Research Data Management Kayla Siddell Data Curation Librarian Indiana State University

Any research project will require some level of data management. Additionally, funding agencies are increasingly requiring researchers to plan and execute data management practices. This presentation will highlight some basic data management best practices as well as cover the data life cycle.

What is considered data? Determined by the community of interest Peer review numerical data, publications, samples, physical collections, software and models…

Why is data management important? Funding Preservation Access Scholarship

Funding Organizations Requirements

Preservation Some research data are unique and cannot be replaced if destroyed or lost, yet only by referring to verifiable data can your research be judged as sound. - See more at: http://www.dcc.ac.uk/digital-curation/why-preserve-digital-data#sthash.higkm4nc.dpuf

Access Through universal access to data we can enable new science and knowledge creation. Data have no value or meaning in isolation; they exist within a knowledge infrastructure—an ecology of people, practices, technologies, institutions, material objects, and relationships. Big Data, Little Data, No Data Scholarship in the Networked World By Christine L. Borgman

Scholarship Having the right data is usually better than having more data; little data can be just as valuable as big data. In many cases, there are no data—because relevant data don’t exist, cannot be found, or are not available.

Best Practices

DataOne is a foundation comprised of data centers, science networks or organizations who share data and provide data management services to insure open access of earth science research. For more info: https://www.dataone.org/

DataONE Best Practices https://www.dataone.org/best-practices

Plan Create and document data back-up policy Create and document storage system Define data types and formats Create a data management plan Provide budget information

Collect KEEP RAW DATA Be consistent Use appropriate field delimiters Example: Date, Avg Temperature, Precipitation 01Jan2010, 32.3, 0.0 02Jan2010, 34.1, 0.5 03Jan2010, 31.4, 2.5 04Jan2010, 33.2, 0.0

Assure Confirm match between data and descriptors Provide for versioning Consider compatibility Double check data Identify: Outliers Missing values estimations

Describe Assign descriptive file names Avoid spaces, and special characters Utilize underscore ( _ ) or dashes ( - ) Use date strings for versioning purposes An example of a good data file name: Bat_Mating_IN_2001_LPC.csv Bat Mating is the project name IN is the state abbreviation 2001 is the calendar year LPC represents Local Population count data csv stands for the file type—ASCII comma separated variable Instead of "data May2011" use "data_May2011" or "data-May2011" project acronym, study title, location, investigator, year(s) of study, data type, version number, and file type.

Preserve Back-up your data Use standard terminology Decide what to preserve Use reliable storage Identify sensitive data Keep raw data

Discover Use standard terminology Check for web accessibility Insure reproducible Document search terms used Additional parameters Database, versions

Integrate Consider compatibility Consider budget information Document: Process steps in processing Data integration from multiple databases Geospatial parameters

Analyze Compatibility Identify outliers Use appropriate software Document methodology for: analysis derived data

In-house Options

What is Sycamore Scholars? Digital Archive For staff, students, and faculty ETDs Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) Indexed and web accessible What is Sycamore Scholars? Sycamore Scholars is a digital archive of scholarly works created by students, staff, and faculty at Indiana State University. Sycamore Scholars began as a means to enable ISU graduate students to submit their theses and dissertations electronically, but the repository can include journal articles, conference papers, technical reports, working papers, data sets, tutorials, music, photographs, and other digital items. Items in Sycamore Scholars are freely available via the Web and are indexed by and accessible through Web search engines. Unlike most web sites, files within Sycamore Scholars are maintained for the long term. Items in Sycamore Scholars are assigned a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), similar to a URL, but more permanent. Also, ISU and DSpace are committed to making items accessible far into the future.

What kind of content can I add to Sycamore Scholars? Documents, such as articles, preprints, working papers, technical reports, or conference presentations Maps Specimens Images Books Audio files Theses Video files Data sets Lecture Notes Artifacts

What is the Visions Project? Digital Memory Project  Region's history and heritage in print, pictures, and sound Wabash Valley region in west central Indiana and east central Illinois Partnerships Free access What is the Visions Project? A Digital Memory Project is dedicated to the documentation and the preservation of the region's history and heritage in print, pictures, and sound. As a collaborative effort involving the libraries, museums, cultural organizations and community groups, the project provides free access to its digital collection via the internet and promotes remembrance and lifelong learning for all Hoosiers. Wabash Visions & Voices focuses on the Wabash Valley region in west central Indiana and east central Illinois. The digital collection contains artifacts, administrative and personal papers, manuscripts, photographs, texts, yearbooks, maps, oral histories, and other audio/video files.

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