Terminology in this area is confusing, and is used differently in different projects. For the purposes of a report I’m writing, unless otherwise specified, we will use terminology in the following way:
- Data management is the handing and care of data (in our case research data) throughout its lifecycle. Data management thus will potentially involve several different actors.
- Data management plans refer to formal or informal documents describing the processes and technologies to be deployed in data management, usually for a research project.
- Data deposit refers to placing the data in a safe location, normally distinct from the environment of first use, where it has greater chance of persisting, and can be accessed for re-use (sometimes under conditions). Often referred to as data archiving.
- Data re-use refers to use made of existing data either by its creators, or by others. If re-use is by the data creators, the implication is that the purpose or context has changed.
- Data sharing is the process of making data available for re-use by others, either by data deposit, or on a peer to peer basis.
- Data sharing plans refer to the processes and technologies to be used by the project to support data sharing.
Some JISCMRD projects made a finer distinction between data re-use and data re-purposing. I couldn’t quite get that. So I’m balancing on the edge of an upturned Occam’s Razor and choosing the simpler option!
Does this make sense? Comments welcomed!