Learn about the lifecycle of a dataset, and data management plans (DMP), why they are important, and how to write one.
Data dictionaries are useful information to include alongside your datasets. They help describe the elements and values contained within your data to help users reuse it. A simple data dictionary can be created quickly and should include a few key piece of information.
To make sure data and information is maintained, there will often be a data custodian responsible for updating and preserving the data. Under the New Zealand Data and Information Management Principles, agency data custodians should implement recommended practices to support well managed data.
Knowing the quality of the input sources is important to ensure resulting information is fit-for-purpose. Without this knowledge the wrong assumptions could be made when transforming the data into information, jeopardising the quality of the output.
Changes to data, statistics and information can happen over time, and can include changes to the structure of the information to improve accuracy, relevance or efficiency or to adhere to international best practice. They may be forced due to changes in the source data for other reasons. All such changes need to be managed to ensure information is comparable over time.