UC3

Data Hangover Part II: Going Retro

In the previous post, I covered some basic steps for preventing Data Hangover, however all of my suggestions pertained to actions you can take prior to data collection. What if the project is already well underway?  How does one conduct retroactive data management? This is a much more complicated and tricky question, and the answer […]

Data Hangover

What happened? This is a common question among co-eds, Mardi Gras celebrants, and many scientists. I’m not referring to alcohol-soaked evenings at conferences, but instead to the question that inevitably results from poor data management. What happened? How did I get here? It might seem a bit trite to pose poor data management as a […]

Love at First Cite

Data citation. This is a phrase you are likely to hear a lot in the next few years.  The idea is simple enough: cite a data set, just like you would a journal article. Note: much of the content from this article was borrowed from Robert Cook of Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the DataCite website. […]

Clearing Up the Cloud of Confusion

The Cloud.  You have probably been hearing this phrase thrown around quite a bit lately. It reminds me of something straight out of Orwell’s dystopian classic 1984, but in this case Big Brother might be your friend.  If you are like I was about six months ago, you might be saying “What exactly IS The […]

DataONE Meeting Summary (with Video!)

For the last few days, I have been at the lovely Tamaya Resort and Spa, located between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico.  I did not, however, take advantage of the myriad massages, mud baths, and body wraps available for guests. I instead immersed myself in the world of ecological and environmental data.  It was […]

Open Science: What the Fuss is About

I advocate for open science.  I love the word open and all of the things that his word implies for science.  In keeping with last week’s post exploring what “data curation” means, here I touch very briefly on what open science means, and how it relates to the Excel add-in we are developing.  Let me […]

Curation: It’s in the Project Title, But What Does It Mean?

I am a newcomer to the world of libraries and information science.  Being the new kid on the block is a familiar feeling for me: I have always been one to seek out new and interesting approaches to my questions, whether it be learning mathematical modeling and genetic sequencing techniques to explore clam populations, or […]

Excel Tips and Tricks

I spent much of last week talking to scientists about Excel.  One of the questions I asked is What drives you crazy about Excel?   This definitely falls in the opening-a-can-of-worms category, but people were surprisingly clear and helpful in their comments. Some of the complaints surfaced in multiple conversations, and I had to wonder whether the […]

Welcome to the DCXL blog!

Check back soon for updates on the Digital Curation for Excel (DCXL) project.

Who Am I Forgetting?

I’m currently working on the development of user scenarios for the Excel add-in.  That means I’m charged with summing up all of the scientists that might use this add-in with a few concise, tidy profiles, then predicting how they might use the Add-in. Step 1: Categorizing Scientists.  You can help! If you see a category I’ve […]