Oxford University Computing Services Research data management in the humanities Sudamih Project, OUCS

Oxford University Computing Services What is research data management? ▪The aspects of research that take place between gathering sources and producing the final outputs ▪Organising and structuring material ▪Storage and backing up ▪Preparing material for analysis, or to share with others ▫This may include working with databases 2

Oxford University Computing Services Key aims of research data management ▪In the short term, to ensure you have the information you need at your fingertips ▪In the longer term, to ensure information remains secure, easily retrievable, intelligible, and adequately documented 3

Oxford University Computing Services Data management basics ▪Be proactive – plan ahead ▪Take time to look at your existing ways of dealing with information ▫Do they meet your current needs? ▫Will they continue to do so for the duration of your research project? Beyond that? ▪Think about how you’ll integrate new material with what you already have 4

Oxford University Computing Services Information management tools ▪Explore the tools that are available ▫Word processors can’t do everything ▫Consider using a relational database... ▫... or some bibliographic software ▫... or software to annotate, organise, analyse... ▪Visit the Research Skills Toolkit websiteResearch Skills Toolkit ▪Ask colleagues for recommendations 5

Oxford University Computing Services Storage and backing up ▪Your data is valuable – so keep it safe ▫Make a backup plan ▫Keep copies in multiple places ▫OUCS’s HFS service offers free backup and archiving to postgrads and staffHFS ▪If you work on multiple computers, investigate synchronisation services ▫Dropbox is popular – though others existDropbox 6

Oxford University Computing Services Training and advice ▪OUCS IT Learning Programme offers courses on a wide range of softwareOUCS IT Learning Programme ▫Also database design, working with digital images, Web publishing... ▪The Skills Hub (on WebLearn) lists other training providersSkills Hub ▪The OU Research Data Management Portal provides information and guidanceResearch Data Management Portal 7