A backup policy helps manage users' expectations and provides specific guidance on the "who, what, when, and how" of the data backup and restore process. There are several benefits to documenting your data backup policy:
Data files should be managed to avoid disorder. To facilitate access to files, all storage devices, locations and access accounts should be documented and accessible to team members. Use appropriate tools, such as version control tools, to keep track of the history of the data files. This will help with maintaining files in different locations, such as at multiple off-site backup locations or servers.
In the planning process, researchers should carefully consider what data will be produced in the course of their project.
Consider the following:
In addition to the primary researcher(s), there might be others involved in the research process that take part in aspects of data management. By clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of the parties involved, data are more likely to be available for use by the primary researchers and anyone re-using the data. Roles and responsibilities should be clearly defined, rather than assumed; this is especially important for collaborative projects that involve many researchers, institutions, and/or groups.
Examples of roles in data management:
A data model documents and organizes data, how it is stored and accessed, and the relationships among different types of data. The model may be abstract or concrete.
Use these guidelines to create a data model:
Steps for the identification of the sensitivity of data and the determination of the appropriate security or privacy level are:
Shaping the data management plan towards a specific desired repository will increase the likelihood that the data will be accepted into that repository and increase the discoverability of the data within the desired repository. When beginning a data management plan:
A Data Management Plan should include the following information:
Multimedia data present unique challenges for data discovery, accessibility, and metadata formatting and should be thoughtfully managed. Researchers should establish their own requirements for management of multimedia during and after a research project using the following guidelines. Multimedia data includes still images, moving images, and sound. The Library of Congress has a set of web pages discussing many of the issues to be considered when creating and working with multimedia data. Researchers should consider quality, functionality and formats for multimedia data.
As a best practice, one must first acknowledge that the process of managing data will incur costs. Researchers should plan to address these costs and the allocation of resources in the early planning phases of the project. This best practice focuses on data management costs during the life cycle of the project, and does not aim to address costs of data beyond the end of the project.
The plan will be created at the conceptual stage of the project. It should be considered a living document and a road map for the project, and should be closely followed. Any changes to the data management plan should be made deliberately, and the plan should be updated throughout the data life cycle.
