Data at Risk Initiative: Examining and Facilitating the Scientific Process in Relation to Endangered Data

Abstract

Examining the scientific process in relation to endangered data, data reuse, and sharing is crucial in facilitating scientific workflow. Deterioration, format obsolescence, and insufficient metadata for discovery are significant problems leading to loss of scientific data. The research presented in this paper considers these potentially lost data. Four one-hour focus groups and a demographic survey were conducted with 14 scientists to learn about their attitudes toward endangered data, data sharing, data reuse, and their opinions of the DARI inventory. The results indicate that unavailability, lack of context, accessibility issues, and potential endangerment are key concerns to scientists.