Science Data Management for Grad Students

that the Libraries have data experts ready to help you organize, share, and preserve your research data? We can help you prepare data management plans, find a repository for your data, and help you maximize the impact of your research. Please contact me if you would like more information or help with your scientific research data.

• Organize your data
• Store and backup your data
• Preserve your data for the future
• Share data with your colleagues

             (From the MIT Libraries website)

The Fourth Paradigm by Hey et al. describes how scientific research data will be used to make new discoveries. The first three paradigms of experimental research are:

• direct observation
• theoretical experimentation
• computer modeling

The fourth paradigm is the reuse and recombining of research data to make new discoveries. By making your research available, new breakthroughs can be made. Not only is sharing research data is the right thing to do; Federal funders require it.

An article about the use of data in research:

Mining Electronic Health Records: Towards Better Research Applications and Clinical Care 

From http://guides.library.ucsc.edu/datamanagement

The Research Data Lifecycle describes how data is created throughout the research process, and how it can be reused to answer a new research question. Good data management begins with a data management plan.

Types of data:

• Raw
• Working
• Processed/Analyzed
• Data for reuse- what kind of data do you need to share?