STORING

Well-organized data helps you save time, save money, reduce risk, increase impact, and to be a good steward of university resources and any funding received. See tips, tools, and resources for storing data during active research. For information on long-term preservation after the completion of a project, visit the Preserving page.

TIPS

• Use open, documented file formats (e.g., CSV, RTF, and PDF) encoded with standard characters, and used commonly in your research community.
• Backup all files. Make 3 copies with 2 on different media and 1 that is held off-site.
• Develop and stick to a plan for folder hierarchies and file naming, and be sure to include versioning.
• Keep anything irreproducible and results tied to a publication or presentation. You may choose to discard intermediate results or failed experiments and extraneous files.

TOOLS

Use tools like the following for storage and for sharing with colleagues and partners in a collaborative environment:
BE AWARE that certain types of information are protected under export control, FERPA, HIPAA, or IRB processes. Consult a UTA subject matter expert resource if you have questions (see Campus Resources below).

For storage guidelines, see these Sanctioned Services and Locations matrices developed by the Information Security Office. Click here for more information on sharing data.

• If you need to rename files in bulk, use a free tool, like Bulk Rename Utility, Renamer, or PSRenamer.
• Networked drives. Your college or department may support centralized file-sharing via a local network. This is preferable to storing data on your desktop computer and sharing via removable drives, but may not be adequate for inter-departmental or external data sharing.
• Intranet and Cloud services. OneDrive and Sharepoint are recommendend platforms; however, there are many cloud services available for no or low-cost to UTA faculty, staff, and students, that may be suitable for file sharing and collaborative research. For more info about options for sharing data, see the tools for sharing.
• Online. Storing data on a project webpage may be a good option for open science, especially for sharing data with larger audiences. It's recommended to use a resource like Open Science Framework (OSF) for project management, where certain project components can be shared with specified users or made publicly available and citable. Be aware that other solutions, like sharing on a personal webpage, can be hard to maintain for the longer term, especially after your project is over and/or funding is no longer available.

CAMPUS RESOURCES

• UTA Libraries’ Research Data Services provides information around steps for organizing data as well as workshops and consultations to assist in this stage of the data lifecycle.
• The OIT Office of Research Support can advise you on the technology available that can support your particular storage needs. Contact: Edward Gonzales.

Still stuck? Send us your questions or request a consultation at datahelp@uta.edu.