Social Science Data Archives: Case Studies in Data Sustainability

Shankar, Kalpana; Eschenfelder, Kristin; Downey, Greg; Fleming, Peter; Engerson, Cynthia; Lin, Rebecca; McBurney, Jennifer Nygren

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/47387 Copy

Description

Title

Social Science Data Archives: Case Studies in Data Sustainability

Author(s)

• Shankar, Kalpana
• Eschenfelder, Kristin
• Downey, Greg
• Fleming, Peter
• Engerson, Cynthia
• Lin, Rebecca
• McBurney, Jennifer Nygren

Issue Date

2014-03-01

Keyword(s)

• social science data archives
• data archives
• case studies
• data sustainability
• history
• information infrastructure

Abstract

There has been a sizeable investment in the development of large-scale data and appropriate infrastructures in the physical and biological sciences and increasingly in the social sciences and humanities. Concerns about data sustainability have attracted a great deal of attention as research project data collection represents a significant investment, and loss of subsequent use of that data represents a loss of potential value. In this poster, we focus on of the most long-lived examples of data archives: Social Science Data Archives (SSDAs). In this study, we report on preliminary research on the historical, institutional, and operational dimensions over SSDAs over time. Drawing upon analyses of institutional and policy documents and interviews with staff, depositors, and administrators, this poster briefly discusses current challenges to SSDA longevity and implications for next steps in expanding the study both theoretically and methodologically. Initial themes discussed in this poster include data archives making a market for themselves, configuring their products and their user base and ongoing tensions between the need to generate revenue and pressure for open access data.

Publisher

iSchools

Series/Report Name or Number

iConference 2014 Proceedings

Type of Resource

text

Language

english

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/47387

DOI

https://doi.org/10.9776/14287

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2014 is held by the authors of individual items in the proceedings. Copyright permissions, when appropriate, must be obtained directly from the authors.

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