ARIADNE is funded by the European Commission's Seventh Framework Programme

Lifecycles

Kate Fernie

Overview

• Data Lifecycle• Creation and Capture• Archiving• Re-use

Data Lifecycle

Provides an overview of the stages in the curation and preservation of data from the initial project design.

It can be used to plan activities in an organisation.

We’re using it here to convey the idea that there is a cycle in the life of your data.

http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/curation-lifecycle-model

Data Curation Centre Lifecycle model

In the beginning

• Project begins with the research design• Planning the methods and techniques

– Field survey, Excavation, Remote sensing, Lab analyses, Digitisation, etc

• Setting up– Choosing the tools– Calibrating instruments

• Recording

Creation: Born digital• Data originating in electronic recording equipment or in

computers, e.g. 3D digitisation• No analogue equivalent• A large array of hardware and software may be used in the capture,

processing, analysis and generation of the data

• How easy the data is to use for analysis, post-processing or visualisation and how meaningful it is in future

• Depends on the metadata captured• Parameters of the instruments• Registration, base lines• Coding• Etc.

Image © Oxford Archaeology (North)

Creation: Digitised

• Data created as a result of converting analogue originals, e.g. by scanning plans or images• Again an array of hardware and software may be used

• Choices will be made• Resolution of images • Whether to produce vector or raster data• OCR techniques for conversion of scanned archive documents to

text

• Affects the uses of the data• e.g. in GIS

• Metadata capture is important

Image © State Library of New South Wales 2015

Data lifecycle

1. Create

• The information you capture from the start of your project and when you capture your data matters

• It affects what you can do later• Especially in long-running projects

which involve many researchers

2. Active Use

Archiving

Remember the case studies• The archives arrived for

deposit in boxes and hard drives…

• Important data files with• Duplicates and redundant

or irrelevant stuff• and some documentation

Archiving

• When data is received a curator will– Appraise it (work out what the deposit includes)– Select the data that is useful to keep in the long term

The information that researchers give describing their project and documenting their data is crucial for appraisal.

SelectionA B C

E

D F

Archiving

• When data is received a curator will– Appraise it– Select the data that is useful to keep in the long term– Possibly transform the data into new formats– Add administrative metadata– Ingest into the repository– Make it available for re-use

Data lifecycle

• The information you capture from the start of your project and when you capture your data matters

• It supports archiving• The metadata that curators add

when they ingest your data into the repository is important for its management and enables re-use

Will you re-use existing datasets in your research project?• Majority of data is recorded in grey

literature• Published reports often include only a

subset of the data• Data deposited in an archive supports

preservation and enables access for re-use

• Discovery metadata is important

© Buch Edition

Re-use

Case study: Bosworth archive

Case study: Bosworth archive

Downloadable data archive

ADS digital data re-use awards!

http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/blog/2015/10/we-have-a-winner-digital-data-reuse-award-2015/

• The information you capture from the start of your project and

• the metadata provided with your data archive matters

• It enables discovery and new research uses• And long term preservation

Data lifecycle

1. Create

2. Active Use

This is not a tyranny

• We don’t mean to over-state the case

• Or to scare off well-meaning people with a high-tech approach

• There can be a scaled approach• Good practices go a long way in

helping to secure your data

Document it

Capture metadata

Make a back up

Deposit in an archive

Make it available for re-use

How will you look after your data?

AcknowledgementsARIADNE is a project funded by the European Commission under the Community’s Seventh

Framework Programme, contract no. FP7-INFRASTRUCTURES-2012-1-313193.

Dr Katie Green, Archaeology Data ServiceDr. Jeremy Huggett, University of Glasgow

DataTrain Project, Cambridge University Library

Image credits:DCC Data Lifecycle and image of Checklist for a Data Management Plan courtesy of the Digital Curation CentreACE 'Working in Archaeology' Photographic Exhibition 2011-12