An Introduction to Research Data Management Things To Do With
Data Michaelmas 2014 Slides provided by Research Support Team, IT
Services, University of Oxford
Slide 2
What does data include? A reinterpretable representation of
information in a formalized manner suitable for communication,
interpretation, or processing. Digital Curation Centre Slide
adapted from the PrePARe Project
Slide 3
What does data include? Any information you use in your
research Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project
Slide 4
What does research data management cover? Storage Organizing
Preservation Documenting Sharing Choosing technology Versioning
Structuring Backing up Curation Security
Slide 5
Relevant throughout the research process Planning and applying
for funding Setting up and starting work Day-to-day work during the
project Project conclusion
Slide 6
Carrots and sticks Enable efficient day- to-day work More time
for the meat of the research process Avoid problems in the future
University of Oxford Policy on the Management of Research Data and
Records Funding body requirements
Slide 7
University of Oxford policy Introduced July 2012
Slide 8
University of Oxford policy The full policy can be viewed on
the Research Data Oxford websiteResearch Data Oxford Research data
is defined as the information needed to support or validate a
research projects observations, findings or outputs Research data
should be: Accurate, complete, identifiable, retrievable, and
securely stored Able to be made available to others
Slide 9
Funders requirements Funding bodies are taking an increasing
interest in what happens to research data You may be required to
make data publicly available at the end of a project Many funders
require a data management plan as part of grant applications RDO
website provides a summary of requirementssummary of
requirements
Slide 10
Setting up and starting work Day-to-day work during the project
Project conclusion
Slide 11
Data management plans A document created early on in 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
Slide 12
Benefits of data management plans Ask key questions before
problems arise Have time to look for solutions Saves time and
reduces stress Many tasks are straightforward if planned from the
beginning, but much harder in retrospect A framework for ongoing
review of data management practices
Slide 13
DMP Online Online data management planning tool Can be
customized according to funding body
https://dmponline.dcc.ac.uk/
Slide 14
Planning and applying for funding Day-to-day work during the
project Project conclusion
Slide 15
What storage media are in use? How about file formats? Slide
adapted from the PrePARe Project
Slide 16
Storage Departmental IT support may be able to provide server
space or a shared drive IT Services NSMS offers server rental and
management, storage on the Universitys private cloud, and other
storage solutionsNSMS
Slide 17
Data security Is there data that needs special treatment?
Sensitive or confidential information Commercial potential InfoSec
at IT Services can provide advice see
http://www.it.ox.ac.uk/infosec/ for more
detailshttp://www.it.ox.ac.uk/infosec/
Slide 18
http://blogs.ch.cam.ac.uk/pmr/2011/08/01/why-you-need-a-data-management-plan/
Backing up is easier than replacing lost data Slide adapted from
the PrePARe Project
Slide 19
LOCKSS Lots Of Copies Keeps Stuff Safe Keep copies in different
places Can the process be automated? Slide adapted from the PrePARe
Project
Slide 20
IT Services: data back-up on the HFS HFS is Oxfords central
back-up and archiving service HFS Free of charge to University
staff and postgraduates Automated back-ups of machines connected to
University network Copies kept in multiple places
Slide 21
Choosing the right tools for the job Are current software and
methods meeting your needs? Sticking with old familiars can be
false economy Ask friends and colleagues for recommendations
Slide 22
Tools and technologies for managing data Spreadsheets may be
fine for small, straightforward tasks More complex projects might
benefit from a relational database Microsoft Access, FileMaker Pro,
etc. Or a qualitative data analysis package Nvivo, Atlas.ti, etc.
Or an XML database...
Slide 23
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
Launched in the summer of 2014 http://ords.ox.ac.uk/
http://ords.ox.ac.uk/
Slide 24
Other data management tools and systems LabTrove an electronic
lab notebook system LabTrove NeuroHub an information environment
for managing data from lab-based research NeuroHub DataStage a
secure personalized file management environment DataStage
myExperiment record and share scientific workflows myExperiment
Taverna for managing scientific workflows Taverna
Slide 25
Research Skills Toolkit Website and hands- on workshops A guide
to software, University services, and other tools and resources for
research http://www.skillstoolkit.ox.ac.uk/
Slide 26
Planning and applying for funding Setting up and starting work
Project conclusion
Slide 27
Whats obvious now might not be in a few months, years, decades
Adapted from Clay Tablets with Linear B Script by Dennis, via
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/archer10/5692813531
/http://www.flickr.com/photos/archer10/5692813531 / MAKE SURE YOU
CAN UNDERSTAND IT LATER Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project
Slide 28
Documentation and metadata Documentation is the contextual
information required to make data intelligible and aid
interpretation A users guide to data May be given at study level or
data level Metadata is similar, but usually more structured
Conforms to set standards Machine readable 2014 HBS Survey Results
Joe Bloggs
Slide 29
Slide 30
M. Farinelli et al. (2012) PLoS ONE 7(3): e34047 Who created
the data, 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 needs to be
included www.texample.net Slide adapted from the PrePARe
Project
Slide 31
Maintaining consistency Agree a set of standard working
practices as early as possible in a project Method of recording
whats been done to data and who did it File naming conventions
Version information Have these clearly documented, and store the
documentation centrally
Slide 32
Planning and applying for funding Setting up and starting work
Day-to- day work during the project
Slide 33
Long term solutions Data repositories or archives offer a
secure long-term home for research data Data can be embargoed if
needed Databib and Re3Data.org offer searchable catalogues of
repositories DatabibRe3Data.org Figshare offers a DIY option
Figshare
Slide 34
ORA-Data (formerly known as DataBank) University of Oxfords
institutional data archive Will work alongside ORA-Publications to
form a composite University archive Long term preservation for
datasets without another natural home Plus records for data
archived elsewhere
Slide 35
Planning ahead Data sharing needs to be planned from the
beginning of a project With sensitive data, consent may be needed
Third party data may come with restrictions If data is destined for
a particular archive, they may have specific requirements Do they
use a specific metadata schema, for example?
Slide 36
Data licensing A licence clarifies the conditions for accessing
and making use of a dataset User knows whats allowed without asking
further permission Doesnt exclude possibility of specific requests
to go beyond the terms of the licence Licences used for data
include Creative Commons and Open Data CommonsCreative CommonsOpen
Data Commons
Slide 37
Further resources
Slide 38
Digital Curation Centre A national service providing advice and
resources for the whole research data lifecycle
http://www.dcc.ac.uk/
Slide 39
UK Data Archive Largest UK collection of social sciences and
humanities data Advice on best practice for creating, preparing,
storing and sharing data http://www.data-archive.ac.uk/
Slide 40
IT Services: Research Support Team Can assist with technical
aspects of research projects at all stages of the project lifecycle
Help with DMPs, selecting software or storage, modelling data, etc.
But the earlier you seek advice, the better For more information,
see: http://research.it.ox.ac.uk/ http://research.it.ox.ac.uk/
Slide 41
Research Data Oxford website Oxfords central advisory website
University policy is available Questions? Email researchdata
@ox.ac.uk researchdata @ox.ac.uk http://researchdata.ox.ac.uk/
Rights and re-use This presentation is part of a series of
research data management training resources prepared by the
Research Support Team at IT Services, University of Oxford.Research
Support Team Parts of this slideshow draw on material produced as
part of the Oxford-based DaMaRO Project, and on resources produced
by the PrePARe ProjectDaMaRO Project PrePARe Project With the
exception of clip art used with permission from Microsoft, and
commercial logos and trademarks, and images specifically credited
to other sources, the slideshow is made available under a Creative
Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike LicenseMicrosoft
Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike License
Within the terms of this licence, we actively encourage sharing,
adaptation, and re-use of this material