Data Management Planning and DMPonline

Angus WhyteDCC, University of Edinburgh

a.whyte@ed.ac.uk

Slides by Sarah Jones

•University of Aberdeen, 7 Oct 2014

Funded by:

What is a data management plan?

A brief plan written at the start of your project to define:• how your data will be created?• how it will be documented?• who will access it?• where it will be stored?• who will back it up?• whether (and how) it will be shared & preserved?

DMPs are often submitted as part of grant applications, but are useful whenever you’re creating data.

Why develop a DMP?

• to help you manage your data

• to make informed decisions so you don’t have to figure out things as you go

• to anticipate and avoid problems e.g. data loss

• to make your life easier!

Which UK funders require a DMP?

•www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/policy-and-legal/ overview-funders-data-policies

DCC Checklist for a DMP

• 13 questions on what’s asked across the board

• Prompts / pointers to help researchers get started

• Guidance on how to answer

www.dcc.ac.uk/sites/default/files/documents/resource/DMP_Checklist_2013.pdf

Common themes in DMPs1. Description of data to be collected / created

(i.e. content, type, format, volume...)

2. Standards / methodologies for data collection & management

3. Ethics and Intellectual Property (highlight any restrictions on data sharing e.g. embargoes, confidentiality)

4. Plans for data sharing and access (i.e. how, when, to whom)

4. Strategy for long-term preservation

•1. Describing data to be collected

• What type of data will you produce?

• What file format(s) will your data be in?

• How much data will be produced?

• How will you create your data?

Some formats are better for the long-termIt’s preferable to opt for formats that are:• Uncompressed• Non-proprietary• Open, documented• Standard representation (ASCII, Unicode)

Data centres may have preferred formats for deposit e.g.

Type Recommended Non-preferred

Tabular data CSV, TSV, SPSS portable Excel

Text Plain text, HTML, RTFPDF/A only if layout matters

Word

Media Container: MP4, OggCodec: Theora, Dirac, FLAC

QuicktimeH264

Images TIFF, JPEG2000, PNG GIF, JPG

Structured data XML, RDF RDBMS

Further examples: http://www.data-archive.ac.uk/create-manage/format/formats-table

•2. Standards and methodologies

• What metadata and documentation will you record?

• What standards are used in your field?

• How will your data be organised?

• Where will it be stored and backed-up?

Documentation and standardsMetadata: basic info e.g. title, author, dates, access rights...Documentation: methods, code, data dictionary, context...

Use standards wherever possible for interoperability

www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/metadata-standards

•3. Ethical and IPR implications

• Are you seeking consent from participants?

• Who owns your data or has rights in it?

• Are you re-using other people’s data?

Seek consent for data sharing & preservation

•If you don’t ask, data centres won’t be able to accept your data – regardless of any conditions on the original

grant or your desire for it to be shared.

•4. Data sharing and reuse

• Are you allowed to share your data?

• Who will you share with and how?

• Do you need to impose conditions on reuse?

• How will you license the data for clarity?

•CREATIVE COMMONS LIMITATIONS

• NC Non-Commercial• What counts as commercial?

• SA Share Alike• Reduces interoperability

• ND No Derivatives• Severely restricts use

www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/how-guides/license-research-data

License your data for reuseOutlines pros and cons of each approach and gives practical advice on how to implement your licence

•5. Preservation

• Which data do you need to keep?

• Will you deposit your data in a repository?

• Do you need to prepare it for deposit?

Lists of repositories to choose from

http://databib.org

http://service.re3data.org/search

Managing and sharing data: a best practice guide

• How to write a DMP• Formatting your data• Documentation• Data sharing• Ethics and consent• Copyright• …

http://data-archive.ac.uk/media/2894/managingsharing.pdf

Tips for writing DMPs

• Seek advice - consult and collaborate

• Consider good practice for your field

• Base plans on available skills & support

• Make sure implementation is feasible

Help from the DCC

•https://dmponline.dcc.ac.uk

•www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/how-guides/develop-data-plan

A web-based tool to help researchers write data management plans

DMPonline demo

https://dmponline.dcc.ac.uk

What is DMPonline?

• A web-based tool to help researchers write Data Management and Sharing Plans

• Includes requirements and guidance from funders, universities and other groups

• Developed by the Digital Curation Centre

Registration

Sign up with your email

address, organisation

and password

Select ‘other organisation’ if yours is not

listed

Sign in

Use your email and password to

login

Or if you’re at a UK university,

you can use your standard uni

login

‘My plans’ homepage

Summary of the DMPs that you have created, or others

have shared with you. Note the varying permissions.

Creating a plan

Select funder (if any)

Select organisation for

additional questions and

guidance

Select other sources of guidance

Plan details: summary

Summary of the sections and questions

in your DMP

Overview of sections in a DMP

Summary page with dropdown

buttons to expand and answer each

section

Enables multiple phases

Answering questions

Notes who has answered the

question and when

Progress bar updates how many questions remain

Sharing plans

Allow colleagues to

read-only, read-write, or become co-

owners

Co-writing DMPs

Sections are locked for editing when they’re being worked on by

colleagues

Exporting DMPs

Can export as plain text, PDF, html...

Try it out•https://dmponline.dcc.ac.uk

Thanks – any questions?

DCC guidance, tools and case studies:www.dcc.ac.uk/resources

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