Managing the data deluge

The volume of digital data created during the lifetime of a research project is expanding rapidly. Scholars across all disciplines are increasingly able to access, share, transform and connect large and diverse sets of data. However, this ‘data deluge’ introduces new challenges, as the volume becomes difficult to manage, hardware and software become obsolete, and the original contexts of data are lost.

The ‘Incremental’ project, funded by JISC, is a collaboration between Cambridge University Library and the University of Glasgow, and aims to improve and increase research curation within UK higher education institutions. Both the Digital Curation Centre and Digital Preservation Coalition are providing support and guidance.

A scoping study conducted earlier this year identified the attitudes, experiences and needs of a range of researchers at both universities. Now the project is taking simple and pragmatic steps to meet these needs, including the creation of jargon-free web resources offering guidance on planning, organising, accessing and storing data in the long term.

‘Managing data well ensures research integrity and replication, provides opportunities for researchers to discover and share information, and increases the longevity of research,’ says Grant Young, the Library’s digital preservation specialist. ‘Incremental aims to provide researchers with the services and resources they need to ensure that their digital data can have a lasting impact.’

For more information, please contact Catharine Ward, Incremental Project Manager (cw330@cam.ac.uk) or visit www.lib.cam.ac.uk/dataman/