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.