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

DCC lifecycle model

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 RansJ.Rans@ed.ac.uk

@JNRans