Data Preservation
Best Practices for preserving your
research data for future reuse
The goal of data preservation is to ensure that your data
is in a sustainable format that can be accessed
and reused at some point in the future.
Basics for digital data preservation
• Locate everything to be saved
• Transfer from older media
• Create a directory
• Decide what to keep
• Organize the files
• Save copies in different places & on different media
• Manage the collections
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Locate everything to be saved
• Locate all of your data
• Transfer from older media - floppy disks, cassettes, 8tracks, CDs, DVDs, magnetic tape
• Download data from social media sites, emails, filesharing sites, and cloud storage
• Transfer files from cameras and phones
• Collect it in one place
3
Create a directory
Document everything that you identified or downloaded
to a central location when you located your data.
• file name(s)
• location
• source (if it is still in the original location)
• media type
Create a directory file that lists all of the content. It can be
a paper list or a digital file, or both. Update it frequently.
Email it to yourself, and store a copy with the content.
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Decide what to keep
Which research data should I preserve?
• Obligation to keep it for sharing or reuse
• Verification of the research
• Value of the data
• Uniqueness of the data
• Raw (primary) or processed (secondary) data
• General historical research (heritage)
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Organize the files
How should I identify my data files?
• Descriptive file names
• Consistency
• Identify different versions clearly
• Simple folder names
• Include date/time information
• Predictable
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Save copies in several locations
Keep copies in different places & on different media
• Backup your data
• Duplication
• Different formats
• Location, location, location
• 3-2-1 Rule: 3 copies, 2 media types, 1 copy offsite
• Threat zones
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Managing the collections
How do I actively manage my research data?
• Visit your data often
• Migrate to newer media
• Migrate to newer formats
• Migrate to newer software
• Verify data consistency
• Keep your directory up to date
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Need assistance or have questions?
•
The UVa Library Research Data Services provides
consulting and training services to UVA researchers and
graduate students in all aspects of research data
management.
•
We can help you navigate and negotiate through the
tricky issues and many approvals in order to responsibly
share your research data.
•
Contact us at dmconsult@virginia.edu
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