_ docx  Forced order with numbering: 01_THD_interview-recording_ mp3 02_THD_interview-transcript_ docx 03_MBD_interview-recording_ mp3 04_MBD_interview-transcript_ docx Introduction to research data management Page 16 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

Research Services Research Skills Toolkit  Website and hands- on workshops  A guide to software, University services, and other tools and resources for research  Requires SSO login Introduction to research data management Page 17

Research Services IT Learning Programme  Over 200 different IT courses  Covering software, skills, and new technologies  ITLP Portfolio offers course materials and other resources Introduction to research data management Page

Research Services 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 Introduction to research data management Page 19

Research Services KEEPING YOUR DATA SAFE Introduction to research data management Page 20

Research Services DON’T LET THIS BE YOU! Introduction to research data management Page 21 Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project

Research Services ‘Fire’ by andrewmalone, via Flickr: What would happen to your data if there was a fire in your office, department or home? Introduction to research data management Page 22 Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project

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

Research Services 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 attachments, or saved to Dropbox  Post-project, data copied to DVDs for long-term storage Introduction to research data management Page 24

Research Services 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 Page 25

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

Research Services 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 Page 27

Research Services DOCUMENTATION AND METADATA Introduction to research data management Page 28

Research Services 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 Page 29

Research Services Make material understandable 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: / / MAKE SURE YOU CAN UNDERSTAND IT LATER Introduction to research data management Page 30 Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project

Research Services 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: Introduction to research data management Page 31 Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project

Research Services  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 Make material reusable Introduction to research data management Page 32 Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project

Research Services 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 M. Farinelli et al. (2012) PLoS ONE 7(3): e Introduction to research data management Page 33 Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project

Research Services Metadata – data about data  A formal, structured description of a dataset  Used by archives to create catalogue records Page 34 Introduction to research data management

Research Services 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 Introduction to research data management Page 35 Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons:

Research Services WHAT HAPPENS AT THE END OF THE PROJECT? Introduction to research data management Page 36

Research Services 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:  Oxford will soon have its own data archive  If possible, make it available for others to re-use Introduction to research data management Page 37

Research Services 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 Introduction to research data management Page 38 Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project

Research Services 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 Introduction to research data management Page 39 Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project

Research Services 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 increasingly looking to publish datasets alongside articles  Be at the forefront of an important shift in the academic world Introduction to research data management Page 40

Research Services Introduction to research data management Page 41 Video by NYU Health Sciences Libraries:

Research Services 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 Page 42

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

Research Services 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 Page 44

Research Services Data licences - examples  Creative Common licences  Widely used and recognized  Six different flavours, plus CC0 public domain dedication   Open Data Commons  Specifically designed for datasets  Recognizes the structure/content distinction  Introduction to research data management Page 45

Research Services Data licensing - guidance  ‘How to License Research Data’  A guide from the Digital Curation Centre Introduction to research data management Page 46

Research Services DATA MANAGEMENT PLANNING Introduction to research data management Page 47

Research Services 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 Page 48

Research Services 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 Page 49

Research Services Digital Curation Centre  A national service providing advice and resources  Create a data management plan using the DMP online tool Introduction to research data management Page

Research Services ‘In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless but planning is indispensable.’ Dwight D. Eisenhower Introduction to research data management Page 51

Research Services UNIVERSITY SERVICES Introduction to research data management Page 52

Research Services DataBank and DataFinder  Two new University of Oxford services  Scheduled to launch later in 2013 Introduction to research data management Page 53

Research Services DataBank  University of Oxford’s institutional data archive  Long term preservation for datasets without another natural home  In some cases, may a suitable home for DPhil data  Datasets will be assigned DOIs  Will work alongside ORA, the University archive for research 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 Introduction to research data management Page 54

Research Services DataFinder  A catalogue of datasets  Information on the nature, location, and availability of the data  Will harvest metadata from DataBank and other compatible data stores  So anything in DataBank will have a record in DataFinder  Researchers depositing data elsewhere strongly encouraged to add a record to DataFinder  Should provide a substantial resource for researchers seeking datasets for reuse Introduction to research data management Page 55

Research Services FURTHER INFORMATION AND RESOURCES Introduction to research data management Page 56

Research Services Research data management website  Oxford’s central advisory website  Covers data management planning, back-up and security, data sharing and archiving, funder requirements, etc.  University policy is available Introduction to research data management Page 57

Research Services IT Services: Support for Research  Can assist with technical aspects of research projects at all stages of the project lifecycle  But the earlier you seek advice, the better  Includes the DaMaRO (Data Management Rollout at Oxford) Project  For more information, Introduction to research data management Page 58

Research Services Research Data MANTRA  Free online interactive training modules  Aimed at postgraduates and early career researchers Introduction to research data management Page 59

Research Services Any questions? Ask now, or us on Introduction to research data management Page 60

Research Services Rights and re-use  This slideshow is part of a series of research data management training resources prepared by the DaMaRO Project at the University of OxfordDaMaRO Project  With the exception of clip art used with permission from Microsoft, the slideshow is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike License MicrosoftCreative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike License  Parts of this slideshow draw on teaching materials produced by the PrePARe Project, DATUM for Health, and DataTrain ArchaeologyPrePARe ProjectDATUM for HealthDataTrain Archaeology  Within the terms of this licence, we actively encourage sharing, adaptation, and re-use of this material Introduction to research data management Page 61