Resources for Active Research Data Management

Management of primary and processed research data

Two approaches are available for managing research data: file-based organization and a bespoke data management platform. The file-based approach is simple, but does not scale very well and can lead to inconsistencies and loss of information over time. The use of a data management platform on the other hand requires an initial learning curve, but gives a robust long-term solution for research data, allowing easier data retrieval even after some time.

For file / folder based systems, consider the following:

• Design a logical folder structure and use it consistently
• Keep path names short and avoid special (non-ASCII) characters
• Use unique file names which reflect the file’s content
• For further tips see:
  • external page http://www.data.cam.ac.uk/data-management-guide/organising-your-data
  • external page http://www.wur.nl/en/Expertise-Services/Data-Management-Support-Hub/Browse-by-Subject/Organising-files-and-folders.htm
  • external page http://mantra.edina.ac.uk/organisingdata/

Data management platforms represent a powerful alternative to file-based systems, especially for managing large amounts of data and information accessed by many users. Scalability, multi-user capability, audit trails and search functionality are among the main advantages of data management platforms over file-based systems. ETHZ Scientific IT Services provides the research data management services based on the external page openBIS data management platform, with integrated Electronic Lab Notebook (ELN) and Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS).

Management of materials, samples and protocols

Electronic tracking of experimental procedures as well as materials and samples offers several advantages over paper-based lab notebooks. In the simplest form, the information is recorded in plain or rich-text files, ideally under version control (see below). Browser-based content management systems (e.g. Wikis) are also suitable and offer the additional advantage of built-in multi-user functionality and version control. Finally, Laboratory Information Management Systems (external page LIMS) are databases for management of materials, samples and protocols. Nowadays, LIMS are often integrated with ELNs, thereby combining management of data, metadata, materials and protocols in a single system. This is the case for openBIS.

Management of metadata

Metadata provides important information about the content of the data and how it was generated. To ensure machine-readability and interoperability of research data, it is advisable to follow established metadata standards. The Digital Curation Centre in the UK provides a external page list of standards by research domain.

Data storage

ETHZ researchers can obtain storage for their research data from the ETHZ IT Shop or contact their departmental IT Service Group (ISG). ETHZ IT Services provide an overview of the available centralized storage resources at ETH Zürich. For long-term storage of research data, ETHZ IT Services offer a free-of-charge tape-based storage solution (LTS). The easiest way for a researcher to store their research data on LTS is by using the archiving option offered by the ETHZ research data management services.

Please do not use laptops, office computers or external hard disks as primary data store and always keep backups of your data. For further information, see https://itsecurity.ethz.ch/en/#/prevent_data_loss

Version control

external page Version control is the process of managing changes to documents, source code or even data. Changes are usually identified by “revision numbers” such as revision 1, revision 2, … Each revision is associated with a timestamp and person that made the change. Version control systems make it easy to compare, restore or even merge different revisions of a document.

Two different version control systems are provided by ETHZ IT Services:

• SharePoint is a Microsoft product which is primarily aimed at collaborative editing and version control of Microsoft Office documents. Its main advantage is the direct integration in Microsoft products such as Word and PowerPoint. SharePoint hosting up to 2GB is free. For more details, see the SharePoint service description.
• Git is currently the most popular version control system for tracking changes and collaborative editing of source code. While Git is primarily used by software developers, it is becoming more and more popular in the scientific community as well. In fact, Git can be used to track changes to any piece of digital information. GitLab is a web-based user interface for managing Git repositories. ETHZ IT Services host a GitLab server at gitlab.ethz.ch.