Data-PASS Partners: Plans for Moving Forward

1. Data-PASS Partners: Plans for Moving Forward Marc Maynard The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research University of Connecticut July 2010

2. Overview • What is Data-PASS? • Membership, Governance / Structure • Membership Benefits • Sustaining the Partnership • Challenges • Future Directions

3. Data-PASS... • is a broad-based partnership of data archives dedicated to acquiring and preserving data at-risk of being lost to the research community • partners collaborate to identify and promote good archival practices; seek out at-risk research data; build preservation infrastructure, and mutually safeguard collections • has rescued thousands of data sets and created the largest catalog of social science data in existence

4. Distinct Features of Data-PASS • Related and complementary missions • Federated structure • Maintain independence of partners • Different business models • Collection sizes vary • Resource availability varies

5. Membership & Governance Structure • General model: open, low-barriers partnership model • open to all levels of organizational and technological participation • minimum costs • each partner carries equal weight in terms of decision-making and direction • Lead Organization: ICPSR • handles administration, communications, budget and reporting • Steering Committee • handles major decisions regarding partnership direction and management • composed of at least one delegate from each partner • Operations Committee • organized to develop and coordinate procedures and practices of the partnership • composed of at least one delegate from each partner

6. Membership Benefits • Expanded visibility of collections • Partner data collections are described in the Data-PASS shared catalog which harvests and exposes partner metadata to partners and their constituent communities • Insurance against institutional and technological failure • Partner data collections are protected against institutional and technological failure through succession planning and replicated preservation • Advocacy for archival best practices • Partners leverage their substantial combined history and experience to advocate for and share archival best practices • Shared technology • Partner developed tools and processes are shared among interested members

7. Sustaining the Partnership • Consistently thought about Data-PASS in the long term • not simply a 3-year ‘project’ • Keep barriers to participation low • Keep costs low • Share technology, expertise, contacts • Leverage individual partner strengths for the benefit of Data-PASS • Investigate and follow through on mutually-beneficial project opportunities

8. Organizational Challenges • Infrastructure management, development and maintenance • Shared catalog, PLN • Collection development strategies to support coordinated content identification and selection • Relationship building with data producers and data consumers • Earlier data lifecycle steps to encourage the deposit of data • Sustaining collaboration and momentum • Leverage partnership communications and previous work to provide a foundation on which to build

9. Future Directions • Content: Coordination and Outreach • Shared Catalog: Living in a Google world • Shared Technology: From a single system to a standards-based modular approach • Shared Preservation Activities: “Safe-archive” built on LOCKSS; developing area • Sustainability: Solidify organizational commitments