Data Management and Curation

Several organizations have begun compiling lists of repositories of research data.  These can be useful for researchers both to consider where to deposit their data, as well as for discovery for secondary data use.

DataBib

Tool to identify repositories of research data.  Users can search (including field-level searching) or browse by subject or title.  Each entry provides a description, standardized subjects, access, start date, and country, among other qualities.  Anyone is able to suggest or edit repository listings, which then are reviewed and committed by an editorial board.  This is the same list that is re-displayed on the DataCite web site.  Hosted by the Purdue University Libraries.

re3data.org

Project whose goal it is to create a global registry of research data repositories.  Database can be searched or browsed (by subject, content type, or country).  Each entry provides a description and is tagged with standardized subjects, content types, and countries, as well as information on institutions, terms/policies, and standards.  Managed by the re3data.org Project Consortium with initial funding from the German Research Foundation DFG.

Data repositories

Simple listing of repositories and databases for data.  Single page lists repositories by subject category and provides a brief description and links.   Users can add or annotate entries.  Part of the Open Access Directory, hosted by the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Simmons College.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) guidance on data management plans provides guidance for research applicants and for reviewers, and a template, on how to develop a data management plan for a grant application submitted to the UK Medical Research Council.

The Special Interest Group on Data Citation (SIGDC) maintains a page of Data Citation Resources with lists of relevant workshops, blogs, papers, presentations, websites, and organizations.  All IASSIST members are welcome to join SIGDC and can submit ideas for resources to add to the list via our Google Group email.

Heather Piwowar of Duke & the University of British Columbia describes the results of her analysis of re-use of cited datasets in Data Citation Counts! Spoiler Alert: citation increases re-use. Particularly interesting: not only has re-use increased, but re-use of multiple datasets at a time is also increasing. Neat.

"Digital Scholarship has released the Research Data Curation Bibliography. It includes over 100 selected English-language articles and technical reports that are useful in understanding the curation of digital research data in academic and other research institutions."

"Most sources have been published from 2000 through 2011; however, a limited number of earlier key sources are also included."

View the Data Curation Bibliography.

A number of IASSIST members are cited in the bibliography. Digital Scholarship (aka Charles Bailey) compiles mainstream LIS bibliographies on topics that have hit the mainstream of Library and Information Science. This is their first bibliography on the topic of data curation, surely a high water mark.

In the spring of 2011, the UNC-Chapel Provost formed the Task Force on the Stewardship of Digital Research Data and charged its members with exploring the implications of data management for the University and making recommendations for University policy.  The Task Force investigated the data management landscape through research in the literature, conversations with faculty and staff, and an in-depth faculty survey designed and administered by the Odum Institute.  The resulting report was submitted to administrators in mid-February 2012 with recommendations for university policies and procedures.  While the recommendations specific to UNC have been redacted, the rest of the report is now publicly available.  Although the main body of the report reiterates material with which many in IASSIST will already be familiar, the appendices may be of interest.  Appendix 5 provides the interview questions for the group’s initial case studies of how faculty manage their research data, some of which are profiled in the text of the report.  Appendix 6 provides the instrument for the faculty survey; and Appendix 7 presents the summarized results of the survey, with a total of 2,765 respondents.

An introductory course for those people who (want to) support researchers in storing, managing, archiving and sharing their research data. You can combine the online course with face to face meetings, guided by trainers, or take the online-only course for free. Developed by 3TU.Datacentrum, a consortium of 3 institutions in Delft, the Netherlands, and organised by 3TU.Datacentrum, DANS and SURFsara.

Topics include data management (skills), technical skills, and acquisitions and advice.

Available in English; up to date in January 2015.

http://datasupport.researchdata.nl/en

Our Managing and Sharing Data: Training Resources present a suite of flexible training materials for people who are charged with training researchers and research support staff in how to look after research data.

The Training Resources are modularised following the UK Data Archive's seven key areas of managing and sharing data:

• sharing data - why and how
• data management planning for researchers and research centres
• documenting data
• formatting data
• storing data, including data security, data transfer, encryption, and file sharing
• ethics and consent
• data copyright

Each section contains:

• introductory powerpoint(s)
• presenter's guide - where necessary
• exercises and introduction to exercises
• quizzes
• answers

The materials are presented as used in our own training courses  and are mostly geared towards social scientists.

You can download individual modules from the relevant sections or download the whole resource in pdf format.

The Research Data Management Training, or MANTRA project has produced an open, online training course for PhD and early career researchers to learn best practices in data management.

In addition to the interactive, online module which covers data management topics such as Organising Your Data, there are downloadable software modules covering data handling skills in SPSS, R, NVivo and ArcGIS.

The resource was created by EDINA and Data Library, University of Edinburgh, and was funded by the JISC Managing Research Data programme.

http://datalib.edina.ac.uk/mantra