Library:Research Data/Data Management Planning/How Do I Create a DMP
When constructing a useful DMP, there are several issues that you need to take into consideration. Firstly, you must find out whether your funding agency has any specific requirements so that you can ensure that those are met. Subsequently you must make decisions about how you will store and manage your data for the duration of the research project itself. Finally, you must consider the long-term preservation of the data and whether you hope to share or license it to other parties in the future.
When creating a DMP you should consider the following elements:
- Organization
- File formats & data migration
- Documentation & metadata
- Storage & security
- Protection, rights & access
- Preservation, sharing, & licensing
Constructing a comprehensive Data Management Plan will not only fulfill your needs for the duration of the project but will also make your data easily explicable to other researchers in the future.
There are resources for targeted help with creating a DMP. The University of California Curation Center of the California Digital Library has made DMP Tool available, which gives data management advice and instruction focused on your institution, and helps create data management plans that are specifically geared to particular funding agencies. Other resources are accessible through the MIT Libraries’ page on Data Management and Publishing.