The Open Data Imperative: How the Cultural Heritage Community Can Address the Federal Mandate. CLIR Publication No. 171

Data are a valuable national resource for a variety of stakeholders across all sectors of society. Dramatic advances in information and communication technology have opened up unprecedented opportunities for broad public access, innovative research, and citizen engagement, but this potential can be realized only if data are properly managed and exposed over time. New U.S. government requirements for exposing and managing federally funded research data add urgency to the call for curating data so that they can be used, re-used, and exploited by future generations. These new requirements have significant implications for cultural heritage institutions in addressing the current deficit in the capacity to support the re-use of data over time and across generations of technology (digital curation) and in enabling collaboration based on shared infrastructure. Cultural heritage encompasses various types of artifacts (analog or digital), as well as attributes and behaviors that groups or societies maintain over time to preserve connections to the past, present, and future. Cultural heritage institutions have a mission to support, perpetuate, and provide access to essential elements of culture as a whole. There are many different types of cultural heritage institutions, but three of the most commonly recognized are libraries, archives, and museums. Materials in their care are vital to the ongoing advancement and perpetuation of the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. This report presents the implications for the cultural heritage community of the recent focus on creating public access to data and publications resulting from federal funding, and our recommendations for relevant stakeholders. The recommendations are based on a review of federal agencies' responses to new government requirements, case studies of seven digital curation projects, and an investigation of the current professional capacity for the long-term management of cultural heritage digital content, including data. The following are appended: (1) Analysis of Public Access Plans: Research Design and Methods; (2) Links to Federal Department and Agency Public Access Plans Used for This Report; (3) Projects on Digital Curation Curriculum and Skills Development Funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, 2004-2015; (4) Competency Categories and Skills Defined for the Four Curriculum Models; and (5) Job Postings to the American Library Association (ALA) DigiPres Electronic Mailing List, 2013-2015.