The 3-2-1 rule for data storage
(Image from Connecticut College's Research Data Management Guide)
If there are different policies at different sites or stages of the project, explain each of them.
If you are collecting Personal Health Information (PHI), how are you ensuring that it is stored securely and that participants' privacy is assured?
Explain how the data will be shared after publication, for instance in a subject-specific or institutional repository. If PHI or other ethical issues are involved, how will those affect your data sharing plan?
If you have specific questions about storing your data correctly and safely, contact the helpdesk@trincoll.edu or security@trincoll.edu.
When selecting the proper storage solution, considerations include:
It is highly recommended that you store research data on regularly backed-up networked drives, such as file servers managed by your school, college, department or research group.
This will help ensure your data are:
For more information on file serves managed by Trinity see:
Cloud storage includes services like Google Drive, OwlBox, and DropBox. Cloud storage offers some distinct advantages and disadvantages to be considered:
Advantages
Disadvantages
For more information on the cloud-based data storage options supported at Trinity see the links below:
Personal computers (PCs) & laptops are convenient for temporary data storage, however should not be used for storing master copies of your data because:
External storage devices such as hard drives, USB flash drives, CDs & DVDs are attractive due to low cost & portability. However, they are not recommended for long term storage of your data, especially not your master copies:
If you choose to store data on USB drives, CDs, DVDs, etc:
For more information about storage options available at Trinity, other than those listed above, contact the helpdesk@trincoll.edu.
The following data storage platforms are not provided or supported by Trinity, but may be worth considering, especially if departmental or grant funding or support is available. Note that these are not intended to be used for the publication or preservation of data, only for the secure storage of data before and after the research is complete.
Contents adapted from 'Keeping Research Data Safe' in Research Data MANTRA [online course] created by EDINA and Data Library, University of Edinburgh.