FILING SYSTEMS Research Data Management

Filing is more than saving files, it’s making sure you can find them later in your project. Naming Directory Structure File Types Versioning All these help to keep your data safe and accessible. Research Data Management Filing Systems My Project Getting Started with Research Data Management

Research Data Management Activity What is data? What does data mean to you? Spend a couple of minutes thinking about what data you will be working with, throughout your project. Then we’ll combine your ideas and compare them between disciplines. Getting Started with Research Data Management

Research Data Management Naming Conventions What’s in a name? Creating systematic names can be as simple as assigning a prefix or a number to each object in which case they are a type of numbering scheme. Using a naming convention means that you can distinguish similar records from one another at a glance. You can combine information to form logical file names, changing sections of it to reflect the differences between the files. Getting Started with Research Data Management

Research Data Management File formats The formats most likely to be accessible in the future are: non-proprietary in an open, documented standard commonly used by the research community in a standard representation e.g. ASCII, Unicode unencrypted and uncompressed Getting Started with Research Data Management

Tables Code Plots Transcripts Audio-Visual Images / Photos Research Data Management File formats Getting Started with Research Data Management

Images Raw, Processed, Plotted, Photos, Scans, CAD FITS, JPG, PNG, BMP, PS Reuse, paper, talk, poster, archive, web Use, size, longevity Tables Catalogues, Query results, Calculations, Measurements Text files, FITS, spread sheets Code input, spectra, plot, paper, CDS Use, metadata, accessibility Source code Models, simulations, scripts, inputs, outputs, instructions.c,.pl,.py,.idl, README, Make file, input, output Third party edit, run. paper, web User friendly; functions, size Interviews Audio, Video, Written Transcript.txt,.odt,.doc., mp3,.mp4,.avi Producing transcripts, further analysis Format, longevity, security, metadata Formats Uses Considerations Research Data Management File formats Getting Started with Research Data Management

Research Data Management File formats Examples of preferred format choices: PDF/A, not Word ASCII, not Excel MPEG-4, not QuickTime TIFF or JPEG2000, not GIF or JPG XML or RDF, not RDBMS When considering the best file formats for your data, you should think about cross- platform formats and the simplest forms Getting Started with Research Data Management

Research Data Management File sizes The format you choose will also affect the compression of your data and how much storage space you’re going to need to keep your data safe and accessible. Consider a 5 Megapixel image. The table below gives the size of that file in different standard formats. You can see what a difference your format makes to your storage requirements. You should think about which is best for your outputs: For the RDM website, resizing the image saves space and prevents the image becoming distorted by compression by the browser. JPGJPG resized (1024 x 776) PNGBMPTIFFPDF 1.5 MB0.2 MB9.0 MB15.0 MB3.0 MB0.8 MB Getting Started with Research Data Management

Research Data Management Versioning Keep editing under control Whether you’re working on developing software or writing a document, keeping track of changes made by you and your collaborators is a useful tool as you can check that issues have been addressed and mistakes can be undone. Some software will automatically control your versions, while others require you to ‘Save As’ for a new version – every day or every time changes are made. Cloud storage facilities such as LiveDrive and RackSpace as well as the UH Document Management System (DMS) lock documents while they are being edited so you cannot work on the same file as others preventing overwriting. Getting Started with Research Data Management