Disappearing repositories -- taking an infrastructure perspective on the long-term availability of research data

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Strecker, Dorothea, Pampel, Heinz, Schabinger, Rouven, Weisweiler, Nina Leonie
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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author Strecker, Dorothea
Pampel, Heinz
Schabinger, Rouven
Weisweiler, Nina Leonie
author_facet Strecker, Dorothea
Pampel, Heinz
Schabinger, Rouven
Weisweiler, Nina Leonie
contents Currently, there is limited research investigating the phenomenon of research data repositories being shut down, and the impact this has on the long-term availability of data. This paper takes an infrastructure perspective on the preservation of research data by using a registry to identify 191 research data repositories that have been closed and presenting information on the shutdown process. The results show that 6.2 % of research data repositories indexed in the registry were shut down. The risks resulting in repository shutdown are varied. The median age of a repository when shutting down is 12 years. Strategies to prevent data loss at the infrastructure level are pursued to varying extent. 44 % of the repositories in the sample migrated data to another repository, and 12 % maintain limited access to their data collection. However, both strategies are not permanent solutions. Finally, the general lack of information on repository shutdown events as well as the effect on the findability of data and the permanence of the scholarly record are discussed.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2310_06712
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Disappearing repositories -- taking an infrastructure perspective on the long-term availability of research data
Strecker, Dorothea
Pampel, Heinz
Schabinger, Rouven
Weisweiler, Nina Leonie
Digital Libraries
Currently, there is limited research investigating the phenomenon of research data repositories being shut down, and the impact this has on the long-term availability of data. This paper takes an infrastructure perspective on the preservation of research data by using a registry to identify 191 research data repositories that have been closed and presenting information on the shutdown process. The results show that 6.2 % of research data repositories indexed in the registry were shut down. The risks resulting in repository shutdown are varied. The median age of a repository when shutting down is 12 years. Strategies to prevent data loss at the infrastructure level are pursued to varying extent. 44 % of the repositories in the sample migrated data to another repository, and 12 % maintain limited access to their data collection. However, both strategies are not permanent solutions. Finally, the general lack of information on repository shutdown events as well as the effect on the findability of data and the permanence of the scholarly record are discussed.
title Disappearing repositories -- taking an infrastructure perspective on the long-term availability of research data
topic Digital Libraries
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.06712