Contemporary Collection Processing
Created REDCap Project
The first thing we did was create metadata collection instruments using REDCap forms. REDCap is a secure, web-based application designed to support data capture for research studies.We are using REDCap for a few reasons:
- One, because it is licensed and maintained by WCHRI, and many WCHRI researchers already use it to manage their research projects and collect data. We wanted to fit in with already established research data management workflows and systems.
- REDCap also gives us a chance to validate the metadata with researchers before creating a public dataverse record, which comes with an automatically generated doi. Which can be a bit of a process to backtrack from once it exists.
- REDCap also already has survey functionality, which helps when communicating with researchers.
- And finally, the data dictionary function and API allow us to easily manipulate, move and interact with the data in helpful ways.
This means that the REDCap project effectively acts as a “metadata repository,” collecting in one place a pool of metadata for each study. Metadata can be pushed in or pulled out from different sources.
Shiny App Link:
Vashistha, S. (2017). WCHRI Shiny App.
Pre-populated Dataverse/DDI-based REDCap form
We have used r-based scripts to pull relevant metadata from publically available sources using APIs.We identified and mapped existing metadata fields from registries, inventories, and databases to Dataverse fields. So clinicaltrials.gov, the MICYRN Birth Cohort Inventory, and NCBI Pubmed metadata has been mapped to Dataverse’s DDI-based fields to identify common elements.
The mapping has taken into consideration: the name of the metadata field, the definition of the field, and the format of the field. So, for example, we were able to use our mappings to import common elements from the clinicaltrials.gov registry to our dataverse schema in REDCap using APIs. Open Refine was then used to modify the formats of certain values appropriately; for example, names and dates needed to be reformatted.
Relevant metadata was also added from the MICYRN Birth Cohort Inventory and publication information was added through NCBI Pubmed.
Project Dataverse Link:
Women and Children's Health Research Institute Pilot Study Catalogue (University of Alberta)