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39-698: The UK Data Service is the largest digital repository for quantitative and qualitative social science and humanities research data in the United Kingdom. The organisation is funded by the UK government through the Economic and Social Research Council and is led by the UK Data Archive at the University of Essex , in partnership with other universities. The service is free to data owners and free at

78-537: A dark art, and easy-to-use tools to correct and clean numeric data are not widely used, despite awareness of the desire to make data FAIR. Their innovative, open source QAMyData tool provides a health check for numeric data and helps repository staff check, clean and document data. The UK Data Service follows a policy of active preservation to ensure the authenticity, reliability and logical integrity of all digital resources while providing usable versions for research, teaching or learning, in perpetuity. The UK Data Service

117-530: A data object either because of their established knowledge base or with the assistance of supplementary "representation information" that is included with the data object. An information package includes the following information objects: There are three types of information package in the OAIS reference model: These three information packages may or may not be identical to each other. There are six functional entities in an OAIS: Although originally developed by

156-479: A digital archive rather than the method for carrying out those activities. The acronym OAIS should not be confused with OAI, which is the Open Archives Initiative . The OAIS environment involves the interaction of four entities: producers of information, consumers of information (or the designated community ), management, and the archive itself. The management component of the OAIS environment

195-403: A long history of contributing to best practice in trustworthy repositories. Also in 2020, they helped to develop CoreTrustSeal, which sets out international requirements for trusted data repositories. This demonstrates their expertise to perform all of the relevant activities relating to providing long-term access to data of value to social science researchers. They also advised on the creation of

234-623: A long-term scientific resource of importance both nationally and internationally. As an independent body, advisory committee members act as critical friends in relation to the overall shape, academic direction and relevance to policy and practice of the UK Data Service, advising on its general strategy in order for it to achieve its overall objectives. Scientific and/methodological advice may also be sought from external, independent sources. Economic and Social Research Council The Economic and Social Research Council ( ESRC ), formerly

273-531: A means to extend the inherent value in primary data for replicating research results as well as for additional analysis and teaching use. To this end, it supports the ESRC 's Research Data Policy, which requires researchers funded by the research council to commit to a structured data management plan to enable data produced in the course of research to be deposited and archived for future sharing and reuse. To support researchers in developing robust data management plans,

312-721: A software architecture model that fully implements the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) reference model on 22 September 2020. An appliance developed on the architecture model has been available since October 2020. The architecture model is based exclusively on de facto and de jure standards and the appliance developed according to it was realised exclusively with open source products. The three main standards are Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) , Representational State Transfer (REST) and OpenID Connect (OIDC) . Scalability, distributability and extensibility are further essential features and enable

351-444: A variety of sources. Key data types include: Access to the data catalogue, documentation and guides are available free of charge. Registration may be required to download data, and its use subject to licensing requirements specified by data owners. Most data are available under a standard End User Licence, but data are available along a spectrum ranging from 'open' to 'secure'. The latter requires specific approval and training to ensure

390-400: Is a particular focus on digital information, both as the primary forms of information held and as supporting information for both digitally and physically archived materials. Therefore, the model accommodates information that is inherently non-digital (e.g., a physical sample ), but the modeling and preservation of such information is not addressed in detail. As strictly a conceptual framework,

429-486: Is based around a functional model, which in turn is based on the Open Archival Information System or OAIS (an ISO standard). This means that the UK Data Service works with standards for archiving digital materials to build trust relationships: researchers must trust that archivists are giving them the ‘right’ data, and data owners and producers must trust that the archivists are not damaging

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468-640: Is likely to be some training or best practice guidance that will be useful. From understanding more about how to use large national surveys, Census or qualitative data, through to the many innovations, including those in modelling, simulation, big data, web-scraping, social media and more, we continue to enable researchers to access, manage and explore data. The organisation publishes policies, procedures and protocols to help other national and international organisations, researchers and data providers to manage research data more effectively. They promote and maintain metadata standards for describing collections and data in

507-538: Is listed in the Registry of Research Data Repositories , re3data.org. It is part of the "trusted research environment" provided by the Office for National Statistics . The UK Data Service is commissioned to provide data access and support for researchers from all sectors including higher education, central and local government, foundations, charities and business. There are currently more than 6,000 datasets available from

546-479: Is not an entity that carries out day-to-day maintenance of an archive but a person or group that sets policies for the content contained in the archive. The OAIS model also defines an information model. Physical or digital items which contain information are known as data objects. Members of the Designated Community for an archive should be able to interpret and understand the information contained in

585-969: The Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slave-ownership : from 2009 to 2012, the Legacies of British Slave-ownership project, and from 2013 to 2015 the Structure and significance of British Caribbean slave-ownership 1763-1833 project (co-funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council ). This work built the publicly available Legacies of British Slave-ownership database. Open Archival Information System The OAIS model can be applied to various archives, e.g., open access, closed, restricted, "dark", or proprietary. The information being maintained has been deemed to need "long term preservation", even if

624-482: The Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems , a body dedicated to overseeing space agencies, as digital preservation has become a discipline unto itself, the OAIS has become the standard model for digital preservation systems at many institutions and organizations. OAIS-compliance has been a stated fundamental design requirement for major digital preservation and repository development efforts at

663-711: The Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems ; this text is identical to ISO 16363:2012 which forms the basis of the ISO audit and certification of Trustworthy Repositories, described at iso16363.org . The ISO 19165:1-2018 recommends the use of the Open Packaging Conventions to implement the Geospatial Package. As part of #WeMissiPres , Frank Obermeit, a computer scientist at the State Archives of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany , presented

702-945: The National Archives and Records Administration , Library of Congress , British Library , Bibliothèque nationale de France , National Library of the Netherlands , the Digital Curation Centre in the UK, OCLC (the Online Computer Library Center), the JSTOR (Journal Storage) scholarly journal archive, as well as several university library systems. Centre of Excellence for Digital Preservation, C-DAC , India has implemented OAIS for National Cultural Audiovisual Archive (NCAA) which has been certified as Trusted Digital Repository as per ISO 16363: 2012 during November 2017. This initiative

741-536: The Social Science Research Council ( SSRC ), is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). UKRI is a non-departmental public body (NDPB) funded by the UK government. ESRC provides funding and support for research and training in the social sciences . It is the UK's largest organisation for funding research on economic and social issues. The ESRC was founded in 1965 as the Social Science Research Council (SSRC – not to be confused with

780-585: The Social Science Research Council in the United States). The establishment of a state funding body for the social sciences in the United Kingdom, had been under discussion since the Second World War ; however, it was not until the 1964 election of Prime Minister Harold Wilson that the political climate for the creation of the SSRC became sufficiently favourable. The first chief executive of

819-815: The British Library helps researchers and data depositors cite data correctly, thereby helping demonstrate real value and impact to the data collections they hold. They ensure data follows the FAIR principles of being Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable, thereby enhancing the quality and replicability of the data. Their guidance to improve data citation across social science, along with their easy-to-use citation tool helps researchers cite data as they would other sources. Social science research benefits from accountability and transparency, which can usefully be underpinned by high quality and trustworthy data. Rigorous data curation practices are still sometimes viewed as

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858-586: The Education Secretary Sir Keith Joseph asked Lord Rothschild to lead a review into the future of the SSRC. It was ultimately decided (due in no small part to the efforts of Michael Posner, chief executive of the SSRC at the time ) that the Council should remain, but that its remit should be expanded beyond the social sciences, to include more 'empirical' research and research of 'more public concern'. To reflect this, in 1983

897-754: The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) that enables specific projects such as the Smart Energy Research Lab (SERL), and European based projects and investments such as the Consortium of European Social Science Data Archives (CESSDA) and Synergies for Europe’s Research Infrastructure in the Social Sciences (SERISS). Following the establishment of UKRI in 2018, the new national body that brought together all UK Research Councils, Innovate UK and Research England,

936-452: The OAIS itself is not permanent. "Long term" is long enough to be concerned with the impacts of changing technologies, including support for new media and data formats, or with a changing user community. "Long term" may extend indefinitely. The OAIS defines a long period of time as any length of time that might be impacted by changing technologies and the changing of "Designated Community," e.g., any group of consumers capable of understanding

975-420: The OAIS model does not require the use of any particular computing platform, system environment, system design paradigm, system development methodology, database management system, database design paradigm, data definition language, command language, system interface, user interface, technology, or media for an archive to be compliant. Its aim is to set the standard for the activities that are involved in preserving

1014-727: The Office for National Statistics Secure Research Services, they developed safe research protocols including the Five Safes Framework to enable secure research access to data while protecting confidentiality. Accredited in 2020 by the UK Statistic Authority under the Digital Economy Act 2017, they continue to provide a more streamlined pathway for researchers to securely access controlled data they need for research. UK Data Service partners have

1053-573: The SSRC was Michael Young (later Baron Young of Dartington). Subsequent holders of the post have included Michael Posner , later Secretary General of the European Science Foundation . Following the election of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1979 general election, the Government expressed reservations about the value of research in the social sciences, and the extent to which it should be publicly funded. In 1981,

1092-775: The SSRC was renamed the Economic and Social Research Council. The ESRC's mission, according to its website, is to: The ESRC is based at Polaris House in Swindon , which is also the location of the head offices of several other councils of UK Research and Innovation: AHRC , BBSRC , EPSRC , Innovate UK , MRC , NERC and STFC , as well as the UK Space Agency . At any one time ESRC supports over 4,000 researchers and postgraduate students in academic institutions and independent research institutes. Chairman: Chief Executive: Executive Chair: The ESRC funded two projects at

1131-620: The SafePod Network (SPN) launched in 2021 that enables wider geographical research access to sensitive data. The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) in its current form established the UK Data Service in October 2012, after originally setting up and funding the organisation in earlier forms since 1967. The governance structure is managed by the ESRC. Additional funding from other UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) councils includes

1170-600: The UK Data Service makes a toolkit of resources available in formats designed for researchers as well as those responsible for teaching data management skills. Information security is at the heart of the UK Data Service and flows through everything they do. Lead partner, the UK Data Archive at the University of Essex, was the first university to be awarded ISO27001 certification, an international standard of information security. Working closely with HMRC DataLab and

1209-458: The appropriate level of security for highly detailed and sensitive data. Their comprehensive learning resources in their Learning hub, training events and on-demand webinars relate to several innovative aspects of data-intensive social science research, alongside the foundations of research using quantitative and qualitative data. Whether new to research, new undergraduates or teachers; veteran data analysts, career researchers or data managers; there

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1248-536: The implementation of the Digital Economy Act 2017, and are often called upon to input into government White Papers around the use of data for research. In October 2013, the UK Data Service received additional funding to coordinate the Administrative Data Research Network (ADRN), the predecessor to ADR-UK, designed to streamline research access to data routinely collected by UK government departments and other agencies. UK Data Service

1287-509: The information. This length of time can be indefinite. The archive defines the community and that definition is not fixed. The "O" in OAIS represents the "open way the standard was developed", and does not represent " open access ", or the usage of the term open in the Open Definition or Open Archives Initiative . The "I" in OAIS represents "information", meaning data that can be shared or exchanged. In this reference model there

1326-763: The integrity of their data. The UK Data Service adheres to the UK Data Archive Preservation Policy, which codifies long-standing archival practice standards. This policy conforms to the OAIS reference model, with additions and alterations specific to the materials held within the UK Data Service collection. The policy holds strict requirements for digital preservation activities, together with how these requirements can best be achieved in keeping with regulatory requirements, archival best practice, information security and funding constraints. The UK Data Service encourages data sharing and reuse as

1365-554: The pandemic and the first COVID-19 datasets were made available in July 2020. Within six months of the pandemic they held their first online COVID-19 data dive with researchers and policy makers across the UK and beyond. The organisation frequently advise at a national and international level on data governance, ethics and confidentiality. They advised the Cabinet office on its development of the draft data ethics framework, which influenced

1404-431: The point of use to non-commercial data users. The organisation developed from the UK Data Archive , established at Essex University in 1967. Its funder, the Economic and Social Research Council (part of UK Research and Innovation ) established the UK Data Service in its current form in October 2012. Besides the UK Data Archive, the partners are: The UK Data Service enabled continued research access to data throughout

1443-413: The social sciences and their approach to data preparation and curation, and the standards they use, mean that data can be accessed now and in the future. Through the UK Data Archive they continue to be at the forefront of developing international standards for data processing, both quantitative and qualitative. As part of their commitment to making sure research is replicable, their work with DataCite and

1482-425: The strategic oversight and provision to the ESRC of independent assurance for the UK Data Service has been undergoing change. A new advisory committee for the UK Data Service was established in 2019 and meets twice a year. The advisory committee for the UK Data Service is the independent body with responsibility to ensure that the investment is developed, managed and maintained in a manner that maximises its benefit as

1521-608: Was a part of Indian National Digital Preservation Program (NDPP) . The OAIS has been the basis of numerous prominent digital preservation initiatives and standards including the Preservation Metadata: Implementation Strategies working group and the Trustworthy Repositories Audit & Certification (TRAC) document from OCLC. which was an initial draft of, and subsequently superseded by, CCSDS 652.1-M-2 of

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