Data Management Plans
A data management plan (DMP) is a document that outlines how you will store and provide access to your data while conducting and after completing research. Many federal funding agencies are currently or will soon be requiring such plans to be submitted with every new grant.
As of 2011, the National Science Foundation requires that that data management plans be submitted as a part of every new proposal. Full details on how the NSF is implementing this policy are here (http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/dmp.jsp); this page also includes guidance from specific NSF directorates. The NSF also has a FAQ page (http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/dmpfaqs.jsp).
Other agencies, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) also have policies; additional information is available from the CDL (http://www.cdlib.org/services/uc3/datamanagement/funding.html).
Data Management Plan Guidelines
To help UC researchers meet this requirement, the University of California Curation Center (UC3) at the California Digital Library maintains a detailed web site (http://www.cdlib.org/services/uc3/datamanagement/index.html) on how to put together a data management plan that lists step-by-step considerations.
For a quick overview of the NSF mandate and DMPs, see the video and guide (http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/sciences/data/nsf_plan) from UC Berkeley
Data Management Plan Tool
UC3 has also put together a tool to help researchers put together DMPs. It is available here (https://dmp.cdlib.org/)
To use it, simply go to "get started", select "University of California, Davis" as your campus and create a new login.
The DMPTool supports data management plans and funder requirements across the disciplines, including the humanities and physical, medical, and social sciences, and includes multiple agency requirements. Users of the DMPTool can view sample plans, preview funder requirements, and view the latest changes to their plans. The tool also permits the user to create an editable document for submission to a funding agency, and can accommodate different versions as funding requirements change.
Data Repositories
UC3 maintains a page of links to some subject-specific repositories (http://www.cdlib.org/services/uc3/datamanagement/sharing.html)
UC faculty may also use the services of Merritt (http://merritt.cdlib.org/) — a repository service from the University of California Curation Center (UC3) of the California Digital Library that lets the UC community manage, archive, and share its digital content. For more information about using Merritt, see: Preserving Data.
UC3 also offers EZID (http://www.cdlib.org/services/uc3/ezid/index.html), a service for assigning a unique identifier to digital objects.
Other Data Management Plan Web Sites
Association for Research Libraries Data Management Planning (http://www.arl.org/rtl/eresearch/escien/nsf/nsfresources.shtml) — includes a compendium of links to resource sites for developing DMPs and to open data repositories.
MIT Data Management Site (http://libraries.mit.edu/guides/subjects/data-management/plans.html)
University of Wisconsin Research Data Services (http://researchdata.wisc.edu/)
University of Virginia Data Management Site (http://www2.lib.virginia.edu/brown/data/plan.html) — includes a template for constructing a plan and practical advice
Another template (http://dataconservancy.org/sites/default/files/NSFDataManagementPlanTemplatev1.1.pdf)PDF is available from dataconservancy.org; this is not specific to a directorate.
Getting Help
At the UC Davis Libraries, local data management plan contacts are:
- Phoebe Ayers: Physical Sciences and Engineering Librarian (Main Campus)
- Raquel Abad: Health Sciences Librarian (Blaisdell Medical Library, Sacramento)
- Deanna Johnson: Health Sciences Librarian (Carlson Health Sciences Library)
- Ruth Gustafson: Biological and Agricultural Sciences Librarian
The University of California Curation Center (UC3) also offers assistance with their services (http://www.cdlib.org/services/uc3/datamanagement/tools.html).
UC Davis faculty may wish to consult their subject specialist librarians (http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/ul/about/directories/subjspec.php) who have expertise in metadata, indexing, user needs, etc.
