What is Data? Here are some definitions:

Digital Curation Center: “Data, any information in binary digital form, is at the centre of the Curation Lifecycle.”

Office of Management and Budget:
“Research data means the recorded factual material commonly accepted in the scientific community as necessary to validate research findings” 

Every discipline has data.

Types of data include:

• observational data
• laboratory experimental data
• computer simulation
• textual analysis
• physical artifacts or relics

Examples of data:

• Spreadsheets
• Scanned books and images
• Instrument data 

• saves you time
• increases the impact of your research through data citation.
• clearly documents and provides evidence for your research in conjunction with published results.
• meet copyright and ethical compliance (ie. HIPAA).
• preserves data for long-term access and prevents loss of data.
• describes and shares data with others to further new discoveries and research.

 Adapted From: University of Minnesota Libraries Data Management web page: https://www.lib.umn.edu/datamanagement