|
Items in cart [1] |
Questions? Call 888-624-8373 |
| Copyright © 2009. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Terms of Use and Privacy Statement |
Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page R1
Study on the Long-term Retention of Selected Scientific and Technical Records of the Federal Government: Working Papers
Study on the Long-term Retention of Selected Scientific and Technical Records of the Federal Government
Working Papers
Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Applications
National Research Council
NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, D.C.
1995
OCR for page R2
Study on the Long-term Retention of Selected Scientific and Technical Records of the Federal Government: Working Papers
NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W.Washington, DC20418
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Robert M. White is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was established by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce Alberts and Dr. Robert M. White are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
Support for this project was provided by the National Archives and Records Administration (under Contract No. NAMA-S-92-0019), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (under Contract No. 50-DGNE-3-00105), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (under Contract No. S-54040-Z). The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsoring agencies or subagencies.
Additional copies of this report are available from:
Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Applications
2101 Constitution Ave., NW
National Research Council
Washington, DC 20814
Copyright 1995 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
OCR for page R3
Study on the Long-term Retention of Selected Scientific and Technical Records of the Federal Government: Working Papers
STEERING COMMITTEE FOR THE STUDY ON THE LONG-TERM RETENTION OF SELECTED SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL RECORDS OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
JEFF DOZIER,
University of California, Santa Barbara,
Chair
SHELTON ALEXANDER,
Pennsylvania State University
MARJORIE COURAIN, Consultant (deceased, January 14, 1994)
JOHN A. DUTTON,
Pennsylvania State University
WILLIAM EMERY,
University of Colorado
BRUCE GRITTON,
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
ROY JENNE,
National Center for Atmospheric Research
WILLIAM KURTH,
University of Iowa
DAVID LIDE, Consultant,
Gaithersburg, Maryland
B.K. RICHARD, TRW
JOAN WARNOW-BLEWETT,
American Institute of Physics
National Research Council Staff
Paul F. Uhlir, Associate Executive Director,
Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Applications
Mark David Handel, Program Officer,
Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate
Alice Killian, Research Associate,
Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources
James E. Mallory, Staff Officer,
Computer Science and Telecommunications Board
Scott T. Weidman, Senior Program Officer,
Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology
Julie M. Esanu, Research Assistant,
Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Applications
David J. Baskin, Project Assistant,
Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Applications
OCR for page R4
Study on the Long-term Retention of Selected Scientific and Technical Records of the Federal Government: Working Papers
COMMISSION ON PHYSICAL SCIENCES, MATHEMATICS, AND APPLICATIONS
RICHARD N. ZARE,
Stanford University,
Chair
RICHARD S. NICHOLSON,
American Association for the Advancement of Science,
Vice Chair
STEPHEN L. ADLER,
Institute for Advanced Study
SYLVIA T. CEYER,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
SUSAN L. GRAHAM,
University of California at Berkeley
ROBERT J. HERMANN,
United Technologies Corporation
RHONDA J. HUGHES,
Bryn Mawr College
SHIRLEY A. JACKSON,
Department of Physics
KENNETH I. KELLERMANN,
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
HANS MARK,
University of Texas at Austin
THOMAS A. PRINCE,
California Institute of Technology
JEROME SACKS,
National Institute of Statistical Sciences
L.E. SCRIVEN,
University of Minnesota
A. RICHARD SEEBASS III,
University of Colorado
LEON T. SILVER,
California Institute of Technology
CHARLES P. SLICHTER,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
ALVIN W. TRIVELPIECE,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
SHMUEL WINOGRAD,
IBM T.J. Watson Research Center
CHARLES A. ZRAKET,
MITRE Corporation (retired)
NORMAN METZGER, Executive Director
PAUL F. UHLIR, Associate Executive Director
OCR for page R5
Study on the Long-term Retention of Selected Scientific and Technical Records of the Federal Government: Working Papers
Preface
This volume contains the working papers of the panels created by the Steering Committee for the Study on the Long-Term Retention of Selected Scientific and Technical Records of the Federal Government. These papers were advisory to the steering committee and represent the opinions of the members of each panel in the context of their individual charges. The papers were not officially edited or reviewed by the National Research Council.
The steering committee provided the following guidelines to the panels for the preparation of their reports:
Describe a representative spectrum of scientific and technical data in the panel's discipline area(s) that either have been, or could be, designated as records of the federal government.1 Estimate and generally characterize the data expected to be acquired by the federal government in the discipline area(s) over the next decade.
Identify the principal scientific, technical, and information management (including custodial and ownership) issues regarding this existing and projected data inventory.
Select several illustrative examples for more detailed analysis and characterize those data according to the following attributes (to the extent feasible):
subject;
source;
approximate volume;
shape (dimensionality and cardinality);
level(s) of processing;
information content, completeness, and accuracy;
metadata (dataset documentation);
scientific (primary) and archival (secondary) research and reference use of the data;
format and media considerations of the data (i.e., electronic, textual, and microform data sets; volume of data; etc.);
media or format-related considerations involved in the long-term preservation, access, and reference of the data; and
any other characteristics the panel considers important.
1
“‘[Federal] records' includes all books, papers, maps, photographs, machine readable materials, or other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by an agency of the United States Government under Federal law or in connection with the transaction of public business and preserved or appropriate for preservation by that agency or its legitimate successor as evidence of the organization, function, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of the Government because of the informational value of the data in them” (44 U.S.C. 3301).
OCR for page R6
Study on the Long-term Retention of Selected Scientific and Technical Records of the Federal Government: Working Papers
Review the similarities and differences among the various types of representative data chosen as examples. Develop specific goals, principles, and priorities for the long-term retention of these data, with particular emphasis on priorities that may be generalized to other related disciplines.
Prepare retention criteria for consideration by the steering committee. The following elements should be addressed:
A process and schedule to identify and prioritize long-term scientific (primary) and enduring archival (secondary) value of scientific data. Give examples of what can be thrown away, or what priorities might change with the passage of time. Is there a difference between the long-term retention of data for scientific research (primary value), and for enduring archival (secondary value) research? Where can the boundaries be drawn in applying the goals, principles, and priorities developed in Task Number 3, and in managing the data over long periods of time?
The information content required to support long-term scientific (primary) and archival (secondary) accessibility and assessability (i.e., associated metadata, research protocols, calibration, georeferencing, and other transformations of the data);
Technology dependent and independent issues;
The feasibility and costs of recreating any data set versus the feasibility and cost of preserving it for long-term scientific (primary) use or for permanent archival (secondary) reference; and
The extent to which subject matter expertise may be required to provide adequate reference service for long periods of time.
Prepare appraisal guidelines that effectively encompass the recommended retention criteria developed by the panel, and the time period to which the recommended appraisal criteria apply.
Consider the statutory, legal, administrative, custodial, and institutional issues and responsibilities of the National Archives, the federal scientific research and development agencies, and the scientific and technical communities with regard to the long-term retention and scientific (primary) and archival (secondary) use of scientific data.
Using the considerations in Task Number 5 above and the retention criteria and appraisal guidelines developed by the panel, describe the ideal archival institution with regard to preservation, primary and secondary reference use, and long-term access to data.
Provide conclusions and recommendations.
Each panel met twice to obtain briefings, discuss the issues, and prepare its paper for the steering committee. The panel chairs presented their papers in oral and written form at the January 1994 meeting of the steering committee, and were invited to participate with the committee in its initial attempts to generate a cohesive set of overall recommendations. The steering committee thus based its final decisions and recommendations in significant part on the contents of the panel papers and on the discussions with the panel chairs.
Because all five panels used the same guidelines, there are some redundancies among the papers. Nevertheless, the panels each tended to emphasize different aspects of the topic, and together the papers provide a comprehensive perspective on the major issues involved in the long-term retention of scientific and technical data in the physical sciences. Finally, the steering committee was encouraged by the remarkable convergence in the conclusions and recommendations of the five panels, despite the fact that they performed their studies separately. This substantial agreement in the views expressed by the panels helped to validate the steering committee's own conclusions and recommendations, which are presented in a separately published document, Preserving Scientific Data on Our Physical Universe: A New Strategy for Archiving the Nation's Scientific Information Resources (National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1995).
The steering committee would like to thank all the panel participants, the panels' invited guests, and the National Research Council staff involved in the preparation of these five papers, which the steering committee found invaluable in preparing its final report.
Jeff Dozier, Chair
Steering Committee for the Study on the Long-term Retention of Selected Scientific and Technical Records of the Federal Government
