More Resources
A variety of publications and training materials are available on topics of Research Data Management and related issues concerning academic research. Here are a few suggestions. There are also a variety of tools to help with various stages of the research data lifecycle.
Training Modules & Education Materials
If you're looking for a general introduction on best practices for research data management, check out some of these training modules. Librarians can also provide local, customized training. You can view a list of upcoming trainings from the Digital Scholarship Center.
- University of Wyoming TrainingA collection of workshops and presentations from the Libraries' Digital Scholarship Center. Includes topics such as poster design, data visualization, and data cleaning.
- Data Management Training ClearinghouseSearch or browse for online training resources on Research Data Management.
- DataONE Data Management Modules10 PowerPoint Lessons with handouts and exercises
- MANTRAA free online course for those who manage digital data as part of their research project
- RDM Handbook (from OpenAIRE)OpenAIRE is a European advocacy organization promoting Open Scholarly Communication. Their website contains information relating to Research Data Management and Open Science.
General Resources on Research Data Management
- Digital Curation CentreWebsite of Internationally-recognized organization (based in the United Kingdom) providing resources and training on Research Data Management.
- Research Data Alliance (RDA)RDA has a grass-roots, inclusive approach covering all data lifecycle stages, engaging data producers, users and stewards, addressing data exchange, processing, and storage.
Additional information about Research Data Management can be found on websites and library guides of other universities. [Note that services mentioned and subscription-based resource links will not be accessible by UW users. However, subscription materials mentioned might be available via the UW Libraries website. Please ask a UW Librarian if you need help locating a desired resource.]
Data Management Tools
There are a variety of free tools and softwares available out there for anyone to use as a part of a research project. This is not an exhaustive list, but a starting point to help you explore what's available.
- DMPToolA tool to make creating funder-specific and general data management plans.
- OpenRefineA tool that helps with messy data by allowing you to clean it in a variety of ways.
- TabulaA tool that can extract data from PDFs and convert it to spreadsheet format
- R and RStudioA free, open-source programming language that can be useful for data analysis in a variety of ways, from statistical analysis to data visualization
- PythonA programming language that can perform a variety of functions
- GithubA website that is cloud-based, where researchers can share code, data, and documents with other people. It is also very good at version control.
- Open Science Framework (OSF)A tool that promotes the open sharing of research workflows and documents
- Jupyter NotebookA free, open-source, interactive web tool known as a computational notebook, which researchers can use to combine software code, computational output, explanatory text and multimedia resources in a single document
Data Visualization Programs
- DatawrapperDatawrapper is an extremely easy-to-use data visualization tool for plotting interactive charts. All you need to do is upload your data via a CSV file, choose the chart you want to plot. It's free and no sign-up needed.
- PlotlyAn open-source library for R, Python, and JavaScript, Plotly works seamlessly with its enterprise-ready deployment servers to enable easy and code-free collaborations. For those with some knowledge of coding, tutorials and further guidance enhance Plotly’s functionalities.
- RAWGraphsRaw bridges the gap between spreadsheets and vector graphics. You don't need coding experience to use it, and since the data is only processed through the web browser, your data is safe and private.
- Tableau PublicWith a friendly user interface and drag and drop capabilities, Tableau Public is a great free option for those wanting to visualize data. Note that data is stored in Tableau's cloud storage system, and is therefore not secure.
- ggplot2 in Rggplot2, a package within the R language, is an excellent choice to visualize data for those with coding experience. Sharing your code can make your work reproducible. If your data is sensitive, you can safely use ggplot2 to make visualizations to share without also sharing the underlying data publicly or on a public server.
Recommended Reading
- Ten Simple Rules for the Care and Feeding of Scientific DataArticle in "PLOS Computational Biology" (2014).
- How and Why You Should Manage Your Research DataGuidance from Jisc, a non-profit member organization providing digital solutions for education and research in the United Kingdom.
Book available in print from Coe Library:
Managing and Sharing Research Data by
Book focused on social sciences research. Research funders in the UK, USA and across Europe are implementing data management and sharing policies to maximize openness of data, transparency and accountability of the research they support. Written by experts from the UK Data Archive with over 20 years experience, this book gives post-graduate students, researchers and research support staff the data management skills required in today's changing research environment. The book features guidance on: how to plan your research using a data management checklist how to format and organize data how to store and transfer data research ethics and privacy in data sharing and intellectual property rights data strategies for collaborative research how to publish and cite data how to make use of other people's research data, illustrated with six real-life case studies of data use.
Call Number: H62.A5 C67 2014Publication Date: 2014
