The UK Data Archive has produced a very attractive 40-page brochure called Managing and Sharing Data. It was last updated in May 2011 and aims to be a best practice guide for researchers in these relatively new areas. Though based on UK examples, the advice in the brochure is generally applicable to researchers.

The guide is illustrated by a range of case studies around issues such as sharing, providing metadata, documenting data in NVIVO, formatting and converting data, storage and backup, and more.

Ethical issues are also covered. Sample consent forms are provided, and the issues of anonymisation and data security are canvassed. Copyright in data is also covered.

At the end are lists of references, and a data management checklist. This list is relatively lightweight but covers all the basics, so it would be a useful tool for organisations to adopt or adapt.