WHAT IS DATA? (And why you should care). What is ‘data’? How do you define ‘data’? Does it...

WHAT IS DATA?(And why you should care)

What is ‘data’?• How do you define

‘data’?

• Does it matter how ‘data’ is defined?

• What is your data?

From ‘C3PO vs. Data’ by JD Hancock on flickr:http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdhancock/4617759902/

What is ‘data’?“A reinterpretable representation of information in a formalized

manner suitable for communication, interpretation, or processing.”

Digital Curation Centre

What is ‘data’?

Any information you use in your research

Why you should care

Reason 1:Data are fragile and

easy to lose

‘data garbage’ by steffenz on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/steffenz/336512756/

‘data garbage by steffenz on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/steffenz/336512756/

Storage media are fragile

http://blogs.ch.cam.ac.uk/pmr/2011/08/01/why-you-need-a-data-management-plan/

DON’T LET THIS BE

YOU!

http://blogs.ch.cam.ac.uk/pmr/2011/08/01/why-you-need-a-data-management-plan/

“Fire” by andrewmalone via flickr.: http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewmalone/2032844649/

What would happen to your data if there was a fire in your office, department or

home?

‘books in a stack (a stack of books)’ by austinevan on flickr:http://www.flickr.com/photos/austinevan/1225274637/

‘books in a stack (a stack of books)’ by austinevan on flickr:http://www.flickr.com/photos/austinevan/1225274637/

Can you find things you know you have when you need them?

Why you should care

Reason 2:Data are part of your

(research) legacy

Love your data!

Send your research into the future!

‘The Eduardo Paolozzi sculpture of Newton at the British Library’ by dumbledad on flickr :http://www.flickr.com/photos/dumbledad/3372398044/ CC-BY-2.0

Open Access Teaching Materials for Digital Preservation

Produced by Anna Collins (Cambridge University Library) for the JISC-funded

PrePARe project (2012)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.