Two well-received new tools have just been launched to help institutions improve their data management. These are the JISC-funded Data Audit Framework (DAF) and the DRAMBORA tool – the Digital Repository Audit Method Based On Risk Assessment. Workshops introducing both methodologies will be taking place at Edinburgh’s International Data Curation Conference on 1 December 2008.

Adding value to your data assets

Two well-received new tools have just been launched to help institutions improve their data management. These are the JISC-funded Data Audit Framework (DAF) and the DRAMBORA tool – the Digital Repository Audit Method Based On Risk Assessment. Workshops introducing both methodologies will be taking place at Edinburgh’s International Data Curation Conference on 1 December 2008.

The Data Audit Framework (DAF)

Led by the Humanities Advanced Technology and Information Institute (HATII) at the University of Glasgow in association with the Digital Curation Centre (DCC), the DAF’s four-step audit methodology and online tool are designed to bring order, continued access and therefore added value to the existing and future data assets of libraries and memory and education institutions.

The four stages of the Data Audit Framework are:

  • Planning the audit
  • Identifying and classifying assets
  • Assessing management of data assets
  • Reporting and recommendations

If institutions are to realise the full potential value of their data through its reuse, they must establish an overview of holdings and the practices in place to manage them. The audit generates two key outputs to this end - an inventory of data assets and a report recommending how data management could be improved.

DRAMBORA

The second newly launched methodology is DRAMBORA, developed by the JISC-funded Digital Curation Centre (DCC) and Digital Preservation Europe (DPE). This six-step approach views digital curation as a risk-management activity; the job of the digital curator being to transform any threats to a digital object’s authenticity and understandability into manageable risks.

These timely tools highlight the need for effective data management and the importance of the role of the data scientist, manager or curator. They come at a time when the profile and career structure of such roles is in need of profile raising and professionalisation, according to a recently published JISC report ‘Skills, role and career structure of data scientists and curators: an assessment of current practice and future needs’.


WebsiteLearn more about the launch of DAF and DRAMBORA
Read the Data Audit Framework briefing paper or visit its homepage 
Visit the DRAMBORA homepage
Find information on related digital audit workshops at the International Digital Curation Conference

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