Preparing Your Research Material for the Future - 2018-06-08 - Humanities Division, University of Oxford
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The document outlines best practices for managing research data, emphasizing the importance of planning for data storage, organization, preservation, and sharing from the beginning of a project. It highlights university policies, funding body requirements, and the need for documentation and metadata to ensure data is understandable, verifiable, and reusable. Furthermore, it discusses strategies for data sharing, the ethical considerations involved, and the creation of data management plans to facilitate effective data management processes.
Preparing Your Research Material for the Future - 2018-06-08 - Humanities Division, University of Oxford
- 1. Preparing Your Research Material for the Future What You Can Do Now to Avoid Problems Later Meriel Patrick Research Support Team
- 2. Research data? What sort of material are we talking about?
- 3. “Representations of observations, objects, or other entities used as evidence of phenomena for the purposes of research or scholarship” Digital Curation Centre Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project What sort of material are we talking about?
- 4. Any information you use in your research Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project What sort of material are we talking about?
- 5. What is research data management? Storage Organizing Preservation Documenting Sharing Choosing technology Versioning Structuring Backing up Curation Security
- 6. Thinking ahead is vital • Easy to think of long term data management as only relevant to the end of a project • But many aspects of it need planning from the beginning
- 7. Carrots and sticks • Work efficiently and with minimum hassle over the lifetime of the project • Save time and avoid problems in the future • Make it easy to share your data • University of Oxford Policy on the Management of Research Data and Records • Funding body requirements
- 8. University of Oxford policy Currently under review
- 9. University of Oxford policy • The full policy can be viewed on the Research Data Oxford website • Covers the information needed ‘to support or validate a research project’s observations, findings or outputs’ • Research data should be: • Accurate, complete, identifiable, retrievable, and securely stored • Able to be made available to others
- 10. University of Oxford policy • Research data should be retained for • ‘As long as they are of continuing value to the researcher and the wider research community’ • A minimum of three years • Or as long as your funder requires • Researchers are responsible for: • Developing clear data management procedures • Planning for the ongoing custodianship of their data • Ensuring legal, ethical, and funding body requirements are met
- 11. Funders’ requirements • Funding bodies are taking an increasing interest in what happens to research data • You may be required to make your 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 requirements
- 12. AHRC requirements • The AHRC now requires a data management plan for all Research Grants, Follow on Funding, and Leadership Fellows proposals • Supersedes the AHRC Technical Plan • Digital outputs should be available via an ‘appropriate repository’ for at least three years after project
- 13. Why share material? Enable reuse • Reduces duplication of effort • Allows public research funding to be used more effectively • Extend research beyond your discipline • Use in contexts not currently envisaged Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project
- 14. Why share material? Boost reputation • Get credit for high quality research • Recognition for contribution to research community • Open data leads to increased citations • Of the data itself • Of associated papers Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project
- 15. Why share material? Be a trailblazer! • A paradigm shift in how research outputs are viewed is occurring • Data outputs are of increasing importance – and are likely to become even more so • E.g. journals looking to publish datasets alongside articles • Be at the forefront of an important shift in the academic world
- 16. What to consider sharing • Newly digitized or transcribed material • Collected or structured material – e.g. databases • Marked up texts or annotated source materials • Newly generated material • Anything else with possible reuse value Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque nec nunc quis neque tempus adipiscing. Maecenas pretium dapibus libero, sit amet pulvinar dolor volutpat et. Donec fermentum tempus erat nec mollis. Mauris . Aenean accumsan lectus in tempus dictum. Morbi laoreet nulla vitae ante tristique. Duis id diam a magna fermentum condimentum. Nunc ut eros ac libero rutrum blandit. Fusce commodo condimentum risus nec tempus. Nunc vitae eros eget sapien euismod tempor. Aliquam ac faucibus lorem, eget fermentum nunc.
- 18. 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
- 19. Documentation and metadata • Documentation is the contextual information required to make material intelligible and aid interpretation • A users’ guide to your data • For a whole collection, or specific aspects of it • Metadata is similar, but usually more structured • Conforms to set standards • Machine readable
- 20. Make material verifiable and reusable • Detailing methods helps people understand what you did • And helps make your work reproducible • Provide context to minimize the risk of misunderstanding or misuse Image by woodleywonderworks, via Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/4588700881/ Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project
- 21. Exercise • In small groups, look at the sample data sheet • Imagine you have just downloaded this dataset from an archive • What contextual or explanatory information is missing? • Anything odd about the data that needs clarifying? • What additional documentation would you like to see supplied • About specific items of information? • About the whole data collection?
- 23. • Who created it, 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 to include Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project
- 24. Also worth thinking about… • File names and folder structures • Are these consistent? • Do they help you and others navigate easily? • Version information • Are you recording this? • Is it clear which is the most recent version of a file?
- 25. Metadata – data about data • A formal, structured description of a dataset • Used by archives to create catalogue records
- 26. Missing metadata – or the riddle of the sixth toe • This painting shows Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire as Diana • … or maybe Cynthia • She has six toes – but no one knows why Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Georgiana_Cavendish,_Duchess_of_ Devonshire_as_Diana.jpg
- 27. For discussion • What data management challenges have you encountered? • What strategies have you personally found useful?
- 28. Keeping your data safe
- 29. http://blogs.ch.cam.ac.uk/pmr/2011/08/01/ why-you-need-a-data-management-plan/ You can only preserve what you still have… … and backing up is easier than replacing lost data Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project
- 30. Make multiple copies… …and keep them in different places Automate the process if you can Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project
- 31. 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
- 32. IT Services: Nexus SharePoint and Nexus365 • Document repository and collaboration service • Store, manage, and share files • Available free of charge to any member of the University • Nexus365 provides 5 TB of storage via OneDrive • https://help.it.ox.ac.uk/nexus/sharepoint/index • http://help.it.ox.ac.uk/nexus365/index
- 33. … and about file formats Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project Think about your storage media…
- 34. Data security • Essential to ensure that every copy of any sensitive data has appropriate security • Care is needed with cloud services • InfoSec can provide advice • See https://www.infosec.ox.ac.uk/ for more details
- 35. What happens at the end of the project?
- 36. Preserving research material • Copy on personal computer • Convenient for own use – but no sharing means no impact • Personal or project website • Great – but sustainability needs some planning • Deposit with a suitable archive or repository
- 37. Repositories and archives • A secure long-term home for reusable material • Make material citeable • E.g. via a DOI • Embargos or other access restrictions usually possible
- 38. Repositories and archives • Key humanities repositories include: • UK Data Archive • Archaeology Data Service • Oxford Text Archive • Re3Data.org offers a searchable catalogue of repositories
- 39. ORA-Data • University of Oxford’s institutional data archive • Currently in pilot phase • Long term preservation for Oxford research datasets without another natural home
- 40. ORA-Data • Also a catalogue of Oxford-created data • Researchers depositing elsewhere strongly encouraged to add a record to ORA-Data http://ox.libguides.com/ about-ora-data
- 41. Figshare – a DIY option • Free online sharing platform for data and other research objects • Shared items allocated a DataCite DOI • A possible alternative to conventional repositories • If no suitable repository is available • If you need a way of sharing in a hurry
- 42. Data sharing – concerns • Ethical and legal concerns • Confidential or sensitive data • Third party data • Professional concerns • Intended publication • Commercial issues • Planning with sharing in mind from the beginning can help alleviate problems
- 43. • Redact or embargo if there is good reason Slide adapted from the PrePARe Project Share – but maybe not everything
- 44. Video by NYU Health Sciences Libraries: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2zK3sAtr-4
- 45. Data licensing • A licence clarifies the conditions for accessing and making use of a dataset • Lets users know • What’s allowed without asking further permission • How to cite the work • Specific requests to go beyond the terms of the licence can still be made
- 46. Data licences - examples • Creative Common licences • Widely used and recognized • Six different flavours, plus CC0 public domain dedication • Open Data Commons • Specifically designed for datasets • Recognizes the structure/content distinction for databases
- 47. Data licensing - guidance • ‘How to License Research Data’ • A guide from the Digital Curation Centre http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/how-guides/license-research-data
- 49. Data management plans • Ideally 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
- 50. Exercise • Have a go at drafting a data management plan for your own research • If there are questions you can’t answer at this stage, make a note of • What you need to find out • Decisions you need to make
- 51. DMP Online • Create a data management plan using the DMP Online tool • Developed by the DCC – a national service providing advice and resources https://dmponline.dcc.ac.uk/ http://www.dcc.ac.uk/
- 52. ‘In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless but planning is indispensable.’ Dwight D. Eisenhower
- 53. Further information and resources
- 54. Research Data Oxford website • Oxford’s central advisory website • University policy is available • Questions? Email researchdata @ox.ac.uk http://researchdata.ox.ac.uk/
- 55. 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, building a database, etc. • Meet with someone for a research data health check • For more information, see: http://research.it.ox.ac.uk/
- 56. Research Skills Toolkit • Website and hands- on workshops • Find out about: • Software • University services • Tools and resources for research http://www.skillstoolkit.ox.ac.uk/
- 57. IT Learning Centre • Over 200 different IT courses • Covering software, skills, and new technologies • ITLC Portfolio offers course materials and other resources http://portfolio.it.ox.ac.uk/ http://courses.it.ox.ac.uk/
- 58. Research Data MANTRA • Free online interactive training modules • Aimed at postgraduates and early career researchers http://datalib.edina.ac.uk/mantra/
- 59. Any questions? Ask now, or email us on [email protected] Slides and handouts available from http://research.it.ox.ac.uk/rdmcourses
- 60. Rights and re-use • This presentation is part of a series of research data management training resources prepared by the IT Services Research Support Team at the University of Oxford • The slideshow draws on one originally developed during the Oxford-based DaMaRO Project. Parts of it also draw on teaching materials produced by the PrePARe Project, DATUM for Health, and DataTrain Archaeology • With the exception of clip art used with permission from Microsoft, 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