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The Humanities and Data ManagementDr Matt PhillpottSAS-Space Manager/Digital Projects(School of Advanced Study)Matt.phillpott@sas.ac.uk

February 2014

Background

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History PhD from University of Sheffield (2005-10)

Since 2010 I have worked for the IHR on History SPOT •Podcasts•Online research training modules

I moved to SAS Central in August 2013

•Social media (blogs etc)•Social Scholar seminar series•Continuing work on online research training•SAS-Space Manager

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What is SAS-Space ?•The institutional repository for SAS•a flexible dissemination and preservation service for research outputs•For SAS academic staff and fellows, cognate scholarly organisations, and graduate students

What I will talk about today

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1.Why Data management/preservation is important for the humanities

2. The importance of training humanities students in managing their data

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Why is data management and preservation important for the humanities?

“If you go into a project not understanding how you are going to manage that data orhow you are going to organise it and retrieve it, then you are destined to struggle to keep the research under control and on track.”

- Professor Glenn Burgess Pro-vice Chancellor, University of Hull

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Good data management

•Saves time•Increases your efficiency•Helps you to preserve and protect your data•Helps you to view data as an output in its own right•Meets grant requirements•Helps to meet requirements of Open Access•Enables transparency and research integrity

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Primary sources

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Data/Research results

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Training is therefore essential!

•Data management skills need to be put front and centre as part and parcel of a research project strategy

•Not just students but supervisors as well

•The importance of preservation and reuse of research data needs to be considered whenever you start a new project or piece of research

SHARD: Data Preservation Online course

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A JISC-funded project between Academic & Research Technologies (ULCC) and the Institute of Historical Research

Completed: August 2012

Purpose: to provide an introduction to implementable best practice for preserving digital research data over time.

Why is Data Management important?

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Why is preservation important? (SHARD)

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Future usePreservation considerations are essential if we are to ensure future use and reuse of research material over time. Data which you have not used for final outputs can be reused for other research purposes.

Re-interpretation and validationBy ensuring the preservation of and continued access to your research data you are contributing to the community of research. Results can be validated and proven, such as happens in the scientific research community at present.

Availability and accessPreservation and access are issues at any time during the course of your research. It must be considered early in the research process to ensure access to your data during the lifespan of your particular project, otherwise you are putting your research data at risk.

Risks to Data (from SHARD project)

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A hard drive crashes every 15 sec.One in 5 computers suffer a fatal hard drive crash during their lifetime.25% of lost data is due to the failure of a portable drive.31% of PC users have lost all of their PC files to events beyond their control.32% of data loss is caused by human error.60% of companies that lose their data close down within 6 months of the disaster.Data Loss Statistics 

Mistakes often made:

No backups

Format impermanence

Inadequate storage, e.g. frailty of storage, inappropriate storage

Training History students about data management

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History DMT (Data Management Training) project

•AHRC Collaborative Skills Development funded project

•History DMT (Data Management Training) outputs:

• Series of workshops (Hull; London; Sheffield)• Online research training course• Teacher Guide Sheets

Data Management cycle

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Data Management Plan (Details)

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DMP developed by the University of Hull for internal use and now being rolled outFor History DMT for national use.

A Data Management Plan is useful as:

A checklist – useful at the start of a project to identify requirements/all aspects of research/helps to flag-up potential difficulties and problems early on.

A manual – helps to guide your research as it goes on

A record – demonstrates good research practice/part of project documentation and output

Data Management Plan (essential elements)

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1. Project information and context

2. Data, materials, resource collection information

3. Ethics and intellectual property

4. Access and use of information

5. Storage and backup of data

6. Archiving and future proofing of information

7. Resourcing of data management

8. Review of data management process

9. Statement(s) of agreement and expertise

Preservation: what do the humanities need?

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Data Preservation is always a compromise between:

risk of data loss, availability, and time/costs

What we need:

1.Funds for preservation2.Accurate and easy to comprehend costing3.Easy to understand preservation options (and what those actually mean)4.Established platforms to achieve research requirements5.Preservation of data is generally required for 5-10 years guaranteed (minimum)6.Needs to be updatable easily7.Needs to be easily and quickly accessible8.Needs to allow restrictions for sensitive material

Requires more consideration within the humanities sector but also clearer and more straightforward advice from specialists

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Thank you for listeningDr Matt PhillpottSAS-Space Manager/Digital Projects(School of Advanced Study)Matt.phillpott@sas.ac.uk