Where will your data be in 10 years? How about 50? Will you or others be able to find it, and, if so, how will it be protected against degradation? How would you respond now to questions about the methods and data behind some of your published research from 5 or 15 years ago?
Preserving data requires planning for future use, including by the data owner! Data must be protected against bit rot and from the technology becoming obsolete (think floppy disks).
TIPS
- It is recommended that you consult with a librarian to plan for the long-term preservation of your data.
- Be sure to adhere to data retention periods from your funding agency and from your institution/system, typically three years at the minimum; however, it is better to aim for longer with five to ten years being a good rule of thumb.
- A long-term plan should be established from the outset of a project because of the steps that may need to be taken along the way as well as resources and time that should be allocated to it.
- For long-term preservation, open file formats are strongly encouraged.
TOOLS
- Openly share category-III data in Mavs Dataverse in order to expand the reach of your research and comply with funders' and publishers' requirements. More information about the Mavs Dataverse's scope and related information can be found here: UTA Data Repository Scope & Policy.
- Another resource for finding and publishing data is the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) (About ICPSR). The data repository provides a large database of machine-readable social science data sets, and it allows for multiple levels of openness, the provision of data use agreements, and protections for category-I and category-II data.
- Re3data.org is a global registry of data repositories organized by academic discipline. A rating system and faceted browsing can help you find the best place to deposit your data.
CAMPUS RESOURCES
- UTA Libraries' Scholarly Communications Division
- can assist further in your efforts around sharing and publishing data
LONG-TERM DATA
Mavs Dataverse is a free and secure place for archiving and sharing research data sets and accompanying documentation. Data sets can be published with DOIs, searchable metadata, full-text indexing, and secured storage.