Author: Kristin Briney

“Data Is” or “Data Are”?

Want to start a disagreement amongst data managers? Ask them if “data” is a singular or plural noun. Does one say “data are” or is it better to say “data is”? Data people often have opinions about which is correct … Continue reading

2015 Data Resolutions

With only a little time left in 2014, I’m sure I’m not the only one making New Year’s resolutions. While many people put diet and exercise at the top of this list, this year I’m making a few data management … Continue reading

How to Share Your Research Data

With so many new policies from funding agencies and journals requiring data sharing, it’s growing more likely that you will encounter a data sharing mandate at some point in time. However, it can be difficult to know how to comply … Continue reading

Where to Start with Data Management

Managing your research data well feels like a big task. There are so many practices that make up good data management that there are whole classes (Oregon State, University of Minnesota) and curricula (NECDMC, MANTRA) on the topic. There’s even … Continue reading

Cloud Backup

I’m going to come right out and say that Dropbox is not a sufficient backup. If all you have are files in a Dropbox folder that are synced to the cloud, you should not consider your files to be backed … Continue reading

Data Dictionaries

Recently, I was reading through Christie Bahlai’s excellent roundup of spreadsheet best practices when I started thinking about documenting spreadsheets. You see, best practices say that spreadsheets should contain only one large data table with short variable names at the top … Continue reading