Got Data? A Guide to Data Preservation in the Information Age

Some of the guidelines that help promote effective stewardship and preservation of digital data are discussed. Creating an explicit strategy for stewardship and preservation for the data, from its inception to the end of its lifetime, is necessary. One must ensure that all costs are factored in, including hardware, software, expert support and time. Metadata is needed to be able to find and use the data immediately for long run. It is also necessary to identify relevant standards for data/metadata content and format, following them to ensure the data can be used by others. Multiple copies of valuable data should be stored off-site and in different systems. The data, when transferred into a formal repository, must meet the requirements of the new environment. Gene-sequence data used daily by hundreds of researchers worldwide may need a different preservation and access infrastructure. Knowledge of all the standards and acts related to the data is very beneficial.