Tidying Up Your Research Data with Good Practices

Have you ever had a messy computer desktop? Have you ever had trouble finding your research data in a computer directory? Have you ever had a nightmare of recalling some key details of your research because of a lack of documentation? Don’t panic – you are not the only one who faces these problems. We can teach you essential practices of tidying up your digital clutter in a course Research Data Sharing and Management (CEE:5110/OEH:5110)!

We first successfully launched this one-credit course in the Spring 2020 semester and will again offer it in the upcoming Spring 2021 semester. This course is originally designed for the Iowa Superfund Research Program’s trainees but now open to any students currently doing, or planning to do, research.

The course will begin with data management, then moving on to include file organization, data documentation and lab notebook best practices, tabular data structure and cleanup tools. The course will also include how and where to share and publish data, funder and publisher requirements, licensing, and citation.

Here are some comments from students who enrolled in the course in the Spring 2020 semester:

“I think from choosing a repository to creating a data record, including licensing, ownership, preservation of access, reuse, and citation”

“I feel like I have a better grasp of what should go into a data management plan and how data should be prepared for sharing. So that’s great!”

“[The instructor] is very knowledgeable and was able to point us toward good resources.”

 

Let’s tidy up your research data in Research Data Sharing and Management!

The Instructors are Brian Westra, Data Services Manager, and Qianjin (Marina) Zhang, Engineering & Informatics Librarian. The course supervisor is Keri Hornbuckle, Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering.

To enroll in CEE:5110/OEH:5110 Research Data Sharing and Management, check out MyUI course catalog.

 

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact Kari Kozak, at kari-kozak@uiowa.edu in advance of the event.

Guest blogger: Qianjin (Marina) Zhang, Engineering & Informatics Librarian.