RDMF13: Preparing Data for Deposit

The phrase ‘preparing data for deposit’ might conjure images of the final days of a research project, when staff may be more concerned with getting started on their next piece of work (and possibly their next place of work) than tidying up loose ends from the research that is due to conclude. But decisions affecting the suitability of data for longer-term preservation, sharing and re-use are taken throughout the project’s lifespan, hence preparing data for deposit truly begins at the very start of the research lifecycle, in the conceptualisation and planning phases.

Ideally, communication lines between the researchers and the chosen place of long-term deposit will be open before the research reaches its final phase. Indeed, in a truly ideal world the long-term data archive of choice would be known from the outset, but not all research data has an obvious destination throughout its lifecycle, and not all subject areas are equally well-served by trusted disciplinary data centres. It is therefore beneficial, in many cases, to keep options as open as possible, and for organisations and funders to support their researchers with both generic and tailored guidance.

This one-day event will provide an opportunity to hear from stakeholder experts in different phases of the research lifecycle, as well as a forum for more detailed discussion of specific areas of interest to the event’s participants: these may include topics such as tools and checklists, roles and responsibilities, and training and awareness-raising. The event will appeal to a broad audience, including active researchers; staff from library, information and research organisations; repository managers and administrators; data curators, data centre managers and other data professionals; funding organisations and research networks.

Programme and Slides

The event programme is now available via the link on the right hand side of the page.

Slides from the event...

• Opening and closing slides - Martin Donnelly, DCC
• Keynote: The art of depositing social science data: maximising quality and ensuring good governance - Louise Corti, UK Data Service
• Future Proofing Your Data: Some Lessons from the Past - Dr Suzanne Embury, University of Manchester
• Meeting the RDM Challenge - Mark Hahnel, figshare; Matthew Addis, Arkivum; Gary Brewerton, Loughborough University;
• Guiding users through data deposit - Robin Rice, University of Edinburgh
• Preparing data for deposit - Dr Sam Pepler, NERC*

(*Sam was unable to give his talk due to illness, but he kindly sent the slides he would have presented.)

Post-event outputs

• Storify page
• Blog post: Breakout Group 1 (Practice) - chair: Joanna Ball
• Blog post: Breakout Group 2 (Systems) - chair: John Beaman
• Blog post: Breakout Group 3 (Roles and Training) - chair: Sophie Salffner

Amplification: the event hashtag is #rdmf13

Feedback: we always welcome your feedback on our events to help us to improve future sessions.

Costs and Registration

The event is now fully booked. Please email info@dcc.ac.uk if you would like to be added to the waiting list.

Image credit:

Safety deposit boxes, https://www.flickr.com/photos/13589981@N02/8355518561 (CC-BY licence)