Cambridge University Library

Data Management PlansAnna Collins DSpace@Cambridge, Cambridge University Library

What is a Data Management Plan?

Outlines how data will be:

• Created

• Managed

• Shared

• Preserved

It acts as a roadmap for how you will look after your data over the course of a project, and beyond

Why is it important?

• 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

• Several funding bodies mandate depositing data with an appropriate repository, eg ESRC

• Others recommend depositing data, eg Leverhulme Trust

Funding body requirements

• “The perfect is the enemy of the good” - Voltaire

• Your Data Management Plan won’t be perfect – the important thing is to get started

• It is not a static document

• Change and update it as your research progresses and you understand more about your data

• Think about key issues that might affect your data…o …while you work on themo …in the future

• Ask for advice if you’re uncertain

Writing a DMP

Writing a Data Management Plan

Things to think about:• What is/are the core dataset(s)

of your research project?

• What will you do with the data (both physical and digital data)...

• …during the project?• …at the end of the project?

• Do you know of any ethical or IPR issues?

Key considerations for a DMP

1. Overview• Context & Project Information

2. Define your data• Data types, formats, standards & capture methods

3. Look after your data • Short-term storage & data management

4. Share your data • Ethics and Intellectual Property• Access, data sharing & re-use

5. Archive your data• Deposit & long-term preservation

6. Carry out the plan• Review

Understand your data

• How much data do you have?• How many files/folders? How large are they?

• What format are your files in?• Where are your data stored?

• If in multiple locations, how do you know which versions are the same?

• Are any of your data sensitive?• Who else has/should have access to your data?

• Internal, external, during the project, at the end of the project

• What will happen to your data at the end of your PhD?• Who might want to re-use it? (Your supervisor, other people in your

group, researchers in your area, researchers in different disciplines…)

Document your data as you go

If you don’t, it may become impossible for you – or someone else – to understand and re-use

data later on

Documenting files

Good documentation will:

• Provide meaningful information (eg titles, keywords)

• Be comprehensive and detailed

• Facilitate data discovery and re-use

• Help make detailed metadata for archiving

• Contain both contextual and technical information

Photo by Cennydd via flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cennydd/2687237902/

Have a robust back-up strategy

• When you will back up

• What you will back up to

• Where you will keep your back-ups

Backing up

• Lots Of Copies Keeps Stuff Safe (LOCKSS): make multiple back-ups

• Keep back-ups in a separate place to the original

• Use different types of storage media, eg CDs, pen drives, networked storage, external hard drive

• Back-up regularly; back up often

• Check your back-ups periodically; refresh back-up media every few years

Who needs access to your data?

Who might need it at the end of the project?

Does access need to be restricted?

Think about Access

Cloud-based storage & sharing

• Examples: GoogleDocs, Dropbox, SpiderOak …• Often provide some free storage• Good for sharing documents with colleagues• Good for accessing files using multiple devices or from

different locations• Not all cloud-based storage solutions are secure

• Avoid use with sensitive information• Consider using encryption to increase security

• Using cloud providers for back-up may break the terms of your grant if data need to be stored in the UK or EU

Consider what data need to be kept – and for how long

Consider what data need to be destroyed – and why

Selection & Appraisal

Selection

• Define the core data that will form the project archive• Keep the core data ‘clean’• Discard unnecessary files during the project

• Try not to hoard multiple versions of the same file • Store earlier drafts in separate folder as back-up

• Delete draft documents when file is finalised• Err on the side of caution until after your viva!

• Examiners may ask to see unprocessed data that you used to make your conclusions

Send your research into the future

• Look into using Repositories and Data Centres for long term curation of your data

• Provide access• Potential to link data to related articles• Simplify re-use of data for research and teaching• Some will allow access to data to be restricted and

controlled• Others will require open access to data

• Professional recognition• Increased visibility of your research

DSpace@Cambridge

• Cambridge’s Institutional Repository• Accepts:

• PhD theses• Journal articles• Software code• Research data• Multimedia files• Images• Etc…

• Searchable online• Items will receive a persistent URL• Items will be preserved in the long term

Set aside time regularly to evaluate your plan

Are you keeping to the plan?

If you’re not, does it need to be updated?

A DMP is not a static document

Remember…

“A good plan implemented today is better than a perfect plan

implemented tomorrow”

George Patton

Start data management planning now!

Getting help with DMPs

Jones, S. (2011). ‘How to Develop a Data Management and Sharing Plan’. DCC How-to Guides. Edinburgh: Digital Curation Centre. Available online: www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/how-guides

DMPonline

https://dmponline.dcc.ac.uk/

Other useful resources

DSpace@Cambridge:

Main repository page: http://www.dspace.cam.ac.uk/Research data management support:http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/dataman/

Contact details:

support@repository.cam.ac.uk

Digital Curation Centre: http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources

Acknowledgements

Open Access Post-Graduate Teaching Materials for Research Data Management

Adapted by Anna Collins (2012) from modules created by Lindsay Lloyd-Smith (2011) for post-graduate training in Archaeology

It makes use of training materials produced by the UK Data Archive on Managing and Sharing Data

Creative Commons Licence• The teaching materials are released under Creative Commons licence 2.0

BY-NC-SA.• You are free to re-use, adapt, and build-upon the work for educational

purposes. The material may not be used for commercial purposes outside of education. If the material is modified and further distributed it must be released under a similar Creative Commons licence.