5.4 Questions 6.1 Introduction and learning objectives
Data Preservation is equal to long-term archival (LTA) and aims at the integrity of data meaning that data are accessible, authentic, and reusable for the long-term, independently of software and hardware decay. Preservation is done by designated data repositories with expertise in data curation. Thus, the following information on LTA has mainly a theoretical value for you and only a limited action value. If you publish your data in a certified repository, you are well advised. Above all, make sure that you do so at a trustworthy institution and obtain information from this institution in advance about possibilities or plans regarding an LTA. You can use the aspects listed here for a good LTA to formulate possible questions for the facilities. This should provide sufficient preconditions for the LTA.
Why is it so important to preserve data? In this video by the European Space Agency (2019) you will meet Professor Smith, who was lucky to find well preserved data.
Long-term archival of data is important for its availability and reusability while ensuring high data quality, integrity, safety and accessibility. Archives, data centres or data managers often conduct the preservation process. Nevertheless, the data producer is responsible for the data quality and can thus facilitate the process by using the best (open access) format, the right preservation metadata and documentation of the workflow.
Check your options and domain-specific requirements for long-term archiving research data, and inform yourself in advance if the archive or data centres of your choice have special requirements for data preservation [1][2].
Data preservation is important for its reuse, but also for the possibility to reproduce the data after time or if the data is of great value to an organisation, a country, the environment or the society as a whole. However, since it takes a lot of effort and cost, only an appropriate selection of data should be preserved. If you want to preserve materials, such as microorganisms or biomaterials, contact your institution's data management support services to find appropriate centres or biobanks [3]
However, in order to enable actual reuse, a number of conditions must be met.
After completing this chapter, you will be able to…
- … preserve your data in a comprehensible way
- …choose durable, preferably non-proprietary (i.e. free and open source) file formats for your data
- …select durable storage media
- …assure the findability of your data
- …choose a repository where to publish your data
[1] ELIXIR converge. (2023c). Data Life Cycle - Preserving. RDMkit. Available at: https://rdmkit.elixir-europe.org/preserving. Last accessed 4 October 2023.
[2] GFBio. (2023e). GFBio Training Materials: Data Life Cycle Fact-Sheet: Data Life Cycle: Preserve. GFBio. Available at: https://www.gfbio.org/training/material/data-life-cycle/preserve/. Last accessed 27 November 2023.
[3] ELIXIR converge. (2023c). Data Life Cycle - Preserving. RDMkit. Available at: https://rdmkit.elixir-europe.org/preserving. Last accessed 4 October 2023.