Research Data Management

Research data management is the process of organizing, documenting, storing, and sharing your research data throughout and beyond the life of your project.

Good research data management practices make it easier to work with your data, collaborate with others, and preserve your research for the future. They can also help you meet funder, publisher, and institutional requirements.

Dalhousie Libraries can support you at any stage of the research lifecycle, from planning a project to sharing your data.

Plan your project

Planning ahead can make research data easier to manage from the start. We can help you:

• understand Tri-Agency Research Data Management Policy requirements
• identify resources to create a data management plan (DMP)
• plan for storage, retention, preservation, and sharing
• identify appropriate tools and workflows for your project

Tri-Agency Research Data Management Policy

The Tri-Agency Research Data Management Policy encourages good stewardship of research data produced through publicly funded research.

Depending on your funding, you may need to:

• create a data management plan
• deposit data in a repository
• make data available for reuse where appropriate

We can help you understand these requirements and determine what applies to your project.

Create a data management plan

A data management plan outlines how you will collect, organize, store, protect, and share your research data. You may need a data management plan for:

• grant applications
• funded research projects
• collaborations involving multiple researchers or institutions
• projects with plans to share or preserve data

Dalhousie researchers can use the DMP Assistant, a Canadian bilingual online tool, to create and maintain data management plans.

Get started: DPM Assistant

Need help getting started? Book a consultation with us.

Store your data securely

Choosing the right storage depends on your project, file sizes, and whether your data includes confidential or sensitive information. We can help you:

• assess your data's sensitivity
• project your data size
• identify storage and backup solutions
• create a file documentation system

Share and preserve your data

Sharing research data can increase the visibility, transparency, and impact of your work. We can help you prepare your data for sharing and deposit in a trusted repository.

Borealis at Dalhousie

Dalhousie Libraries supports Borealis, Canada’s national, multidisciplinary research data repository. Borealis allows you to:

• deposit research data
• assign a DOI for citation
• include documentation and metadata
• make data discoverable and reusable
• preserve data for long-term access

We can help guide you in the deposit process. Learn more about Borealis and how to deposit.

DalSpace

DalSpace is Dalhousie’s institutional repository - a digital service that collects, preserves, and distributes digital material produced by the Dalhousie community. DalSpace is a great place to deposit publications and supplementary data. Learn about content guidelines, policies, and how to deposit.

Workshops and resources

Dalhousie Libraries offers workshops, guidance, and tools related to research data management, including:

• writing data management plans
• preparing data for sharing
• metadata and documentation
• data repositories
• data citation
• file organization and best practices

Browse upcoming workshops and events:

• Check out upcoming workshops from Dal Libraries
• Browse training from the Digital Research Alliance of Canada

Book a consultation

Have a question about managing your research data? We work with Dalhousie:

• faculty
• graduate students
• undergraduate researchers
• postdoctoral fellows
• research staff

Whether you’re planning a grant application or preparing data for deposit, we’re here to help.

Contact our Research Data Management team.