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Workshops

We are piloting a new data management curriculum for faculty and graduate students. The curriculum consists of five 50-minute workshops. Each of these five workshops addresses one or more of the components of the National Science Foundation's requirement for data management plans (DMPs) for NSF-funded research projects from the National Science Foundation Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide.

Approximately one workshop is held per week throughout the semester, beginning Spring 2019. To accommodate our researchers' full schedules, the workshops are held on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday afternoons, and the entire curriculum repeats twice per semester. 

To view the entire Library Events calendar, click here. To view or register for a workshop, click on the date it is scheduled. Clicking on the location of a workshop brings up a map of the relevant building(s). All files relevant to each workshop (presentation slides, handouts, etc.) can be downloaded here for reference.

flyer for research data management workshops
(click to enlarge)

1. Creating Effective Data Management Plans

January 24th, 2019 | March 13th, 2019

KL 360

This workshop provides a general overview of the steps involved in creating data management plans, discusses all the sections of a data management plan (DMP), and includes a variety of links and other relevant resources. It also provides examples of funded data management plans. After completing this workshop, researchers should be able to: (1) explain the need for research data management and identify relevant policies; (2) explain the research data lifecycle; and (3) be familiar with data management plan (DMP) requirements.

Presentation Slides 

Handout: DMP Template #1

Handout: DMP Template #2

Handout: DMP Example #1 (with reviewer comments)

Handout: DMP Example #2

Handout: DMP Example #3

2. Cataloging and Metadata Workshop

January 29th, 2019 | March 20th, 2019

KL 360

This workshop defines metadata and discusses the process of creating metadata. It presents relevant metadata standards across various disciplines and presents examples. After completing this workshop, researchers should be able to: (1) understand what metadata is; (2) understand why metadata is important; (3) identify applicable metadata standards; (4) identify a valid approach to creating metadata for a project.

Presentation Slides

Handout: Metadata Examples

Handout: Metadata Prompts

3. Learning About Data Sharing

January 31st, 2019 | April 2nd, 2019

KL 360

This workshop discusses data sharing with a focus on two of the repositories available at UC Merced, Dash and the Qualitative Data Repository (QDR). It gives a brief overview of both repositories, including a Zoom session by Sebastian Karcher (Associate Director of QDR), who can answer researchers' questions. After completing this workshop, researchers should be able to: (1) address sharing requirements from granting agencies or sponsors; (2) understand different repositories or workspaces for sharing data; (3) address any need for conversion to standard file formats.

Presentation Slides

4. How to Choose a License

February 7th, 2019 | April 18th, 2019

KL 360

This workshop provides an overview of Creative Commons licensing. It discusses restrictions on access, ethical and privacy issues relating to research data, and software licenses. After completing this workshop, researchers should be able to: (1) understand publisher and licensing restrictions on re-use of data and software; (2) identify who can share/access their data and for what purpose; (3) determine temporary or permanent access policy; (4) understand options for maximizing data reuse.

Presentation Slides

Handout: Licensing Worksheet

Handout: Licensing Worksheet Solutions

5. Data Storage Solutions

February 19th, 2019 | April 22nd, 2019

KL 397 | KL 360

This workshop discusses the best practices for research data management, research data integrity, data archiving, and strategies for disaster recovery. It is hosted by Jeffrey Weekley (Director of Research Computing & Cyberinfrastructure at UC Merced) and Matthias Bussonnier (Research Facilitator at UC Merced and founding member of the Jupyter Project). After completing this workshop, researchers should be able to: (1) draft a research data storage approach, including data integrity and access; (2) describe best practices for long-term preservation of research data; (3) understand the steps they can take to mitigate disaster risk; and (4) explain the options for a long-term sustainable preservation strategy for their data.