Findings: Data Preservation

• Some science fields have national and international data centers where data deposit is required for grant funding.

• Where data centers do not exist, backup depends on:

  • Length of a grant

  • Length of time primary researcher on campus

  • Perception that data has maximum value for 12-18 months after publication, and negligible value after 5-10 years.

• Departments lack personnel and support for long-term preservation of data.

• Faculty store data on the "removable media of the day" and forget about it, until it becomes difficult or impossible to access

• More complex systems, same number of people to manage them, leads to less time to devote to "meta-issues"

• Critical impact: research collaboration and long term historical data analysis suffer