Data Documentation – Introduction

By now you understand how to describe your data collection in terms of, for example, type, size, and format. You have identified this for your own research data. Now we will look into the documentation and metadata which will accompany your data. Documentation and metadata are essential to understand what a dataset means and to make it reusable in the future. In this part of the course you will learn to:

• Understand how documenting your data helps yourself and others understand, verify, review, replicate, access, reuse and build upon your findings;
• Discern between different ways to document your data;
• Understand the role of metadata in increasing data interoperability;
• Apply the presented information to your own data.