Electronic Currents

It Takes a Library to Preserve a Scientific Database: A Collaborative Exploration of Database Preservation

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Abstract

Scientists create a variety of digital assets as part of the research process. Some assets capture information about the world at a specific point in time; others attempt to test a hypothesis and reveal a “fact” about the world. The data generated by scientific endeavors, whether observational or experimental, manifest in a variety of formats and degrees of complexity depending on the discipline, the software, and the ways in which the data are intended to be used and reused by their creators and/or collaborators. The Archives at the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign (U of I) is currently working to preserve and make accessible one such digital asset, the International Registry of Reproductive Pathology database from the College of Veterinary Medicine. This database exemplifies the complexity of scientific data creation as well as underscores the importance of drawing on the expertise of archivists, digital preservationists, data curators, and subject specialists to address the challenges of preserving complex scientific digital objects.

How to Cite:

Anderson, B. & Popp, T., (2017) “It Takes a Library to Preserve a Scientific Database: A Collaborative Exploration of Database Preservation”, MAC Newsletter 45(1), 26-28.