ELIXIR-CONVERGE D1.1 Best Practices 1v0

The aim of this deliverable is to start capturing, collating, and disseminating the collective data management expertise that resides across the ELIXIR member Nodes. This first version of the guidelines aims to promote the knowledge sharing and capacity building among the member Nodes when it comes to data management, as well as harmonising the guidance across Nodes, while at the same time taking the local circumstances into account. It should also help in identifying and prioritising data management training needs and the development of training material. Furthermore, this resource should highlight how ELIXIR services can solve data management issues for the research community. The work of establishing best practice guidelines to a great extent interacts
with the work done in WP2 Training, WP3 Toolkit, and WP5 Demonstrators.
The work has been coordinated by a subgroup of the Data Management Coordinators group. It was decided that the primary focus audience for the guideline content should be the professionals in a research-supporting Data Steward role. The emerging “RDMKit” web resource designed and established by WP3 was selected as the medium for disseminating the best practice guidelines
content.
The best practice guidelines content has been developed in a crowdsourcing manner by the members of WP1 and the broader Data Management Network , in large parts through the “Hackathons” and “Contentathons” organised by WP3. The work of WP1, WP2, WP3 and WP5 to produce this resource has been deeply integrated with each other, as many of the network members are involved in several different WPs of the project, and because the subject matter covered in the different WPs overlap.
Hence:
● A first version of best practice guidelines, relevant to the life science domain, has been developed. The content of the guidelines focuses on the different data life cycle stages, as well as key data management issues related to them. The content is targeted to research-supporting Data Stewards.
● The best practice guidelines content is being made available through the RDMKit resource, that has been designed and established by WP3.
● Contributions of content have come from a large number of Nodes and experts, including members not only in WP1, but also from WP2, WP3 and WP5.
● Content has been generated in a crowdsourcing manner; much of it during hackathons organised by WP3. This process has sparked discussions that in themselves are an important part of the knowledge-sharing and capacity building process.