CIRCA:Data Curation
From CIRCA
Data Curation
It may seem strange to think of curation of data as a method, but it is an important activity that is methodical. Without the curation of data it doesn't survive to be used in research and all digitization is done with a view to some sort of use and curation of the resulting data.
->Digital curation involves maintaining, preserving and adding value to digital research data throughout its lifecycle. What is digital curation?
Some things to consider:
- What is data curation and why is it complicated?
- What are the standards you need to know about for curation?
- Who can help you? Who in your institution is responsible for the long term preservation of data? Who currently does it?
- What do organizations like funding councils expect in the way of data curation?
- When in research should data curation issues be considered and how can you weave good curation practices into research practices?
- What are the ethics of preserving data?
- How can you plan for data management? What does a data management plan look like?
Resources
- The UK Digital Curation Service has a lot of useful information including an collection of pages on the value of digital curation and what it is, a Data Management Planning Tool, links on Metadata Standards in the Humanities and Social Sciences, and a database of Tools and Services
- University of Bristol Help with Data Management Planning page includes links to an Introduction and other guides.
- Seven rules of successful research data management in universities is a Guardian article posted by Simon Hodson and Sarah Jones