Time

The lesson is expected to take about 15 minutes to complete. There is also a reflection exercise, which it is good to do jointly with your fellow students.

About the lesson ‘Save your data well – how to save data and find them again’

The lesson provides an introduction to the best ways of saving your data so they are not lost. It also provides tips on creating a file naming convention that suits your project or assignment, so that you (and perhaps others) can easily navigate your data.  

The lesson will mention several concepts that may be new to you. You can see the definitions of the concepts in the glossary.

Learning outcomes

When you have completed the lesson, we expect that you:

will know where UCPH students can store data locally and in cloud solutions.
can assess the suitability of cloud and local storage solutions for storing your data.
can structure and name folders and files appropriately.

Source

The lesson was produced by the University of Copenhagen as part of its learning resources for digital literacy, 2023.

Course directors:

• Lorna Wildgaard (PhD), specialist consultant, Copenhagen University Library (KUB), Research Support Services
• Asger Væring Larsen, specialist consultant, Copenhagen University Library (KUB), Research Support Services

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Where can you share your data and files?

When needing to save data, you first have to decide where you want to save them. ‘Storage infrastructures’ or ‘storage media’ are terms used for the places where data can be stored, and the concepts cover:

computer hard drives
external hard drives
USB flash drives
servers
cloud solutions

There are several things to think about when deciding where to store your data and files. You can read more about this in the next four sections.

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IT security and GDPR

Storage infrastructures intended to contain personal data and which are offered by the university are subject to a number of requirements. Firstly, they must be protected against data loss and unauthorised access.

Therefore, you are not free to choose which storage infrastructure you use for storing personal and other confidential data. However, the situation is quite different when it comes to data that are not regulated by GDPR – i.e. the data that do not contain personal data and which are not confidential for other reasons. There are several options for this type of data.

Non-confidential data

UCPH recommends that you store non-confidential data on OneDrive (link til vejledning) On OneDrive, you can create your own personal folders and files, but you can also share data and files with specific teachers and fellow students at UCPH.

Please note! You must not store confidential data on OneDrive!

Confidential data

UCPH recommends that you store confidential data on your personal T drive – or briefly on an encrypted USB flash drive if you need to move data. You must delete confidential data from the USB flash drive as soon as the data have been transferred.

Note, of course, that the T drive does not allow the sharing of data with teachers and fellow students. When needing to share confidential data with others, you must therefore use another solution. For example, you can meet up and transfer data using a USB flash drive. Always remember to delete the data immediately you have finished transferring it.

If you need to store confidential data on a USB flash drive for some time, for example because you need to transport data from one physical location to another, you must make sure to encrypt the USB flash drive.

Read more about how to manage and store confidential data here:

KUnet > Study Information > [Select your study portal] > Planning your studies > Rules and exemptions > How to collect and process personal data

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Need to share data

All you have to consider is whether you need to share data. If you need to share data with a teacher, supervisor or a project group, the storage infrastructure must support this functionality. An external hard drive will not provide access to data for your project group, while a cloud solution like OneDrive can.

It may be tempting to share data by emailing it to your study group. However, if you use this solution, you might find yourself violating GDPR or other rules, and you and your group also run the risk of messing up your data, because different versions are created which then need to be merged at a later date. It is very easy to make mistakes when different versions are floating around. So, if you need to share data with others, it is much better to use a suitable system such as OneDrive.

The University of Copenhagen has a contract with Microsoft (which offers the OneDrive solution), which describes the applicable data protection requirements. UCPH does not have similar security agreements with other cloud solution providers (like Dropbox and Google). You should therefore avoid using these services in connection with your studies.

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Backup 

It is important that you remember to back up your data or to make sure that the storage infrastructure you use does it for you. It is never a good idea to only have a single copy of your data. If you save your data on OneDrive for example, files and folders are backed up regularly, and they will be able to access them even if you lose your computer. If you only keep your data on your laptop, and you lose it, then you have a problem. In the case of irreplaceable data, this may be disastrous for your project.

A golden backup rule is the 3-2-1 rule. According to this rule, you should save your data in 3 copies, on 2 different media, where 1 of the media is a cloud solution such as OneDrive.

3-2-1 backup rule.png

Follow the 3-2-1 rule, and you can be completely sure that you won’t lose any data if anything unfortunate should happen. For example if your computer is stolen, or if you are targeted by ransomware. Read more about IT security on KUnet.

There are no formal backup requirements. You have to decide for yourself how many copies of your data you want to save. Every time you make changes to your working copy, you must remember to save the changes in the other copies. If you make changes often, you can choose to backup your data every evening. In some cases, you should do a backup more often. It all depends how often changes are made.

Software is available that automatically makes security copies of files and folders and saves them to your preferred storage infrastructures: other drives, external hard drives, USB flash drives or cloud solutions such as OneDrive. It is recommended that you contact UCPH IT before downloading unknown software to your computer.

One piece of good advice is therefore: Always keep at least two – and preferably three – copies of your data on different media, for example a copy on your computer and a copy on OneDrive (non-confidential data) or your personal T drive (confidential data).

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How much space does your data take up?

Finally, you need to assess how much space you need to store your data. Some types of data take up a lot of space, in which case a USB flash drive or external hard disk may not be enough. Some cloud solutions (e.g. Dropbox) also limit the amount of data you can upload without having to pay for it. For general study use, your computer (and, for example, the university’s OneDrive for backup) usually has plenty of space.

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Keep you folders, files and versions in order

Once you have decided where you are going to keep your data, you need to think about naming your files and folders.

To keep your files well organised, a good naming convention is a ‘must’. Using a consistent naming convention makes it easier to identify the contents of a file and sort files in a logical order. This is particularly important when you are working with a large number of files, or if you are working on a project or assignment with other people. Good file naming conventions can also help prevent unintended overwriting or loss of files.

This video from Ghent University offers a number of tips on file naming, folder structures and version control.

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Guide to good file naming

We have prepared a checklist for file naming which you can use next time you start a new course or project – or even if you want to tidy up your existing files!

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Reflection exercise

Reflect on the following:

In your experience, what are the advantages and disadvantages of storing files locally on your own computer and in a cloud solution (e.g. OneDrive, Dropbox or Google Drive)?
Find a folder structure for one of your courses or projects, and assess how you name your files and folders and keep track of versions. Use the checklist for file naming as a basis for your assessment.
Which of the three file names below is best and why?
1. 2022-03-24_Attachment
2. 24 March 2022 Attachment
3. 24032022attachment
Which of the three file names below is best and why?
1. labtox_recent_110810_old_version.sps
2. 2010-08-11_bioasssay_tox_V1.sps
3. FFTX_3776438656.sps

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Further information

There are several resources where you can find out more about how to store and organise your data:

Create your OneDrive: UCPH’s user manual for OneDrive
Get access to your personal T drive – Please note! this drive should only be used for confidential data
Learn more about how to organise your data well in the lesson Good data collection practices > Tidy data

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