ADP - SOCIAL SCIENCE DATA ARCHIVES

The phase of long-term management consists of:

• transferring data to a most suitable data format
• transferring data to an appropriate media
• making security copies and preserving the data
• collecting and creating of metadata and documentation
• preserving and protecting data

The researcher may use protocols/procedures for submission and archiving, standards and tools, as well as authorized data centres to advise him/her on long-term management of his/her research data.

In this phase of the research data lifecylce, the researchers need to ask him/herself whether research data from the study have a long-term value and should be preserved.

The questions that need to be resolved already in the data management planning phase and should now be finally realized, are:

• What data needs to be saved/destroyed due to a contract agreement, legal or other purposes?
• How to decide what data to preserve?
• What is the potential of the data for further use?
• How long should the data be preserved?
• What is the long-term managing plan of the research data? Where that is in which repository or archive will the research data be preserved?
• How will the data be stored and how will security copies be made after the project?
• How will access and security issues be resolved?