Sustainable Data Preservation

What happens when an organization that has been collecting data closes shop? Has their data been archived? Has it been disseminated to the academic community? Has all the metadata been kept with its associated data? This talk illustrates a case study of a data rescue in a Data Centre. We were informed that there was a series of datasets that needed a home because the government funding for this organization was withdrawn. The talk will include: the background of the Centre for Research in Canada (CRIC); how the rescue mission came about; the rescue mission itself; and the importance of data rescue. Then the question of whose responsibility it is to keep data alive will be discussed.

Recently the Finnish Social Science Data Archive (FSD) has taken part in a pilot project by the National Digital Library which intends to develop organisations’ readiness to "make the transition into an electronic operating environment". The project conducted a series of surveys in late 2009 measuring the organisations’ data management quality and maturity. At FSD we would want to believe that we already operate electronically. This presentation summarises the findings of the report. The Digital Library project aims to create a centralised long-term preservation solution for the digital cultural objects, and later, for research data too. The project participants vary from large national institutions to regional museums and private archives. Finding a single solution that would ensure long-term preservation and dissemination will be a challenge. Sharing of competence, building partnerships and monitoring international development are crucial for success. This presentation seeks to answer the following questions: How does a national data archive do when compared to libraries, traditional archives and museums ("LAMs")? What could be the mutual benefits of actively working with the LAMs in the field of long-term preservation? Metadata used in and by the LAMs differ notably from research data documentation. How to approach other metadata formats than DDI?

Since its establishment in 2005, Data Archiving & Networked Services (DANS) has been storing and making research data in the arts and humanities and social sciences permanently accessible. To this end DANS itself develops permanent archiving services, stimulates others to follow suit, and works closely with data managers to ensure as much data as possible is made freely available for use in scientific research. Economic sustainability is a key issue for DANS. For this reason DANS initiated a research project in 2007 to have a better understanding of the costs of digital archiving. DANS adopted and adjusted two managerial models, the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and the Activity Based Costing (ABC) model. The design of the ABC model is based on DANS activities which are categorized in five clusters: Administration, Networked Services, ICT (R&D and maintenance), Data Acquisition and Archiving. The Balanced Scorecard of DANS builds on the following business perspectives: Impact, Enablers/Users, Processes and Supporters. Fifteen success factors are allocated to them. The success factors are further specified with over forty performance indicators. During this presentation we will explain how the data generated by the models can be combined and can be used as decision making instruments regarding project specific costs, funding-related decisions, and predicting expenses.