1. Managing Digital material
Why?
What?
Anna Collins
Cambridge University Library
Where?
When?
How?

2. Data
“A reinterpretable representation of information in a formalized manner suitable for communication, interpretation, or processing.”
Digital Curation Centre

3. Any information you use in your research
Data
Any information you use in your research

4. Why data management?
Data management
PhD students lose material all the time…and they are exactly the people who want to be backing up. These are people who are creating data which are life and death important to them.
Data management – being the boss of your hard drive – is just one of many issues that jostle for attention in a researcher’s brain. The fact that you’ve signed up for this course shows that you recognise its importance. And according to one University computer officer – you are right to take it seriously…

5. Why we’re talking about data management
DON’T LET THIS BE YOU!
… but nightmares come true sometimes too.
This is a genuine poster from a pub in Cambridge [I have only altered the picture to straighten it, change the contrast to make it easier to read, and remove some of the details, eg the address of the pub and the person’s contact information]
You might think ‘Ah, but I would take more care of my laptop/external hard-drive/back up disks’ …

6. Why data management is important (II)
What would happen to your data if there was a fire in your office, department or home?
…but sometimes things are out of your control. Fires in university departments and buildings seem to occur every couple of years (there have been at least two so far this year), and though they affect science and engineering disciplines most often, other university buildings can also be affected so don’t be complacent.
If you do most of your work at home, or in a library, then fire, flood or other catastrophe are still risks, and can take a long time to sort out. While you’re busy salvaging what you can and cleaning up, you don’t want to have to worry about whether you’ve lost significant amounts of work and the underlying data for your research.
There are also all too common instances of loss and theft (as mentioned before), and computer viruses, even if you are careful; it’s good to be prepared. Thinking about good information management will help you to deal with these events, should they happen to you.
“Fire” by andrewmalone via flickr:

7. Why data management is important (III)
Good data underpin high quality research
Help you - and others - find and understand your data
Credible and verifiable interpretations
Important for validation
Long-term preservation
Academic and professional recognition and reputation
Sharing leads to more collaboration and citations – greater impact
Funding body requirements, legal, and ethical codes of conduct
Then there are the ethical reasons for looking after your digital material. It may even be something that someone who funds your research (particularly if you have funding from a UK research council) mandates. Regardless, good data management can lead to professional recognition either directly (you may get a reputation for the quality of your data sets thanks to good data management practices) or indirectly, as it can make the process of conducting your research easier.
Which leads to my final reason why data management is important…

8. Why data management is important (IV)
To help you finish your research project on time and with the least stress
This is probably the most immediate driving force for many of you.
“Thesis x8” by anthonycramp via flickr:

9. Data Management Planning
Preservation
& Re-use
Data Creation
Data Management Planning
Genizah project: T-S_12.146,r
Data Distribution & Archiving
Data Use
Selection & Evaluation
Anders Sandberg: equation
Archives des députés allemands:
Mónica Pinheiro, Evidence: fieldnotes

10. Give your data a structure…
By Anne (Flickr ID: I like): “Voltaire & Rousseau”
CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
By twechy (Flickr ID): “Library Bookshelf”
CC BY 2.0
…it makes it easier to find things

11. Give files/folders sensible names…
…and version control should be clear
So this:
rather than this:
For another example of interesting version control see PhD Comics by Jorge Cham:
A story in file names, comics/archive.php?comicid=1323

12. Describe your data…
…it’ll make it easier to
(re-)use later

13. Try not to keep everything…
113 Gb
42,699 Files
3,466 Folders
… but be selective about what you keep and what you throw away
By Practicalowl (flickr ID): “Rubbish bins”, CC-BY-NC

14. Open Access
Open Access publication maximises the number of people who can benefit from your research
Many funding bodies make OA requirements on publications resulting from their funding
RCUK policy comes into effect from 1st April 2013
University has a new Open Access policy
Open share icon:

15. IPR: copyright and PhD theses Data Management Plans
Over to you…
IPR: copyright and PhD theses
Data Management Plans
Backup, storage & sharing
Selecting what to keep
Managing s
Organising and naming files
Documentation & metadata

16. Contacts and other resources
Data Management website
Open Access website
Repository Support website
Contact details
markheybo
Cambridge Market Telephones