2023 – Cornell Data Services

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Best of 2023

December 9, 2023

As you wrap up another semester, you might be thinking about research plans for the new year. Here are some of our newsletter highlights from 2023 that could help.

January 2023: new NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has a new Data Management and Sharing Policy, in effect for grants submitted ON or AFTER January 25, 2023. CDS can help. Visit our website to learn more or contact us for free and confidential feedback on draft plans.

March 2023: Data Storage

From Cornell Box to the eCommons institutional repository, Cornell University offers a wide variety of storage solutions that cater to different types of data. When choosing a storage solution, it is important to consider:

The sensitivity of your data
How you are currently using your data
How large any individual file in your data set is likely to be
Special performance and access needs

We have a Data Storage Finder to help you find and evaluate on-campus storage options with these needs in mind, and a guide to data storage and backup best practices.

May 2023: Digital Humanities Resources

The Digital CoLab at Olin Library supports new and experimental approaches to research and teaching that are most often associated with the humanities and qualitative social sciences. The CoLab can assist with scholarly projects like mapping, network analysis, database design, data visualization, digital exhibits and collections, computational text analysis (text mining), as well as related tasks like OCR and data cleaning. We also help with digital privacy practices. Join the CoLab’s listerv to stay informed on DH campus news throughout the academic year.

October 2023: How to Protect and Share Sensitive Data

Data should be as open as possible, but as restricted as necessary. There are numerous ways to transform data to protect sensitive information, but it all depends on:

the form and content of the data itself
the vulnerability of who or what you are protecting
who will have access to the data

Learn more about cybersecurity, transformation methods, and services available to help.

Subscribe to the newsletter

Join the CDS listserv to receive our monthly newsletter for the latest on tips, trainings, research data policy news and more. To join the list, send an email message to: rdmsg-announce-l-request@cornell.edu. Leave the subject of the message blank, and simply type “join” in the body of the message. Find all past newsletters here.

Use our how-to guides to become a data rockstar

November 7, 2023

Whether you are looking for information on how to write a data management plan, how to prepare and share FAIR data for reuse, or how to write a README file to describe data, we have many guides on working with data throughout the research lifecycle. From the planning stages, through closeout and archiving, these guides summarize best practices and point to resources on campus and beyond. The top-visited guides are:

We can help with questions we haven’t yet written a guide on, too, so reach out if you can’t find the guidance you’re looking for. Consultants are available to help with data-related questions year-round. Email data-help@cornell.edu to arrange a consultation.

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month: How to protect and share data

October 6, 2023

Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) Cybersecurity Awareness Month is a dedicated month for the public and private sectors to work together to raise awareness about the importance of cybersecurity. This year’s theme is “Secure Our World,” and four habits are encouraged to help strengthen basic protections for all of us.

Use strong passwords
turn on MFA (multi-factor authentication)
recognize and report phishing attacks
keep software updated

What does this have to do with data? Data should be as open as possible, but as restricted as necessary. There are numerous ways to transform data to protect sensitive information but it all depends on:

the form and content of the data itself
the vulnerability of who or what you are protecting
who will have access to the data

Transformation Methods:

De-Identification: Removing or altering identifiers but retaining the ability to reconnect with and re-identify the data by using a code, algorithm, or pseudonym.
Anonymization: Removing or altering all possible identifiable information so that the data can never be re-identified.
Aggregation: Replacing specific identifying information with a more general summarized form.

Data Security Resources:

Cornell Data Services: Listing of campus data-related services, best practices, and consultations
IRB: Resources, guidance, and training for research involving human participant research
Research Security: Resources and updates for Cornell faculty, students, and staff on emerging research compliance requirements
IT Security Office: Resources, guidance, and consultations available to protect your system and Cornell data
Cornell University Library and the Digital CoLab: Consultations, resources, and workshops on privacy-related topics like targeted digital harassment, surveillance, and datafication of academia
Certified Desktop: Security and policy compliance package available to faculty and staff for Cornell-owned devices
Cornell Center for Social Science: Consultations on qualitative and quantitative data anonymization
Human Subjects Curation Primer: Data Curation Network primer on preparing human subjects data for sharing

Grow your data skills with Fall workshops and training

September 7, 2023

A wide range of data-related workshops and training are offered every semester, but it can be challenging to find them all! We can help with that.

Training and workshops scheduled for this Fall:

RDMSG gets new website, new name!

August 14, 2023

Allow us to re-introduce ourselves: The Research Data Management Service Group (RDMSG) is now Cornell Data Services (CDS). We have redesigned our website to reflect this name change and enhance the accessibility of our web content. Our website’s URL (data.research.cornell.edu) and content remain the same.

Cornell Data Services is a collaborative, campus-wide organization that links Cornell University faculty, staff and students with data services to meet their research needs. CDS’s broad range of disciplinary, policy, data, and information technology experts provide timely and professional assistance for the creation and implementation of data management and sharing plans, and help researchers find specialized data-related services they require at any stage of the research process, including initial exploration, data gathering, analysis and description, long term preservation and access. Please contact us with feedback or requests for information. We’re happy to re-meet you!

We can help with the new NIH Data Sharing Policy

February 24, 2023

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has a new Data Management and Sharing Policy, in effect for grants submitted ON or AFTER January 25, 2023. With this policy, investigators applying for NIH funding must:

Include a Data Management and Sharing Plan (DMSP) outlining how scientific data and any accompanying metadata will be managed and shared, accounting for any potential restrictions or limitations.
Follow through with the Data Management and Sharing Plan approved by the funding Institute or Center (IC).

What you write in your plan is what you’ll be expected to do. Therefore, your plan should reflect the details of your proposal. For more information, visit the Cornell NIH page and the NIH’s Scientific Data Sharing pages or watch a recording of Cornell’s OSP roundtable presentation on the Updated NIH Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Policy Requirements.

Guidance and Templates

Elements to include in a Data Management and Sharing Plan from the NIH.
Generic templates from: NIH (document download) and DMPTool.

Love Data Week February 13-17

February 6, 2023

Love Data Week 2023 will include a variety of workshops and networking opportunities focused on data access, analysis, discovery, management, sharing, and preservation. RDMSG Consultants will also be tabling at different campus locations throughout the week, distributing data swag and information as we go. Learn more and register for workshops. #LoveData23

Scientific Computing Training Available

January 10, 2023

Cornell’s Winter/Spring 2023 Scientific Computing Training Series begins Feb. 7. Twelve Zoom-based seminars will be led by the Center for Advanced Computing and are sponsored by Weill Cornell Medicine Scientific Computing, ITS, and the Clinical and Translational Science Center. The training is free and available to all workforce members and students of Cornell, WCM, WCM-Q, and Cornell Tech.