Enabling Long-Term Access to Scientific, Technical and Medical Data Collections

Area of Science:

• Scientific, Technical, and Medical (STM) research
• Biosciences
• Environmental Science

Background:

• Online access to high-quality data accelerates scientific research.
• Libraries traditionally ensure scholarly output availability.
• The role of national libraries in managing STM data is unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the British Library's potential role in facilitating access to STM datasets.
• To assist the British Library in developing strategies for data intake, curation, archiving, and preservation.
• To identify alternative strategies for different data types and research fields.

Main Methods:

• Scoping study to address the British Library's role in STM data access.
• Exploration of potential strategies for intake, curation, archiving, and preservation.
• Focus on biosciences and environmental science datasets.

Main Results:

• The study addresses the potential role of the British Library (BL) in facilitating access to relevant datasets in the biosciences and environmental science.
• The aim of this study is to assist the BL in developing an appropriate strategy.
• The focus of this study is to explore a range of alternative strategies for the BL.

Conclusions:

• Libraries have a significant role in facilitating long-term access to research datasets.
• The British Library can develop strategies to manage and provide access to STM reference datasets.
• Tailored strategies are needed for different data types and research disciplines.