BIOL 313 - Principles of Ecology

WHY manage research data?

• Prevent data loss through accidental overwrite or deletion
• Improve research quality by ensuring reliability and accuracy of data by having documented processes for data collection and handling
• Improve the reusability and impact of your data by creating metadata that will help others to understand and possibly reuse your data
• Sound data management is becoming an expectation that employers and funders have of scientists

Data Management Tips for Group Projects:

• Try using Google Drive for real time edits on team documents. This allows team members to simultaneously edit the same documents, and tracks who did what.

• You may also chose to use Dropbox, a shared file storage solution. Dropbox allows you to make changes to the document and re-upload it, but it doesn't track changes or allow you to roll back to previous versions as easily as Google Drive.
   
• If using a static system like Dropbox, consider employing a naming convention that combines terms that indicate what's in the document, with the author's initials and date (YYYYMMDD) on the end.
  • BIOL313_Report_HG_20200129

Metadata is "data about data." What does this mean? Basically, metadata is supplementary information that helps others locate and use your data. You use metadata every day. Here's an example from Google Play Music:

Things like Name (of song), run time, artist and album are known as "metadata elements." Having a structure for these elements allows users to search music services by artist or song, and understand the results they find. 

Like the music in your favourite music service, your data will also have common elements that you can use to create metadata. Again, you probably have some experience with this if you have ever created a spreadsheet. Row and column headings are usually metadata elements that tell you something about your data. More importantly, the metadata you create can help others make sense of your data.