Much research is based on data from existing sources.
Using data from existing sources
Source data, including documents, recordings, registers, and other sources, become research data when used as foundational material in research. Often, these are sufficiently well-preserved elsewhere, and it is enough to document where they are located.
When reusing data from other sources, it is important to be able to provide information about:
- where the data came from
- which version was used
- how it was collected
- who's responsible for it
- if data needs to be cleaned or processed before use in the project
- any other information necessary to verify the results
When using data from other sources, they should be cited.
Clarifying licenses
It is important to clarify which type of license or other agreement describes how the dataset can be used.
Published texts are often covered by copyright, which can limit the further sharing of the material. If the material has a Creative Commons (CC) license, further use and sharing will be simpler. For other materials, it is necessary to obtain permission from the publisher or the copyright holder to republish. Some publishers grant permission for further use with certain restrictions, such as for teaching and research purposes within the institution. In such cases, the material cannot be openly archived.
For material from Norwegian sources available online, it may be wise to contact the Web Archive at the National Library of Norway. Read more about the web archive on the University Library's archiving page.
Find research data
BASE (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine)