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Research Data Management

Help finding and accessing data, data management planning, data organization, reuse of data, data sharing and storage, data citation, and more with our lovely Librarians

A number of tools that can help you manage your research data throughout the research lifecycle:

  1. The Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity (KNB) is an international repository intended to facilitate ecological and environmental research. It houses metadata gathered from studies conducted at field stations, laboratories, research sites, and individual researchers. KNB offers an efficient way to share, discover, access and interpret complex ecological data. KNB’s data management software is developed in a free and open source manner, so other groups can build upon the tools. Powered by the Metacat data management system, it is optimized for handling data sets described using Ecological Metadata Language, but can store any XML-based metadata document. Metadata from studies conducted at reserves is stored at KNB. We are working on making it possible to submit metadata from your NRS research to KNB through the NRS’s Reserve Access Management System (RAMS)
  2. Data Observation Network for Earth (DataONE) is the foundation of new innovative environmental science through a distributed framework and sustainable cyberinfrastructure that meets the needs of science and society for open, persistent, robust, and secure access to well-described and easily discovered Earth observational data. Their Best Practices document is seen as the standard for data collecting. They also have an extensive list of software tools. Data one provides a number of great training modules.

  3. re3data.org a research data repository. A research data repository is a subtype of a sustainable information infrastructure which provides long-term storage and access to research data that is the basis for a scholarly publication. Research data means information objects generated by scholarly projects for example through experiments, measurements, surveys or interviews.
    A research data repository listed in re3data.org is either: a data provider if it offers research data and its metadata (ideally exposing metadata via interfaces), a service provider (e.g. a portal) if it harvests the metadata of research data from data providers as a basis for building value-added services.

  4. EDI is actively promoting and enabling curation and re-use of environmental data. They assist researchers from field stations, individual laboratories, and research projects of all sizes to archive and publish their environmental data. EDI is committed to enable data that is Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR). They provide support, training, and resources to help archive and publish high-quality data and metadata. They operate a secure data repository and work closely with the LTER Network Communications Office and DataONE to promote data management best practices and stewardship. Their team consists of highly motivated and experienced data practitioners, software developers, and research scientists. ezEML is a form-based online application designed to streamline the creation of metadata in the Ecological Metadata Language (EML).

  5. figshare is a repository where users can make  all of their research outputs available in a citable, shareable and discoverable manner.  figshare allows users to upload any file format to be previewed in the browser so that any research output, from posters and presentations to datasets and code, can be disseminated in a way that the current scholarly publishing model does not allow. figshare features aim to help you organize your research and get as much impact for it as possible, without adding time or effort to your day.

  6. The Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) is an open, networked community that brings together science, data and information technology practitioners. ESIP’s mission is to support the networking and data dissemination needs of the global community by linking observation, research, application, education and the ultimate use of Earth science. You can participate resolving issues of common interest in this intellectual commons for Earth science data in a number of collaboration areas ranging from environmental sensing to energy and climate.