This document outlines challenges and approaches for long-term preservation of research data in an academic library. It discusses risks of data loss, loss of readability, and loss of interpretability over time if data is not properly curated. The role of libraries and infrastructure services is to support researchers by taking over routine data management tasks and applying expertise in organizing information. The vision is a system that ingests data from researchers, plans and conducts long-term preservation according to international standards to ensure the usability and reusability of the data into the future.

1. “ F o r e v e r is c o m p o s e d o f
Nows ” :
L o n g -t e r m p r e s e r v a t io n o f
re s e a rc h d a ta
U K S G 2 0 12
in a n a c a d e m ic lib r a r y
G l a s g o w , 2 6 t h /2 7 t h M a r c h 2 0 12
D r . M a t t h ia s T ö w e
E T H Z u r ic h , E T H -B ib lio t h e k
1

2. O U T L IN E
1. B a c k g r o u n d : i s s u e s a n d
o b je c t iv e s
2. C u r r e n t p r o j e c t
3. R o l e s
4. V i s i o n
5. L i m i t a t i o n s
6. « N o w s » a n d c a v e a t s
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3. B A C K G R O U N D ( I)
C h a lle n g e s
• R e s e a r c h process as a whole
r e lie s o n d ig it a l d a t a
• Data can only be used in a
d e f in e d t e c h n ic a l e n v ir o n m e n t ,
which usually remains
stable for only a few years
• G o o d s c i e n t i f i c p r a c t i c e requires
retention of data in usable
form
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3 • F u n d i n g o r g a nM s Ta wtei o n s require
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4. B A C K G R O U N D ( II)
C h a lle n g e s
• R e - u s e o f d a t a becomes
increasingly important and
should be facilitated
• Data which cannot easily be
reproduced and has p e r m a n e n t
r e l e v a n c e must remain
available
• P u b lis h e d o r r e f e r e n c e d
supplementary material
must be citable and remain
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5. M A J O R R IS K S
• D a t a lo s s
 Data cannot be found
• L o s s o f r e a d a b ilit y
 Data cannot be rendered due to
technical reasons (most often
obsolescence of one required
component such as application,
operating system, hardware)
• L o s s o f in t e r p r e t a b ilit y
5  Data cannot M be e interpreted and
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6. D A TA L O S S
D a ta L o s s
 Data cannot be found because…
• Their location of storage is not
known
• File or folder structures were
changed without documentation
• Intransparent redundancies and
versions exist
• Persons originally responsible
cannot be conctacted
• Offline-media are stored in
unknown locations
6
• Offline-mediaM .were damaged by
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7. L O S S O F R E A D A B IL IT Y
L o s s o f r e a d a b ilit y
 Data cannot be rendered
because…
• F i l e f o r m a t s are not recognized by
current software or are not
rendered correctly
• S o f t w a r e required for rendering
or even editing data is no
longer available
• Available older software
cannot be run on current
o p e r a t i n g s y s t e m s a n d /o r h a r d w a r e
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 Re c o v e r y « e x po s t » mig ht
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8. LOS S OF
IN T E R P R E TA B IL IT Y
L o s s o f in t e r p r e t a b ilit y
 Data cannot be interpreted and
used in a scientifically correct
way because s e m a n t i c i n f o r m a t i o n i s
m i s s i n g , e.g. about…
• S a m p le taking and preparation
• M e t h o d s o f m e a s u r e m e n t or data
collection
• Known e r r o r s a n d c o r r e c t i o n s
• L e v e l o f d a t a p r o c e s s in g
• M e t h o d s o f a n a l y s i s and algorithms
used
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9. WH AT WE M E A N B Y
C U R A T IO N
Wha t? Wh y? Who ?
E ns ure
D a ta D a ta
in t e lle c t u a l
C u r a t io n P rod uc e rs
r e -u s a b ilit y
C o nte nt E ns ure
E TH -
P r e s e r v a t io t e c h n ic a l
B ib lio t h e k
n r e -u s a b ilit y
B it s t r e a m E ns ure
I T -S e r v i c e s
P r e s e r v a t io t e c h n ic a l
E T H Z u r ic h
n s t a b ilit y
ed after Jens Ludwig, Wissgrid
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10. D IF F E R E N C E S B E T W E E N
D A TA T YP E S ?
Wha t? R e s e a r c h d a t ai b r a r y o b j e c t s
L
C o m p r e h e n s iv
e
F u ll c o n t r o l o f
D a ta d o c u m e n t a t io
me ta d a ta a nd
C u r a t io n n by
c o nte xt
produc e rs
M o r e qaun r e ld s s
re id e M a in ly
C o nte nt c ommon s ta nd a rd
P r e s e r v a t io f o rSm a t s p r e s e r vfa tri mn t s
o o a
a me
n
p r o c e d u r e s a p p ly
B it s t r e a m
P r e s e r v a t io „ A n y o b je c t is ju s t b it s “
n
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11. O T H E R V IE W S
(M a n y ) people including
p o t e n t i a l p a r t n e r s (IT, research)
• Tend to mix up long-term s t o r a g e
(bitstream preservation) and
l o n g - t e r m p r e s e r v a t i o n (keeping data
usable)
• Ta k e p r e s e r v a t i o n f o r g r a n t e d , once
data is reliably stored
• S e e t h e n e e d t o c h a n g e a n d im p r o v e
c u r2r6e n t p r a c t i c e i n d a t a m a n a g e m e n t
/2 7
11
withc hthe option e of long-term
Mar
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12. «OUR» ROLE AND
« T H E IR S »
• C a n w e a c t u a lly « r a is e a w a r e n e s s »
with researchers?
• Is it r e a lly u s e f u l t o b o t h e r
r e s e a r c h e r s with technical
background – unless asked
for?
• There are r e s e a r c h e r s w i t h a
h ig h le v e l o f a w a r e n e s s a n d
c onc e rn
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•
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13. C OULDN’ T RES EARC HERS
D O IT T H E M S E L V E S ?
• D a t a m a n a g e m e n t a n d d ig it a l
c u r a t io n h a n d le d b y r e s e a r c h e r s
t h e m s e lv e s :
• P o s s ib le in principle and
sometimes done very well
• Tim e c o n s u m in g
• Supportive of research
productivity
• N o t p r o d u c t iv e r e s e a r c h in it s e lf
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14. WH Y D O E S E TH -
B IB L IO T H E K B O T H E R ?
• In f r a s t r u c t u r e s e r v ic e s s u c h a s
E T H -B ib lio t h e k a n d IT s e r v ic e s
• S u p p o r t the research process
• Can offer services to e a s e
w o r k l o a d o f r o u t i n e t a s k s for
researchers
• Rely on scientists to define
their requirements
• R e ly o n r e s e a r c h e r s t o d o c u m e n t t h e ir
d a t a according to community
needs
14
• E 2 6 pc lho i t s y n e r g i e T ö win order to
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Mar M.
s e
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15. W H Y T H E L IB R A R IE S ?
• Reputation of scientific
libraries as l o n g - l i v e d /p e r m a n e n t
in s t it u t io n s
• O r g a n is in g a n d m a n a g in g in f o r m a t io n
is seen as a task, where
librarians can contribute
their experience
• Building on former
(obviously p o s i t i v e ) t r a c k r e c o r d ,
t h e r e/2 7s h o u l d b e M aT ö bea s i s o f t r u s t
26
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16. N E W TA S K S F O R
L IB R A R IE S
• W e c a n b e s e r v i c e p r o v i d e r s – if we
have a service to offer
• W e t a k e o n a n e w r o le :
• I n a d d i t i o n t o d e l i v e r i n g i n f o r m a t i o n to
researchers…
• …we now offer s e r v i c e s a r o u n d t h e i r
o w n d a ta …
• …w h i c h w e o f t e n c a n n o t e v e n m a k e p u b l i c l y
a c c e s s ib le .
• New tasks call for a n e w
p r o f2e /2 7s i o n a l p r o f i l e («data
6 s
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17. V IS IO N - U S E R ’ S V IE W
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18. V IS IO N – S YS T E M S V IE W
Additional Ingest Additional search /retrieve
Content sources
components Archival core modules & delivery components Access components
Primary data Preservation Planning Catalog
Administration Admin-
Secondary Interface
data Data
Producer Management Create User
(E-Depot) Archiv-DB
Deliveries /
Preprocessing
Retrieve
Ingest
Requests Reposi-
Ingest Access tories
GEVER
Archival
Additional Storage
sources
Storage-Layer
Security-Layer
(Authentication , Authorisation )
Abschlussbericht zur zweiten Phase „Pilot Langzeitarchivierung“,
S. 23f; Aliesch, P. et al., 2007: Projekt „Pilot
Langzeitarchivierung“. Intern.
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19. R O S E TTA
P re -
M a n u a lly
D a ta in g e s t ,
p r o d u c t io e .g .
n a nd s t r u c t u r in
h a n d lin g g,
fo r re -
L o n g -t e r m
c urre nt a r r a n g in g
p r e s e r v a t io n
a n a ly s is ( S e m i-) ,
a c c o r d in g t o O A IS
a u t o m a t i c sael lly c t i n g
e
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20. V IS IO N
Additional Ingest Additional search /retrieve
Content sources
components Archival core modules & delivery components Access components
Primary data Preservation Planning Catalog
M a n u a lly
P re - Administration Admin-
D a Secondary
ta in g e s t , Interface
p r o d u c data
t io e .g . Data
Producer Management Create User
(E-Depot) Archiv-DB
n a nd s t r u c t u r in Deliveries /
Preprocessing
h a n d lin g g, Retrieve
Ingest
Requests Reposi-
fo r re - Ingest Access tories
GEVER L o n g -t e r m
c urre nt a r r a n g in g
p r e s e r v a t io n
a n a ly s is ,
a c c o r dArchivalt o O A I S
in g
( S e m i -) a u tsoeme c t i n g
l
Additional i c a l l y Storage
at
sources
Storage-Layer
Security-Layer
(Authentication , Authorisation )
Abschlussbericht zur zweiten Phase „Pilot Langzeitarchivierung“,
S. 23f; Aliesch, P. et al., 2007: Projekt „Pilot
Langzeitarchivierung“. Intern.
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21. L IM ITA T IO N S
There are g e n e r a l l i m i t s to
what we can do
• We need to m a k e d e c i s i o n s no w…
• …which i n f l u e n c e i f a n d h o w d a t a c a n
b e u s e d in future.
• We d o n o t k n o w …
• W h o will use data
• W h e n d a t a will be used
• F o r w h i c h p u r p o s e data will be used
• « S o m e o n e » n e e d s t o c o m m it n o w t o
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p a y i6n cgh f o r « e t e r n i. tT yw e
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Mar M ö
»
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22. O N L Y R E S E A R C H D A TA ?
• These limitations are n o t
s p e c if ic o f r e s e a r c h d a t a …
• …but they are m o r e
p r o n o u n c e d in research:
• H i g h m o b i l i t y of staff
 f l u c t u a t i o n in responsibilities
• D y n a m i c d e v e l o p m e n t of methods
• D a t a m a n a g e m e n t n o t a lw a y s
c o n s id e r e d a s a p r io r it y
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•
22 M u l tr ci t u d e o f f o r M . Ta w e
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23. T H E T R O U B L E W IT H
« N O WS »
L o n g - t e r m p r e s e r v a t i o n i s n o o n e -o f f
a c t iv it y
• E a c h g e n e r a t io n h a s t o a c t
according to its best
knowledge
• Usually, the aim is to h a n d o v e r
u s a b l e d a t a t o t h e n e x t g e n e r a t i o n of
curators
• T h e o v e r a ll q u a lit y o f t h e p r e s e r v a t io n
c h a/2 n i s g o v e r n e d b y t h e p r e s e r v a t i o n
26
i7
23
s t M 0 pc h w i t h t h e l oMwT ö wse t q u a l i t y
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r .
e

24. WH AT C A N B E D O N E
« N O W»
E x a m p le s f o r t h e « n o w s » in
re s e a rc h d a ta
• Only now we can c o m m u n i c a t e
w it h d a t a p r o d u c e r s
• F in d o u t w h a t t h e ir n e e d s a r e
• D e f in e t h e r e q u ir e d s e r v ic e s
• M a k e p r o d u c e r s d o c u m e n t t h e ir d a t a
• D i s c u s s a l t e r n a t i v e f o r m a t s where
necessary
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25. C AVE ATS
• Digital curation cannot
«improve» data retroactively:
« g a r b a g e in – g a r b a g e o u t »
• Therefore r e s e a r c h e r s n e e d t o
a c t i v e l y c o n t r i b u t e (e.g.
documentation)
• W h o d e c i d e s about data when the
producer is no longer
available?
• D a t a c a n b e m a d e p u b l i c l y a v a i l a b l e , but
thisr c must not T ö w e a prerequisite
M . be
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26. M O R E C AVE ATS
• W r i t t e n a g r e e m e n t between data
producer and data archive on
formats, procedures and
access rights
• Management of a c t i v e d a t a n o t
t r e a t e d in c u r r e n t p r o je c t …
• …but w e n e e d t o p r o v i d e c o m f o r t a b l e
r o u t e s t o b r in g r e s e a r c h d a t a in t o t h e
a r c h iv e
• T h e r e i s n o a b s o l u t e s a f e t y against
willful attacks
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27. E VE N M O R E C AVE ATS
• «T h e a r t o f c o m m u n i c a t i n g w i t h t h e
f u t u r e »:
• We no w t r y t o m i n i m i z e r i s k s with
reasonable effort in order
to avoid their occurrence in
future
• Together with producers w e
c a n o n l y m a k e e d u c a t e d g u e s s e s at
who might want to use data
for what kind of purpose
•
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27 N o M arr ohc k e t s c i e nMc Te w e, b u t a n o n g o i n g
« c . ö »
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28. T H A N K YO U V E R Y M U C H !
Q u e s t io n s ?
Dr. Matthias
Töwe
Head Digital
Curation
ETH-Bibliothek
Rämistrasse 101
8092 Zürich
Switzerland
+41 (0)44 632 60
32
m a t t h ia s . t o e w e @ ib r a r y. e t h z . c h
l
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2 8 t p : //w wr w . l i b r a r y . e t h z .M . h ö w e
ht Ma c h c T
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