Before the Repository: Defining the Preservation Threats to Research Data in the Lab

This paper describes the results of a large survey designed to quantify the risks and threats to the preservation of the research data in the lab and to determine the mitigating actions of researchers. A total of 724 National Science Foundation awardees completed this survey. Identifying risks and threats to digital preservation has been a significant research stream. Much of this work has been within the context of a preservation technology infrastructure such as data archives for a digital repository. This study looks at the risks and threats to research data prior to its inclusion in a preservation technology infrastructure. The greatest threat to preservation is human error, followed by equipment malfunction, obsolete software, and data corruption. Lost and mislabeled media are not components in the threat taxonomies developed for repositories; however, they do represent an important threat to research data in the lab. Researchers have recognized the need to mitigate the risks inherent in maintaining digital data by implementing data management in their lab environments and have taken their responsibility as data managers seriously; however, they would still prefer to have professional data management support.