1. STORING YOUR DATA ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………………….. ……………………………………………………………......…... RESEARCH DATA MANAGEMENT TEAM UK DATA ARCHIVE UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX ……………………………………………….……………………. LOOKING AFTER YOUR RESEARCH DATA: AN ESRC ADVANCED TRAINING NETWORK COURSE UK DATA ARCHIVE, COLCHESTER, 26-27 APRIL 2012

2. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………………….. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………..… UK DATA ARCHIVE OVERVIEW LOOKING AFTER RESEARCH DATA FOR THE LONGER- TERM AND PROTECTING THEM FROM UNWANTED LOSS REQUIRES HAVING GOOD STRATEGIES IN PLACE FOR SECURELY STORING, BACKING-UP, TRANSMITTING, AND DISPOSING OF DATA. COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH BRINGS CHALLENGES FOR THE SHARED STORAGE OF, AND ACCESS TO, DATA. AREAS OF COVERAGE Making back-ups Data storage Data security Data transmission and encryption File sharing and collaborative environments Data disposal

3. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………………….. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………..… UK DATA ARCHIVE FIELDWORK FROM HELL “I’m sorry but we had to blow up your laptop.” “What….all my client case notes and testimony, writing, pictures, music and applications. Years of work. NO!!!! What?? Are you insane?? What were you thinking? THAT’S ALL MY WORK!?” Source: Lilysussman’s BlogLilysussman’s Blog

4. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………………….. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………..… UK DATA ARCHIVE DATA INFERNO What if this was your university, your office? Source: University of Southampton, School of Electronics and Computer Science

5. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………………….. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………..… UK DATA ARCHIVE BACKING-UP DATA why do back-ups? Risk of loss and change - would your data survive a disaster? protect against: software failure, hardware failure, malicious attack, natural disasters back-ups are additional copies that can be used to restore originals it’s not backed-up unless backed-up with a strategy

6. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………………….. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………..… UK DATA ARCHIVE BACK-UP STRATEGY consider: what’s backed-up? - all, some, just the bits you change? where? - original copy, external local and remote copies what media? - CD, DVD, external hard drive, tape, etc. how often? – assess frequency and automate the process for how long is it kept? verify and recover - never assume, regularly test a restore backing-up need not be expensive 1Tb external drives are around £50, with back-up software

7. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………………….. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………..… UK DATA ARCHIVE 7 DATA STORAGE all digital media are fallible at any moment – but there can be warning signs file formats and physical storage media ultimately become obsolete optical (CD, DVD) and magnetic media (hard drive, tapes) degrade never assume the format will be around for ever best practice: use data formats with long-term availability storage strategy - at least two different forms of storage and locations maintain original copy, external local copy and external remote copy copy data files to new media two to five years after first created check data integrity of stored data files regularly (checksum) know your personal/institutional back-up strategy know data retention policies that apply: funder, publisher, home institution what to protect? not only data, and not only digital

8. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………………….. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………..… UK DATA ARCHIVE 8 DATA SECURITY protect data from unauthorised access, use, change, disclosure and destruction personal data need more protection – always keep separate control access to computers passwords anti-virus and firewall protection, power surge protection networked vs non-networked PCs all devices: desktops, laptops, memory sticks, mobile devices all locations: work, home, travel restrict access to sensitive materials e.g. consent forms, patient records proper disposal of equipment (and data) even reformatting the hard drive is not sufficient control physical access to buildings, rooms, cabinets but beware of ‘requirements’ to destroy data

9. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………………….. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………..… UK DATA ARCHIVE 9 ENCRYPTION always encrypt personal or sensitive data encrypt anything you would not send on a postcard for moving files e.g. transcripts for storing files e.g. shared areas, mobile devices basic principles use an algorithm to transform information (A=1) need a ‘key’ to decrypt many free softwares that are easy to use Safehouse Truecrypt Axcrypt these products: encrypt hard drives, partitions, files and folders encrypt portable storage devices such as USB flash drives

10. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………………….. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………..… UK DATA ARCHIVE DATA DESTRUCTION When you delete data and documentation from a hard drive: it is probably not gone files need to be overwritten to ensure they are irretrievably deleted: BCWipe - uses ‘military-grade procedures to surgically remove all traces of any file’ Axcrypt if in doubt, physically destroy the drive using an approved secure destruction facility physically destroy portable media, as you would shred paper

11. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………………….. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………..… UK DATA ARCHIVE 11 FILE SHARING & COLLABORATIVE ENVIRONMENTS Sharing data between researchers and teams too often email attachments Yousendit, Dropbox – consider if appropriate as services can be hosted outside the EU open source repository software for data, e.g. Fedora and DSpace - early days Virtual Research Environments MS SharePoint Sakai file transfer protocol (ftp) physical media

12. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………………….. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………..… UK DATA ARCHIVE OUR DATA MANAGEMENT SERVICES UK Data Archive Research Data Management Support Services datasharing@data-archive.ac.uk Economic and Social Data Services www.esds.ac.uk/aandp/create RELU-Data Support service relu.data-archive.ac.uk ESRC Research Development Initiative Training Programme www.data-archive.ac.uk/create-manage/projects/rdi-dm JISC Data Management Planning project www.data-archive.ac.uk/create-manage/projects/jisc-dmp

13. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………………….. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………..… UK DATA ARCHIVE CONTACT UK DATA ARCHIVE UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX WIVENHOE PARK COLCHESTER ESSEX CO4 3SQ ……………………….…………………….…. T: +44 (0)1206 872001 E: datasharing@data-archive.ac.uk W: www.data-archive.ac.uk ……………………………….………………..