Practical Data Management
ACRL DCIG Webinar
30 April 2014
Kristin Briney, PhD

andrius.v, https://www.flickr.com/photos/banditaz/6823875954 (CC BY-NC-SA)

Mr.TinDC, https://www.flickr.com/photos/mr_t_in_dc/5940438148 (CC BY-ND)

International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, https://www.flickr.com/photos/iita-media-library/8160877379 (CC BY-NC)
Musgo Dumio_Momio, https://www.flickr.com/photos/30976576@N07/2903662286 (CC BY-NC-SA)

Jen Doty and Rob O'Reilly, “Learning to Curate @ Emory”. RDAP 2014

Data Management Basics
• Introduction to a few topics in data
management
– File organization and naming
– Documentation
– Storage and backups
– Future file usability

Data Management Basics
• Introduction to a few topics in data
management
– File organization and naming
– Documentation
– Storage and backups
– Future file usability
 Teach & Use

For each minute of planning at
beginning of a project, you will save
10 minutes of headache later

FILE ORGANIZATION & NAMING
Dan Zen, http://www.flickr.com/photos/danzen/5551831155/ (CC BY)

File Organization
• What?
– Keeping your files in order

File Organization
• Why?
– Easier to find and use data
– Tell, at a glance, what is done and what you have
yet to do
– Can still find and use files in the future

File Organization
• When?
– Always!
– Get in the habit of putting files in the right place

File Organization
• How?
– Any system is better than none
– Make your system logical for your data
• 80/20 Rule
– Possibilities
• By project
• By analysis type
• By date
• …

Example
• Thesis
– By chapter
• By file type (draft, figure, table, etc.)
• Data
– By researcher
• By analysis type
– By date

File Naming Conventions
• What?
– Consistent naming for files

http://retractionwatch.com/2014/01/07/doing-the-right-thing-authors-retract-brain-paper-with-systematic-human-error-
in-coding/

File Naming Conventions
• Why?
– Make it easier to find files
– Avoid duplicates
– Make it easier to wrap up a project because you
know which files belong to it

File Naming Conventions
• When?
– For a group of related files (3 to 1000+)
– May need different conventions for different
groups

File Naming Conventions
• How?
– Pick what is most important for your name
• Date
• Site
• Analysis
• Sample
• Short description

File Naming Conventions
• How?
– Files should be named consistently
– Files names should be descriptive but short (<25
characters)
– Use underscores instead of spaces
– Avoid these characters: “ / : * ? ‘ < > [ ] & $
– Use the dating convention: YYYY-MM-DD

Example
• YYYYMMDD_site_sampleNum
– 20140422_PikeLake_03
– 20140424_EastLake_12
• Analysis-sample-concentration
– UVVis-stilbene-10mM
– IR-benzene-pure

DOCUMENTATION
Brady, https://www.flickr.com/photos/freddyfromutah/4424199420 (CC BY)

What would someone unfamiliar
with your data need in order to find,
evaluate, understand, and reuse
them?

Documentation
• Why?
– Data without notes are unusable
– Because you won’t remember everything
– For others who may need to use your files

Documentation
• When?
– Always
– Documentation needs will vary between files

Documentation
• How?
– Take good notes
– Metadata schemas
• http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/metadata-standards

Documentation
• How?
– Methods
• Protocols
• Code
• Survey
• Codebook
• Data dictionary
• Anything that lets someone reproduce your results

Documentation
• How?
– Templates
• Like structured metadata but easier
• Decide on a list of information before you collect data
– Make sure you record all necessary details
– Takes a few minutes upfront, easy to use later
• Print and post in prominent place or use as worksheet

Example
• I need to collect:
– Date
– Experiment
– Scan number
– Powers
– Wavelengths
– Concentration (or sample weight)
– Calibration factors, like timing and beam size

Documentation
• How?
– README.txt
• For digital information, address the questions
– “What the heck am I looking at?”
– “Where do I find X?”
• Use for project description in main folder
• Use to document conventions
• Use where ever you need extra clarity

Example
• Project-wide README.txt
– Basic project information
• Title
• Contributors
• Grant info
• etc.
– Contact information for at least one person
– All locations where data live, including backups

Example
“Talk_v1: rough outline of talk
Talk_v2: draft of talk
Talk_v3: updated 2014-01-15 after feedback”
“ ‘Data’ folder contains all raw data files by date
‘Analysis’ has analyzed data and plots
‘Paper’ has drafts of article on this work”

grover_net, http://www.flickr.com/photos/9246159@N06/599820538/ (CC BY-ND)
STORAGE AND BACKUPS

Storage
• Why?
– Need good storage practices to prevent loss
– Keep data secure

Storage
• How?
– Library motto: Lots of Copies Keeps Stuff Safe!
– Rule of 3: 2 onsite, 1 offsite

Storage
• How?
– Computer
– External hard drive
– Shared drives/servers
– Tape backup
– Cloud storage*
– CDs/DVDs
– USB flash drive
Erica Wheelan, https://www.flickr.com/photos/reinventedwheel/5985479866 (CC BY)

*Cloud Storage
• Read the Terms of Service!
• Eg. Google Drive
– “When you upload or otherwise submit content to our Services,
you give Google (and those we work with) a worldwide license
to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works
(such as those resulting from translations, adaptations or other
changes we make so that your content works better with our
Services), communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly
display and distribute such content. The rights you grant in this
license are for the limited purpose of operating, promoting, and
improving our Services, and to develop new ones”

Backups
http://toystory.disney.com/

Backups
• How?
– Any backup is better than none
– Automatic backup is better than manual
– Your work is only as safe as your backup plan

Backups
• How?
– Check your backups
• Backups only as good as ability to recover data
• Test your backups periodically
– Preferably a fixed schedule
– 1 or 2 times a year may be enough
– Bigger/more complex backups should be checked more often
• Test your backup whenever you change things

Example
• I keep my data
– On my computer
– Backed up manually on shared drive
• I set a weekly reminder to do this
– Backed up automatically via SpiderOak cloud
storage

FUTURE FILE USABILITY
Ian, http://www.flickr.com/photos/ian-s/2152798588/ (CC BY-NC-ND)

Future File Usability
• What?
– Can you read your files from 10 years ago?
– Data needs to be
• Accessible
• Interpretable
• Readable

lukasbenc, https://www.flickr.com/photos/lukasbenc/3493808772 (CC BY-NC-SA)

Future File Usability
• Why?
– You may want to use the data in 5 years
– PI sometimes keeps data and notes
– Prep for data sharing
– Per OMB Circular A-110, must retain data at least
3 years post-project
• Better to retain for >6 years

Future File Usability
• When?
– When you wrap up a project
– (As you work on a project)

Future File Usability
• How?
– Back up written notes
• People always forget this one
• Difficult to interpret data without notes
• Options
– Digitally scan (recommended with digital data)
– Photocopies

Future File Usability
• How?
– Convert file formats
• Can you open digital files from 10 years ago?
• Use open, non-proprietary formats that are in wide use
– .docx  .txt
– .xlsx  .csv
– .jpg  .tif
• Save a copy in the old format, just in case
• Preserve software if no open file format

Future File Usability
• How?
– Move to new media
• Hardware dies and becomes obsolete
– Floppy disks!
• Expect average lifetime to be 3-5 years
• Keep up with technology

WHERE TO GO FROM HERE

Center for Teaching Vanderbilt University, https://www.flickr.com/photos/vandycft/8244800868 (CC BY-NC)

easylocum, https://www.flickr.com/photos/easylocum/2921542814 (CC BY)

Chris Hoving, https://www.flickr.com/photos/pcrucifer/2433274595 (CC BY-ND)

Resources
• Data Ab Initio blog
– http://dataabinitio.com/
• eScience Portal
– http://esciencelibrary.umassmed.edu/
• DataONE Best Practices
– http://www.dataone.org/best-practices

Steal My Slides
• Slides + recording available
– http://connect.ala.org/node/220603
• Slides available
– http://www.slideshare.net/kbriney

Thank You!
• This presentation available under a Creative
Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license
• Some content courtesy of Dorothea Salo
– http://www.graduateschool.uwm.edu/research/resear
cher-central/proposal-development/data-plan/boot-
camp/ (CC BY)