Research Data Management

Why document data?  Metadata is useful for:

• Finding data from other researchers to support your research
• Using the data that you find
• Helping others both find & use data from your research
• Understanding and using your own data in the future

• Who collected the data?
• Who or what were the subjects under study?
• What data were collected, for what purpose?
• What is the content & structure of the data?
• Where was the data collected?
• What were the experimental conditions that produced it?
• When was the data collected?
• Are the data part of a series, or ongoing experiment?
• Why was this experiment performed?
• How do the data relate to your research question?

• Keep a data dictionary or codebook
• Always use an established metadata standard
• Extract pre-existing metadata
• Consistent data entry is important
• Use templates and macros when possible
• Avoid extraneous punctuation
• Avoid most abbreviations
• Consult with a librarian