Making the Most of Digital Resources

Clearly stated preservation policies are essential in guaranteeing that researchers in the future will be able to access and use a digital resource, according to a JISC-funded report published on 2nd June 2010. 

A preservation policy should include what content is being preserved and for whom, the objective of the preservation, who is responsible, sources of financial support and how the success of preservation will be measured.  But the responsibility needs to be shared between funders, who must articulate the need for data curation, and universities, who need to implement a preservation policy for each digital collection. 

This advice comes as the government announces a new 'right to data' so that government-held data sets can be requested and used by the public, and then published on a regular basis.

The results of this Digital Preservation Study contain recommendations for institutions, funders and those assessing funding projects and programmes.