Cambridge University Library
MANAGING DIGITAL
MATERIAL
Why?
Anna Collins
DSpace@Cambridge, Cambridge University Library
Where?
What?
When?
How?
Data
“A reinterpretable representation of information in a
formalized manner suitable for communication,
interpretation, or processing.”
Digital Curation Centre
Data
Any information you use in your research
Why 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
Why we’re talking about data management
Why data management is important (II)
What would happen to your
data if there was a fire in
your office, department or
home?
“Fire” by andrewmalone via flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/andrewmalone/2032844649/
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
Why data management is important (IV)
To help you finish
your research
project on time and
with the least stress
“Thesis x8” by anthonycramp via flickr:
www.flickr.com/photos/anthonycramp/4034670062/in/photostream
Preservation
& Re-use
Data
Creation
Genizah project: T-S_12.146,r
Data
Distribution
& Archiving
Archives des députés allemands:
www.flickr.com/photos/hamadryad
es/2549161782/
Data
Management
Planning
Data Use
Selection
&
Evaluation
Anders Sandberg: equation
http://www.flickr.com/photos/
arenamontanus/5369316039/
Mónica Pinheiro,
Evidence: fieldnotes
http://www.flickr.com/
photos/monica_andre
/4994971717/
By twechy (Flickr ID): “Library Bookshelf”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/twechy/6829994084/
CC BY 2.0
By Anne (Flickr ID: I like): “Voltaire & Rousseau”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ilike/2616342739/
CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Give your data a structure…
…it makes it easier to find things
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, http://www.phdcomics.com/
comics/archive.php?comicid=1323
Describe your data…
…it’ll make it easier to
(re-)use later
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”,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/practicalowl/2084873604/, CC-BY-NC
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
• www.openaccess.cam.ac.uk/
Open share icon:
www.shareaholic.com/openshareicon
Over to you…
Data
Management
Plans
Managing
emails
IPR: copyright and
PhD theses
Backup, storage
& sharing
Documentation
& metadata
Selecting what
to keep
Organising and
naming files
Contacts and other resources
Data Management website
http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/dataman
Open Access website
http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/
Repository Support website
www.lib.cam.ac.uk/repository
DSpace@Cambridge
www.dspace.cam.ac.uk
Contact details
support@repository.cam.ac.uk
markheybo
Cambridge Market Telephones
16