This slideshow was used at a lunchtime session delivered at the Humanities Division, University of Oxford, on 2014-05-12. It provides a general overview of some key data management topics, plus some pointers on where to find further information.

1. Research data management:
an overview
Slides provided by Research Support Team,
IT Services, University of Oxford

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
Research data
management: an
overview

3. What does data include?
Any information you use in your
research
Slide adapted from
the PrePARe Project
Research data
management: an
overview

4. What is research data management?
Research data
management: an
overview
Storage
Organizing
Preservation
Documenting
Sharing
Choosing
technology
Versioning
Structuring
Backing up
Curation
Security

5. Carrots and sticks
 Work efficiently and
with minimum hassle
now
 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
Research data
management: an
overview

6. Policy and funder requirements
 University of Oxford Policy states that the data
needed to support research outputs should be:
 Accurate, complete, identifiable, retrievable, and
securely stored
 Able to be made available to others
 Funders are also taking an increasing interest in
data
 Data management plans as part of applications
 Many require data to be shared at the end of a project
Research data
management: an
overview

7. „What a mess‟ by .pst, via Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/psteichen/3915657914/.
Can you find what you
need, when you need it?
Research data
management: an
overview

8. Hierarchical systems vs. tagging
 Hierarchical organization uses nested folders
 Default option for most operating systems
 Tagging allows more flexibility
 Items can be in multiple categories
 Some operating systems support tagging
 File tagging software is also
available
 Sort… or search?
Research data
management: an
overview

9. Hyperlinks and shortcuts
 Hyperlinks can lead to other files on your
computer, as well as Web links
 Use shortcuts to avoid duplicating files
 Create project folders to group related
material together
 Access key folders quickly with
the Windows „Favorites‟ feature
Research data
management: an
overview

10. File naming
 Aim for concise but informative names
 Ideally, you should be able to tell what‟s in a file
without opening it
 Think about the ordering of elements within a
filename
 YYYY-MM-DD dates allow chronological sorting
 You can force an order by adding a number at
the beginning of the name
 Consider including version information
Research data
management: an
overview

11. File naming strategies – examples
 Order by date:
2013-04-12_interview-recording_THD.mp3
2013-04-12_interview-transcript_THD.docx
2012-12-15_interview-recording_MBD.mp3
2012-12-15_interview-transcript_MBD.docx
 Order by subject:
MBD_interview-recording_2012-12-15.mp3
MBD_interview-transcript_2012-12-15.docx
THD_interview-recording_2013-04-12.mp3
THD_interview-transcript_2013-04-12.docx
 Order by type:
Interview-recording_MBD_2012-12-15.mp3
Interview-recording_THD_2013-04-12.mp3
Interview-transcript_MBD_2012-12-15.docx
Interview-transcript_THD_2013-04-12.docx
 Forced order with numbering:
01_THD_interview-recording_2013-04-12.mp3
02_THD_interview-transcript_2013-04-12.docx
03_MBD_interview-recording_2012-12-15.mp3
04_MBD_interview-transcript_2012-12-15.docx
Research data
management: an
overview

12. File naming strategies – examples
In retrospect I am not very happy with the method I
used for naming files. The biggest problem was with
the newspaper articles I downloaded… I named the
files only based on the topic of the article, without
mentioning the name of the periodical and the year
of publication, which would have been very useful
later, when I began writing the thesis.
– Doctoral student researching communication history
Research data
management: an
overview

13. What‟s 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/
MAKE SURE
YOU CAN
UNDERSTAND
IT LATER
Slide adapted from
the PrePARe Project
Research data
management: an
overview

14. Are you using the right tools for the job?
 Take time to assess whether your current
software and methods are meeting your needs
 Sticking with old familiars can be false
economy
 Ask friends and colleagues for
recommendations
Research data
management: an
overview

15. Bibliographic software
 A great tool for managing citations...
 ... And for much more than that
 Options include EndNote,
RefWorks, Zotero, Mendeley,
Colwiz, and many more
 For comparisons, see
the Oxford LibGuide
Managing Your References
Research data
management: an
overview

16. Tools and technologies for managing data
 Word tables and 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
Research data
management: an
overview

17. Relational databases
Research data
management: an
overview

18. 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
 Currently being used by a small group of test users –
will become more widely available
later in 2014
 http://ords.ox.ac.uk/
Research data
management: an
overview

19. XML (and XML databases)
 A means of tagging information so that it
become machine-readable
 Allows complex textual analysis
 Can indicate proper names, parts of speech, variant
readings, or any other characteristic of a section of
text
 TEI XML is the standard for the humanities
 Also useful for preparing texts for display on
the Web
Research data
management: an
overview

20. XML
Research data
management: an
overview

21. Smartpens
 A quick way of digitizing handwritten notes
 Searchable – to a point
 Record audio
 Link the recording to
your notes
 Brands include Livescribe
Research data
management: an
overview

22. Research Skills Toolkit
 Website and hands-
on workshops
 A guide to software,
University services,
and other tools and
resources for
research
 Requires SSO login
http://www.skillstoolkit.ox.ac.uk/
Research data
management: an
overview

23. IT Learning Programme
 Over 200 different IT
courses
 Covering software, skills,
and new technologies
 ITLP Portfolio offers
course materials and
other resources
http://portfolio.it.ox.ac.uk/
http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/itlp/
Research data
management: an
overview

24. 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
Research data
management: an
overview

25. Make multiple copies…
…and keep them in different places
Automate the
process if you can
Slide adapted from
the PrePARe Project
Research data
management: an
overview

26. IT Services: data back-up on the HFS
 HFS is Oxford‟s central back-up and archiving
service
 Free of charge to University staff and
postgraduates
 Automated back-ups of machines connected to
University network
 Copies kept in multiple places
Research data
management: an
overview

27. File syncing
 If you work on
multiple devices,
consider file syncing
software
 Always have the
latest copy of your
files available
 But be careful with
sensitive data
Research data
management: an
overview

28. Repositories and archives
 Data repositories or archives offer a secure long-term
home for research data and other reusable material
 Repositories for humanities material include the UK
Data Archive, the Oxford Text Archive, the Archaeology
Data Service, and others
 Databib and Re3Data.org offer searchable catalogues
of repositories
 Figshare offers a DIY option
Research data
management: an
overview

29. ORA-Data (formerly known as DataBank)
 University of Oxford‟s 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
 In some cases, may
be a suitable home
for DPhil data
Research data
management: an
overview

30. Consider a data management plan
 A document which may be created in the early
stages of 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
Research data
management: an
overview

31. Digital Curation Centre
 A national service
providing advice and
resources
 Create a data
management plan
using the DMP online
tool
https://dmponline.dcc.ac.uk/
http://www.dcc.ac.uk/
Research data
management: an
overview

32. DMP20
 DMP20 is an online form that allows the
creation of a simple data management plan
 Based on David Shotton‟s Twenty Questions for
Research Data Management
http://www.miidi.org/dmp/
Research data
management: an
overview

33. 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, etc.
 But the earlier you seek advice, the better
 For more information, see:
http://research.it.ox.ac.uk/
Research data
management: an
overview

34. Research data management website
 Oxford‟s central
advisory website
 University policy
is available
 Questions?
Email
researchdata
@ox.ac.uk
http://researchdata.ox.ac.uk/
Research data
management: an
overview

35. Research Data MANTRA
 Free online
interactive
training modules
 Aimed at
postgraduates
and early career
researchers
http://datalib.edina.ac.uk/mantra/
Research data
management: an
overview

36. Upcoming courses and events
 Preparing Your Research Material for the Future: What
You Can Do Now to Avoid Problems Later
 Monday 9th June 2014 (7th week), 2pm-4pm,
Radcliffe Humanities
 Things To Do With Data lunchtime talk series (see
http://research.it.ox.ac.uk/datatalks)
 Research Support Team‟s course listings page
 Details of future events
 Slides and handouts from past ones
Research data
management: an
overview

37. Any questions?
Ask now, or email us on
researchdata@ox.ac.uk
Research data
management: an
overview

38. 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.
 Parts of this slideshow draw on material produced as part of the
Oxford-based DaMaRO Project, and on resources produced by the
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 License
 Within the terms of this licence, we actively encourage sharing,
adaptation, and re-use of this material
Research data
management: an
overview