Formalising data management plans for large

scale multi-disciplinary projects

Louise Corti and Susan CadoganUK Data Archive

IASSIST 2007

Overview

Introduction Objectives of large scale Research Programme Data Management Policy Operating the Policy (getting tough) Role of the UKDA Outputs Challenges

Rural Economy and Land Use Programme (RELU)

The Research Programme is a large-scale unprecedented interdisciplinary collaboration between:

Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

(BBSRC) National Environment Research Council (NERC)

The programme has a budget of £24 million, with additional funding provided by government agencies:

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)

Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department

Programme Objectives

Rural areas in the UK are experiencing considerable change

The Rural Economy and Land Use Programme (RELU) aims to advance understanding of the challenges they face

Interdisciplinary research is being funded 2004-2009 in order to inform future policy and practice with choices on how to manage the countryside and rural economies

The Rural Economy and Land Use Programme enables researchers to work together to investigate the social, economic, environmental and technological challenges faced by rural areas

The Programme aims to encourage social and economic vitality of rural areas and promote the protection and conservation of the rural environment

Six societal challenges

public trust in food chains

tackling animal and plant disease

sustainable farming in the New Europe

robust rural economics

land management techniques to deal with climate change and invasive species

managing land and water use for sustainable water catchments

Themes and data

The Integration of Land and Water Use The Environmental Basis of Rural Development Sustainable Food Chains Economic and Social Interactions with the Rural

Environment

Programme is both using and creating a variety of data sources

disparate types of data – social and environmental and biological data

estimate some 80 datasets from Call 1 (8 major research projects and smaller scoping studies)

RELU data types

Social data – people based Micro (survey)

Household or individual level attributes, Behaviour, attitudes and options

Business/company Farm level data Aggregated

UK Census e.g. small area statistics, Retail statistics, Health indicators

GIS/spatial data geographically referenced environmental databases

Ordnance survey, Road networks, Settlement

RELU data types (cont.)

water quality, land fill, air quality, emission levels

soil data, eg mineral composition

ecological data, animal and bird distributions

agricultural census

climate and meteorological data

river flow data

biochemical data relating to foods/habitats

RELU Data Management Policy

Early on data management formally recognised by funders as critical

builds on existing ESRC and NERC mandatory data policies

aims to enhance the capabilities for interdisciplinarity and thus improves the ability of the research community to:

apply learning from one field to another combine different methodological approaches and sources

of information cross-fertilise ideas and concepts understand scientific, technological and environmental

problems in their social and economic contexts

www.relu.ac.uk/about/data.htm

Data Management Policy principles

publicly funded research data are a valuable, long term resource

to ensure maximum research exploitation data must be managed effectively from day-1

researchers must collect data in such a way as to ensure longer term sharing

RELU funds will support data management through the life of the project

data must be made available by researchers for archiving: Research Council supported data centres provide long-term, post-project data management

RELU Data Support Service

set up to help oversee and implement the Programme's Data Management Policy and Data Management Plan

provides a support service for RELU researchers and staff to gain information and guidance on issues surrounding longer-term data sharing and preservation

joint support service run by: ESRC/JISC supported UK Data Archive at Essex (UKDA) The NERC-supported Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

(CEH)

funded initially for one year supporting one FTE and outreach activities: 1 Jan 05 – 31 Dec 05. Continuation to March 2008

Outputs

Getting wording of DM Plan and guidance right

Web site to support completing application

Web site to support completing plan once funded

Workshops for new Principal Investigators

Workshops for new researchers

Best Practice Guide on Data Management

Third party data information – costs, barriers, licensing

Database of all data being created

Acquire data, process and disseminate data

Advice on data integration

Data Management Plan

proforma to complete (Section 3 of the Project Communication and Data Management Plan)

highlighting data management and custody issues at an early stage

providing a basis for quality assurance within the Programme

providing a basis from which award holders and the Programme Director can report and monitor project and overall RELU Programme progress

Information required from plan

requirements for access to existing datasets

details of new and derived datasets to be produced

quality assurance of data

formats and standards

data description and documentation

ethical, legal issues and IPR resolution

data back-up procedures, security

archiving data (for Research Council data archives)

data management representative

RELU-DSS helps support these areas

RELU awards database

Guidance on Data Management

Produced glossy brochure

What is Data Management? Data, metadata etc.

Data Management strategies

What is Digital Preservation?

Making Back-ups

Format Translation and Choice of Formats

Security

Our experience

This degree of formalisation is new to social science data in the UK

UKDA operate a Datasets Policy for Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) but with less leverage upfront

DMP and DM support ensures potential sharing issues to be clarified early on and support mid and end of project

Greater awareness of data, metadata documentation, and data sharing….albeit grudgingly

Integration of data is key for this programme

Other disciplines (UK) Policies

Natural Environmental Research Council (6% of each Programme)

Arts and Humanities Research Council ICT review (AHDS History)

Biological Sciences Research Council NEW!

Medical Research Council STILL WAITING!

We hope to see DMPs applied to all major investment data-rich ESRC programmes

Contacts

Louise Corti corti@essex.ac.uk

Susan Cadogan susan@essex.ac.uk

Acquisitions teamUK Data ArchiveUniversity of EssexColchesterEssexwww.esds.ac.uk