Spent the 13 -15th of November at Pretoria University at the Research Data Management workshop arranged by SADiLaR and run by the knowledgebase Benito Trollip and co-ordinated by the lovely Jessica Mabaso
Benito and I first met in person at DHASA 2023 in Gqeberha from 27 Nov – 1 Dec 2023 (almost a year ago to the day). At the conference I learned about the open-source translation tools known as the Autshumato Integrated Translation Environment (ITE) and saw the way in which SADiLaR staff ran their workshops, an approach I have always appreciated.
The day began with “construct your own curriculum”. We had interesting discussions about data and then moved onto metadata. We were introduced to Open Science, FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable) and CARE principles (Collective benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility, Ethics) and data management. (FAIR and CARE seemed to correspond nicely with my CASEFULL acronym that I presented at a DH Ignite event last year). Benito covered topics such as Data Management Plans and the responsibility we held for managing our data and making sure data was good.
Probably the most challenging part of the workshop was Day 3 where Bianca Peterson (from Fathom Data) showed us how to use Open Refine (see the data carpentry lesson), for cleaning data. I’d spent days cleaning data manually for a client years ago. A thankless under appreciated task. This was an exciting tool to see in action and learn about.
If you do work with data and have the chance to attend. I’d recommend it thoroughly.
Highlights for me: Meeting and chatting with academics, librarians and other SADiLaR friends. Finding out about the SADiLaR Repository. Learning about more metadata techniques.