Research Data Center
The Research Data Center (FDZ) is the central contact point of the UB Mannheim for your questions about research data management.
Services and consulting
In many stages of the research process, the generation, use and management of data plays an important role. Further information can be found below.
Guidelines for research data management
The long-term approach to research data and their accessibility form the basis of successful research data management. Various institutions, research funders and publishers therefore provide guidelines for the way research data should be handled:
- University of Mannheim: Code of Good Research Practice at the University of Mannheim
- German Research Foundation (DFG): Guidelines for Safeguarding Good Research Practice
- European Commission: H2020 Programme – Guidelines on FAIR Data Management in Horizon 2020
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD): OECD Principles and Guidelines for Access to Research Data from Public Funding
- Nature: Availability of data, material and methods
The SHERPA/
JULIET database collects information on the requirements of international research funding institutions. Create a Data Management Plan
A data management plan (DMP) organises the handling of research data and thus ensures their traceability during the project period and beyond. A DMP contains information on the collection, organization, documentation and storage of research data for your project.
DMPs help researchers to think through essential aspects of data management at an early stage, which pays off in the long run.
A DMP typically contains the following elements:
- Information on responsibilities and resources with regard to the data
- description of the data (to-be) collected or re-used
- data documentation, metadata, and data quality
- data storage and backup during and after the research process
- ethical and legal requirements
- information on data archiving and publication after completion of the research project
Data Management Plans and Research Funding in Germany:
DMPs are also often required when submitting a funding proposal, but these may vary in terms of specific requirements depending on the funding body (see below).
German funding institution
DMP requirements
DMP template?
There is a general recommendation, but not a requirement. Requirements may be (and are) made on an individual program level.
See DFG Guidelines on the Handling of Research Data (n.d.).
No Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) There are no general requirements. Requirements are made on a “per call” basis (some calls have requirements, others don't).
See Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (n.d.).
No Volkswagen Stiftung No No Fritz-Thyssen-Stiftung No No Hans-Böckler-Stiftung No No CESSDA Training Team (2017 – 2022). CESSDA Data Management Expert Guide.
Bergen, Norway: CESSDA ERIC. Table retrieved from https://dmeg.cessda.eu/Data-Management-Expert-Guide/1.-Plan/European-diversityAnd throughout Europe more broadly:
EU funding institution
DMP requirements
DMP template?
Horizon2020 At grant submission
Projects that take part in the Horizon 2020 Open Research Data Pilot (default all H2020 projects) are required to produce a DMP as a deliverable within six months of the start of the project.The DMP should include information on:
- the handling of research data during and after the end of the project
- what data will be collected, processed and/
or generated - which methodology and standards will be applied
- whether data will be shared/
made open access and - how data will be curated and preserved (including after the end of the project).
During the project
The plan must be updated whenever significant changes arise, for instance (but not only) when there are:
- new data
- changes in consortium policies (e.g. new innovation potential, decision to file for a patent)
- changes in consortium composition and external factors (e.g. new consortium members joining or old members leaving).
See 'Guidelines on FAIR data management' (European Commission, 2016).
Yes, via DMPOnline (Digital Curation Centre, 2017)
European Science Foundation No No European Research Council No See 'Guidelines on the Implementation of Open Access to Scientific Publications and Research Data in projects supported by the European Research Council under Horizon 2020' (European Research Council, 2017).
Template (European Research Council, n.d.)
CESSDA Training Team (2017 – 2022). CESSDA Data Management Expert Guide.
Bergen, Norway: CESSDA ERIC. Retrieved from https://dmeg.cessda.eu/Data-Management-Expert-Guide/1.-Plan/European-diversity
Free web-based tools to assist you in creating a data management plan include:
- Research Data Management Organiser, RDMO (German-speaking area): On forschungsdaten.info, researchers are provided with an installation of RDMO free of charge.
- DMPonline (incl. template for Horizon Europe; important UK funders)
- DMPtool (incl. DCC template; important US funders)
These tools sometimes provide templates for specific subject areas and/
or funders to ensure that specific requirements are addressed in the DMP. For more general checklists and guidelines, as well as collections of various sample DMPs check out the following:
- Creating a data management plan (DMP) document from the Open Science Framework (OSF)
- Example DMPs and guidance from the Digital Curation Center (DCC)
- DMP info page of the Humboldt University of Berlin
- Practical guide to the international alignment of research data management from Science Europe
There are also subject-specific checklists, samples and services available below:
Economics and Social Sciences
- Standardized data management plan for educational research (Stamp) of the Association for Research Data Education
- Guiding questions for data management plans in the social, behavioural, and economic sciences (Chapter 2), from: Research Data Management in the Social, Behavioural, and Economic Sciences.
- Guidelines for Effective Data Management Plans from the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research.
- Data Management Checklist of the UK Data Service
Humanities
- DMP Wizard from CLARIN-D
- DMP Template from the EU project PARTHENOS
Finding research data
Research data are published in institutional or specialist repositories. The Repository of Research Data Repositories (re3data) provides an overview of the landscape of research data repositories.
Specialist repositories are intended for the community of a specific subject – regardless of the institutional connection. Specialist repositories are, for example:
- Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences (Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften (GESIS)): datorium for social and economic sciences
- Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education (Deutsches Institut für Internationale Pädagogische Forschung (DIPF)): Forschungsdaten Bildung – research data for educational sciences
- Leibniz Institute for Psychology Information (Leibniz-Zentrum für Psychologische Information und Dokumentation (ZPID)): PsychData for psychology
Licensing research data
Would you like to use research data from other providers? We support you in negotiating and concluding data usage agreements.
Contact us or find out more about the process.
Data collection via digitisation and automated text recognition (OCR)
The University Library of Mannheim can look back on many years of experience in digitisation and with the use of various text recognition software. With the help of machine text recognition (OCR), texts are automatically captured from digital images and in that way searchable and analysable data is generated. The Research Data Centre is happy to support researchers at the University of Mannheim along the entire workflow from digitisation to layout and text recognition as well as the post-training of specialised models all the way to structuring the data.
Programs or platforms for text/
layout recognition - ABBYY Finereader: Text and layout recognition for a fee; good layout analysis; especially suitable for modern print fonts
- eScriptorium: Graphical user interface for Kraken; intuitive use; for both handwritten and printed text
- Google Vision: Text recognition; image and video analysis; for handwriting and prints; fee required
- Kraken: Command-line based text recognition software; optimised for historical and non-Latin written material; for manuscripts and prints
- OCRmyPDF: Command line program for text recognition of PDF files; uses Tesseract as OCR engine
- OCR-D: Modular, command line based text recognition software; only for print fonts
- PERO-OCR: web-based text recognition platform; good universal models for prints and handwriting; no retraining possible
- Tesseract: Command line based text recognition software; suitable for large data sets; for printed documents, open source
- Transkribus: Comprehensive text recognition and transcription platform; with intuitive user interface; proven especially for the recognition of handwriting and tables; chargeable
Services
- OCR Recommender (in preparation)
- Open OCR Consultation: every 2nd Thursday of the month, from 3 to 4 p.m., without registration (link to the meeting:: https://ocr-bw.bib.uni-mannheim.de/sprechstunde, meeting ID: 682 8185 1819, identification code: 443071)
Instructions and materials on various OCR software can be found at:https://ocr-bw.bib.uni-mannheim.de/anwendung/druckwerke/
In the past, the UB Mannheim has already supported several projects and researchers of the university with OCR. Here you can find a small selection of projects:
- Cooperation project with Chair of Economic History (Prof. Streb) on machine industry
- Cooperation project on manuscript recognition with the Chair of Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period (Prof. Kümper)
If we can assist you or you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Ansprechpartnerin
Credit: Christos SidiropoulosOrganizing data
Similar to other publications, the publication of research data is the final step in the research process. Research data should not be published in a repository until the final version is available.
If you need a repository for “living” research data, you can use a service like bwSync&Share . There you can store data flexibly and online so that you can access it together with your colleagues.
Archiving and publishing research data
MADATA is the research data repository of the University of Mannheim. It enables the researchers of the university to archive their data securely and to make it accessible as required.
MADATA services:
- Storage of all types of electronic data
- Permanent backup on data center servers
- Choice of accessibility: personal, university-wide or worldwide
- Persistent addressability and citability by assigning a Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- Visibility through verification in national and international research data directories such as re3data.org
Creating digital collections with OMEKA
Die Universitätsbibliothek Mannheim bietet Forschenden der Universität Mannheim mit MAShare eine Plattform zur Erstellung und Präsentation digitaler Sammlungen und virtueller Ausstellungen. Über das Content-Management-System können digitale Objekte (Bilder, Texte, Videos) hochgeladen, importiert oder eingebettet werden. Die Beschreibung der Objekte mittels standardisierter Metadaten stellt die Durchsuchbarkeit der Sammlungen sicher.
Für die ansprechende Präsentation der Objekte stehen verschiedene Themes zur Verfügung. Über API können die Daten schließlich zur weiteren Verwendung im Sinne einer offenen und reproduzierbaren Wissenschaft angeboten werden.
Das FDZ übernimmt für Sie das Hosting und unterstützt Sie als Forschende der Universität gerne bei der Einrichtung Ihrer digitalen Sammlung.
Für die technische Umsetzung der digitalen Sammlungen wird das freie, quelloffene Content- Management-System OMEKA genutzt. Im Vergleich zu traditioneller institutioneller Repository-Software konzentriert sich OMEKA auf die Anzeige der einzelnen Objekte und verwendet dabei standardisierte Metadaten, zum Beispiel unqualifiziertes Dublin Core.
Beispiele von MAShare-Instanzen, die vom FDZ gehostet werden
- Kotzebue-Ausstellung (coming soon)
Aktienführer Data Archive
The Aktienführer data archive contains yearly profiles of several thousand German companies listed on the stock exchange. The profiles include the most important key figures such as the company’s place of business, commercial activities, number of employees, shares, stockholder, information from the balance sheet and the profit and loss statement. The data is based on the publications “Hoppenstedt Aktienführer“ and “Saling’s Börsenpapiere“.
Access and use
The database may be used for research and teaching purposes. Institutions in Germany are granted access to the database via the Nationallizenzen (national licenses) infrastructure. Individual users may contact the RDC directly. You may access the available research data on site at the computers in the workspaces of the Mannheim University Library. The digitized resources of the RDC can be accessed without asking for permission. Further information can be found here: Public Domain Mark 1.0.
To access the resource, please go to:
https://digi.bib.uni-mannheim.de/aktienfuehrerDeutscher Reichsanzeiger and Preußischer Reichsanzeiger
In a research project on legal history, the Mannheim University Library digitized the newspaper “Deutscher Reichsanzeiger und Preußischer Staatsanzeiger” published between 1819 and 1945. The publication contains official announcements, publications of the central commercial register and a stock exchange supplement. A full text search is available by processing the scans with OCR software.
Access and use
The digitized resources of the RDC can be accessed without asking for permission. Further information can be found here: Public Domain Mark 1.0.
To access the resource, please go to:
https://digi.bib.uni-mannheim.de/periodika/reichsanzeiger/Official Directory of Municipalities
In a research project, the Mannheim University Library digitized several German directories of municipalities (Gemeindeverzeichnisse) from the period between 1880 and 1976. The publication contains historical population censuses and population surveys at municipal level from the German Reich, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic. A full text search is available by processing the scans with OCR software.
Access and use
The digitized resources of the RDC can be accessed without asking for permission. Further information can be found here: Public Domain Mark 1.0.
To access the resource, please go to:
https://digi.bib.uni-mannheim.de/gemeindeverzeichnisse/German Statistical Yearbooks
The statistical yearbooks (Statistische Jahrbücher) of the German Reich, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic contain data on economy, population, social aspects and health from 1880 to 1990.
Access and use
The digitalized copies of the German statistical yearbooks can be used without asking for permission.
Further information can be found here: Public Domain Mark 1.0.
To access the resource, please go to:
https://digi.bib.uni-mannheim.de/statistische-jahrbuecher/MADATA
Credit: Anna LogueMADATA is the research data repository of the University of Mannheim. It enables the researchers of the university to archive their data securely and to make it accessible as required. All entries in MADATA can be clearly cited via DOI and are listed in further research data directories such as datacite.org and da-ra.de.
Access and use
Usage is individually defined depending on the data set. Entries are only possible for researchers of the University of Mannheim.
To access the resource, please go to:
https://madata.bib.uni-mannheim.de/Bankruptcy Database
The database contains all bankruptcy proceedings in the 15 most populated cities in the German Empire and comprises 55,197 bankruptcy proceedings in the period from 1879 until 1914. The database has detailed information on all debtors and bankruptcy administrators. The digitized complete edition of the Deutsche Reichsanzeiger und Preußischer Staatsanzeiger is the origin of the data. The database was created as part of a dissertation project in legal history by Christoph Kling at the Chair for Civil Law, Rhetoric and European Legal History (Prof. Dr. Ulrich Falk).
Access and use
The database is accessible to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License. The only condition is naming the source.
To access the resource, please go to:
https://digi.bib.uni-mannheim.de/periodika/konkursdatenbank/
