Tag Archives: Digital Self

Data, Files, and Passwords! OH MY!

Reading in the Digital AgeHow many documents do you have on your desktop right now? If you had a PDF called “Report1” would you know what it contained? Do you have scraps of paper with your passwords on them? Or are they in your phone? Hopefully at least one of these questions made you nod your head and got you thinking about Data Management. This is that pesky topic that forces you to think about how you manage your data, your files, and everything else related to your digital self.

Managing your data

We all have to manage our data effectively. That means making sure you are able to locate it when and where you need it. Wisconsin Data Services YouTube Channel to the rescue! From simple videos about File Naming Conventions to Data Citation there are tons of great resources to help you manage your data.

Protecting your data

Now that we’re managing our data and files, we have to make sure we can retrieve them if our computer or device fails. This means backup! eCampus News recently did a piece about how to protect research data that highlights the importance of on and offsite backup. Brian Chee, an IT specialist in the dean’s office of the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, said “I’m trying to get people to do a combination of NAS—for backup, higher reliability, and high-access backup so you can get into archives easily—with offsite storage, either in the cloud or an offsite data center.

Need a taste of Data Management? Check out this great video talking about the 3-2-1 Rule:

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/lbvpyq7, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0