Maximise your research potential: A beginner's guide to FAIR metadata

This training was developed by CLOSER (closer.ac.uk) and took place during MethodsCon: Futures (ncrm.ac.uk/training/MethodsCon2024/), September 2024. The session aimed to equip attendees with the ability to understand the core principles of data and metadata, and how metadata not only benefits access to researchers’ data, but helps researchers to think about how they use and discover research data.

FAIR data (go-fair.org/fair-principles/) is a focus for all funders, whether in the UK, Europe or further afield. For instance, “UKRI aims to achieve open research data that is ‘findable’, accessible, interoperable and re-useable” (ukri.org/what-we-do/supporting-healthy-research-and-innovation-culture/open-research). Whilst creating FAIR meta(data) is primarily the responsibility of archives, journals and repositories, researchers need to be aware of and be prepared to provide the right information for them. 

The training covered:

• What is data
• What is metadata
• What is FAIR