Data Management @ ODU

Data Management, sometimes called Research Data Management or RDM, is the process of gathering, processing, storing, preserving, and disseminating research data.

Managing your data will help make your research process more efficient. Other benefits:

• You will be compliant with funder requirements
• Your data will be more secure
• Your research findings will be transparent
• Collaboration and data sharing will be easier
• Your data will be preserved so that others can use it

In 2013, the federal Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) issued a memorandum directing that the results of publicly funded research (including data) be made publicly available. For most agencies, this means that grant applications must include a plan for how data will be managed during and after the proposed project.

Data Management Essentials

From the University of Wisconsin-Madison Research Data Services

There are six key recommendations for managing your data/digital materials to ensure their longevity and usefulness:

1. store and back them up
2. keep data/digital materials in sustainable formats
3. include metadata to preserve contextual information about who collected/created it, the date, instrument settings, etc.
4. organize and structure them using file naming/versioning conventions, ontologies/vocabularies, and/or databases
5. keep them secure and implement procedures for keeping sensitive data private
6. include explanations about how data may be re-used and how the source of the data should be acknowledged