Karen Dennison, the UK Data Service’s Collections Development Manager, discusses a new initiative to free data in our collection from overly-restrictive access conditions. As the data storage and archiving sector has developed, the UK Data Service has been instrumental in voicing the benefits of less restrictive access to the data community, helping maximise the re-use of data and ensure that historic data deposited with us remains available for research practice in years to come.
The Collections Development team at the UK Data japan rcs data Service undertook an initial three-month programme of renegotiation of access conditions for some of our data collections, helping to open up data to more users by encouraging depositors to move away from restrictive conditions towards more open access.
In the past, restrictive conditions of access were offered more freely, partly because future requirements were not anticipated and partly to encourage data owners to make their data available at a time when there were fewer incentives to share data more widely. However, the Collections Development team is now working closely with data depositors to maximise the re-use of data and ensure that it remains accessible in the future.