Listen ... Why manage data?You can listen to an audio only podcast version of this video here.
This resource is licenced under a CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence by Claire Sewell, the Office of Scholarly Communication, Cambridge University Libraries.
Before we start to think about the principles and practice of managing data we need to take a step back and think about what we mean when we talk about 'data'. This may sound like a deceptively easy question but as always in scholarly communication, the answer is never that simple
What does the term 'data' mean to you? How many different types of data can you list? Do you think that the researchers you work with would have the same definition or a different one?
The term data is one which means different things to different people. This is an important definition to think about as how a researcher defines data can directly influence how librarians need to approach conversations on data management.
A researcher's view is typically influenced both by their own work and the discipline that they belong to. Those working in the sciences are more likely to perceive what they are working with as data - information such as the results of experiments, numbers and spreadsheets. Many others outside these disciplines also share this view and it can be hard to convince them that what they deal with is in fact data. Those in the arts and humanities are often particularly reluctant to call what they deal with data. However, looking at the list below you can see that a wealth of materials can be termed data, from third party images to interview transcripts.
Now that we have established what data is we need to clarify what we mean by 'research data'. For the purposes of this module we are defining it as "any information used or produced during the research process". This is an intentionally broad definition as it needs to include information from many stages of the research lifecycle.
The management of research data is an area of growing importance within the research process. However they define it and whatever it is, researchers need to learn to manage their data for a variety of reasons. The short video below outlines some of the key reasons why data needs to be managed.
When supporting researchers, librarians may find that they need to outline a range of reasons in order to convince researchers of the benefits of proper data management. Different reasons will appeal to different researchers depending on factors such as their discipline or career stage but it is important that library staff develop a knowledge of the benefits in order to provide strong advocacy for data management.
Think about the range of reasons outlined in the video above. Which of these would most appeal to your researchers? Can you think of any other reasons which you could use in your advocacy?
Once you are aware of the different types of data researchers are dealing with in a project you can start to help them plan their data management.
