Data Collections

Defining a collection

For ANDS the concept of a collection means an aggregation of physical and/or digital resources which has meaning in a research context.

Research Data Australia can accommodate collection descriptions of resources based on any criteria which have meaning to the research community. Some common groupings have been identified: 

Collections of mixed objects based on a research project

The collection might include any kind of object, including experimental observations, photographs or digital images, maps, structured data in spreadsheets or databases, lab notebooks, or any other materials used in the research process. These collections should link to other entities in the Research Data Australia, including: 

• parties (authors, contributors, funders, institutions) 

• activities (course, research project), and can point to related information outside Research Data Australia, such as professional publications based on the collection 

Collections of particular object types based on intellectual themes together with curatorial requirements

An example might be a collection of photographs or music with a common theme that are stored and managed as a group. (Research Data Australia collection type of ‘collection'). These collections should link to other entities in Research Data Australia, including parties (creators, institutions 

• Example: Kartomi Collection of Traditional Music Arts in Sumatra

Collections of digital data

A collection might include scientific observations in a digital format, together with information about scientific equipment and methods used to compile them. (Research Data Australia collection type of ‘dataset')

• Example: Water Quality dataset, Great Barrier Reef 

Collections of digital data or physical objects based on a temporal range such as time series data. (Research Data Australia collection type of ‘dataset') 

Collections of digital data or physical objects based on storage location (in association with an institution or subject discipline) (Research Data Australia collection type of ‘repository') 

Collections of resource descriptions (metadata) describing the content of one or more repositories or collective works (in association with an institution or subject discipline) (Research Data Australia collection type of ‘catalogue or index') 

• Example: Australian Spatial Data Directory (ASDD)

Data Management

Establishing and practicing sustainable good data management is a basic step. It all starts with teaching and promoting its benefits to researchers. Making sure everyone associated with your project has a clear understanding of how and why this is important.