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Data Services

Data Management Services assists Brandon researchers with the organization, management, and curation of research data to enhance its preservation and access now and into the future

Responsibilities and Resources 


Below are several examples of the types of questions you will be asked related to Roles and Responsibilities for the research data.  Carefully consider each question.
 

Who will be responsible for data management?

  • Who is responsible for implementing the DMP, and ensuring it is reviewed and revised? 
  • Who will be responsible for each data management activity? 
  • How will responsibilities be split across partner sites in collaborative research projects?
  • Will data ownership and responsibilities for RDM be part of any consortium agreement
    or contract agreed between partners?

Guidance:

Outline the roles and responsibilities for all activities
e.g. data capture, metadata production, data quality,
storage and backup, data archiving & data sharing.

Consider who will be responsible for ensuring relevant policies will be respected. Individuals should be named where possible.

What resources will you require to deliver your plan?

  • Is additional specialist expertise (or training for existing staff) required?
  • Do you require hardware or software which is additional or exceptional to existing institutional provision?
  • Will charges be applied by data repositories?

Guidance:

Carefully consider any resources needed to deliver
the plan, e.g. software, hardware, technical expertise, etc.

Where dedicated resources are needed, these should be outlined and justified.


As you answer these questions you will need to consider everything involved in managing data from its collection to preservation and sharing including: 

  • The Drafting of: 

    • policies,

    • permission documents,

    • co-researcher agreements,

    • documents about the data,

    • metadata standards, and 

    • information about licenses to be used when sharing or preserving data.

  • Managing access to the data.

  • Managing  files / versioning.

  • Managing Backups of each file / version.

  • Preparation of files for sharing.

  • Assigning relevant Metadata.

  • Preparation of files for preservation. 

Some of these roles may be external to the research team. For example:

  • Backups  MAY be done by IT services.
  • Once files are selected for preservation and uploaded to a repository, the repository managers will back up and preserve that data. 

Some roles may need to be funded by a grant.  If so, consider:

  • What type of person, with what type of qualifications, will you need to hire.   What will the hiring cost?  You should understand this so it can be included in your DMP and your Grant Application.
  • Who would do different types of work?  Explain it in your DMP.