Digital Repositories

The IASSIST Quarterly IQ Vol. 31 issue 3&4 is now available on the web:

http://iassistdata.org/publications/iq/iqvol31.html

This issue will only be available on the web. There will be no printed version mailed out to the membership.

The IASSIST Quarterly IQ Vol. 31 issue 3&4 is now available on the web:

  more...

Anyone who archives his or her data also would like them to be found, recognized and still usable in the future. That is not a matter of course with electronic data. After all, hardware and software are changing all the time. Making data future-proof can be accomplished by ensuring that data sets and metadata meet certain guidelines. In consultation with large data producers and managers, DANS laid down what those guidelines need to be in its 'Datakeurmerk', which will continue to be developed further. more...

Luis Martinez-Uribe, Digital Repositories Research Co-ordinator, is based at the Oxford e-Research Centre and will be conducting a scoping study to capture researcher's needs for repository services to manage, curate, preserve and disseminate research data generated in Oxford.

A new blog (http://oxdrrc.blogspot.com/) has been set-up to record the progress of the project while disseminating outputs and information about relevant activities. more...

Announcing new deliverables from the DISC-UK DataShare project: more...

As part of the JISC-funded DISC-UK DataShare project in the UK, a State-of-the-Art Review has been written, marking out the current scene on data sharing at the beginning of the project. more...

Interesting report applying the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) model and the Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard (METS) to the UK Data Archive; a very useful convergence of preservation strategies and articulation of what the model means for data and disciplinary focused digital repositories/archives. more...

ICPSR will be taking part in the RLG-NARA Digital Repository Certification project to identify the criteria repositories must meet for reliably storing, migrating, and providing access to digital collections. more...

The practice of requiring users to register prior to receiving permission to access data files is increasing among distributors of data. In a message posted on the IASSIST discussion list on September 8, 2005, Libbie Stephenson mentioned various forms of registration employed by data distributors. She has heard it argued that such practices have become barriers to data access and are increasing the cost of research. She asked the IASSIST community if anyone has evidence of registration practices actually increasing the cost of research, whether such costs are related to time, staff, hardware, software or some other aspect of research. more...