{"id":949,"date":"2010-02-07T11:46:01","date_gmt":"2010-02-07T10:46:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/keepit\/?p=949"},"modified":"2010-02-07T11:46:01","modified_gmt":"2010-02-07T10:46:01","slug":"nectar-and-the-data-asset-framework-first-thoughts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/test-media\/2010\/02\/07\/nectar-and-the-data-asset-framework-first-thoughts\/","title":{"rendered":"NECTAR and the Data Asset Framework – first thoughts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NECTAR<\/a>KeepIt course module 1, Southampton, 19 January 2010<\/em>
\n Tools<\/strong> this module: DAF<\/a>, AIDA<\/a>
\n Tags<\/strong> Find out more about: this module KeepIt course 1<\/a>, the full KeepIt course<\/a>
\nPresentations referred to in this blog entry<\/strong> Using DAF as a Data Scoping Tool<\/a>, The DAF at Southampton<\/a> (Slideshare)
\nPresentations and tutorial exercises<\/strong> course 1<\/a> (source files)<\/p>\n

Three years ago, when we first conceived the principles which would underpin NECTAR<\/a>, it was agreed that datasets were a bridge too far.\u00a0 Instead, we would focus on the research outputs that were already in the public domain.\u00a0 This was a good criterion to use \u2013 it satisfied the research community\u2019s desire for a \u2018quality\u2019 benchmark without putting NECTAR administrators or fellow researchers in the\u00a0difficult position of having to sit in judgement on colleagues\u2019 work. So NECTAR\u00a0was able to contain\u00a0details of papers, presentations, books, exhibitions and artworks, but not data files.<\/p>\n

But times have moved on.<\/p>\n

The research environment now is different from even three years ago.\u00a0 With many of the major UK funders now mandating open access to data <\/a>and the REF looming, with its focus on research environment and impact, the possibility of using NECTAR to store research data clearly needs to be considered.\u00a0 Which begs two questions: how do researchers currently manage their data at Northampton and what might be their data management needs in the future?<\/p>\n

So I attended the first KeepIt training day with high expectations and a keen interest in what Sarah Jones and Harry Gibbs had to say about the design and implementation of the Data Asset Framework (DAF).\u00a0 I had already had a brief exposure to DAF\u00a0with DCC Digital Creation 101 Lite training <\/a>a few weeks previously, but Harry\u2019s first hand experience of implementing the tool was new and eagerly anticipated.<\/p>\n

As already described by others in this blog, DAF is essentially a framework which enables universities to audit departmental data collections, awareness, policies and practice for data curation and preservation.\u00a0 The DAF methodology<\/a> comprises 4 steps:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Planning the audit<\/li>\n
  2. Identifying and classifying assets<\/li>\n
  3. Assessing management of data assets<\/li>\n
  4. Reporting and recommendations<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    where a \u2018data asset\u2019 is<\/p>\n

    numerical data, statistics, output from experimental equipment, survey results, interview transcripts, databases, images or audiovisual files<\/em> (from the DAF implementation guide<\/a>)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    With the benefit of having been tested in a number of previous pilot studies, these steps appear to offer a straightforward and (importantly) achievable procedure for gathering information about institutional data.<\/p>\n

    Harry described the aims of the Southampton DAF project as:<\/p>\n