Electronic Data Collection
We know data’s important, but do you know about the digital tools you use to gather it?
Developing this competency involves:
- Learning to effectively use digital tools for collecting and recording data, such as online surveys, audio and video recording devices, and GPS-enabled cameras.
- Developing appropriate ethical and legal guidelines for using confidential or proprietary information and personal likenesses, including those involving minors.
Privacy, Security, Preservation
If you’ve put measures in place to protect your information, you’re well on your way to this digital competency.
Developing this competency involves:
- Developing and practicing strategies for protecting your own data and data entrusted to you against theft, misappropriation, or loss.
- Learning how to secure digital devices (laptops, smart phones) and accounts (college account, Gmail, etc.) against intrusion and loss.
- Learning how to identify sensitive information (e.g., personally identifying information, financial information, educational information) that requires higher than usual levels of protection.
Cleaning, organizing, and managing data
Data can be messy. Do you know how to clean up a spreadsheet or version control a complicated project?
Developing this competency involves …
- Learning to efficiently clean, revise, and manage data without danger of losing or overwriting it.
- Developing effective strategies for backing up and version control.
- Learning why and how to use unique identifiers and controlled vocabularies.
Metadata
Pretty much every electronic object carries metadata, but a lot of people don’t know about it.
Developing this competency involves …
- Learning to find, read, and critically analyze information about data, files, and digital objects that is stored in metadata, including data related to copyright and privacy issues.
- Learning how to use metadata and tagging to organize, store and locate data or retrieve collections of digital objects.
- Developing a working knowledge of metadata or tagging schemas used with bibliographic records; images, files and other digital objects; datasets or texts.
Content on this page can be credited to Bryn Mawr College, “Bryn Mawr Digital Competencies Framework” (2016). Blended Learning Research and Open Educational Resources. 3.
https://repository.brynmawr.edu/oer/3
