International Love Data Week 2024 ran from February 12-16 2024, with a combination of events and social media activities. In PSDI we had some fun creating a few bits for social media under #LoveData24
Sharkcat got a new outfit especially for Love Data Week, so he can really show his love for data!
We also asked our PSDI Co-Lead Prof. Simon Coles a few questions about data for #LoveData24
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜?
My favourite data topic is sharing…Crystallographers lead the way in data sharing – its been a driver throughout my >30 year career. I am a founding Co-Editor of IUCr Raw Data Letters . Making raw data available can lead to reinterpretation or additional interpretation of experiments. In the future there will be better ways to process raw data, so why not make tougher problems available for future generations? In crystallography, looking beyond the Bragg reflections can provide insights into the behaviour of a material, not just its structure. The problem is that most studies are only interested in the (primary) structure and ignore everything else that might be going on – sharing means we can look for these effects more.
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐲?
My favourite format is CIF – not only does it harmonise all crystallography so that we can build databases and our results can be reused in many other ways and by many other fields, but it also provides all the information about the experiment – you can even write a paper in CIF format!
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬?
My top tip is to always consider how others might want to use your data in different ways when you are generating it – that way you will produce better data that will potentially make a difference in ways you had never even considered.
We’ve also re-shared this excellent comic by Errant Science that was originally created for the AI4SD ‘Failed it to Nailed It’ Data seminar series, as it fitted really well with the themes of Love Data Week. Errant Science does some excellent explaining science through cartoons. You can also go back and watch or read more about the ‘Failed it to Nailed it – Getting Data Sharing Right’ seminar series. Is there anything here that you haven’t thought of before when dealing with your own data?
We’ve definitely enjoyed posting some of these bits on social media, so keep an eye out for more posts, and more sightings of SharkCat this year!