PARSE.Insight - INSIGHT into issues of Permanent Access to the Records of Science in Europe

"The EU-project "PARSE.Insight - INSIGHT into issues of Permanent Access to the Records of Science in Europe" started its work in March 2008. Its areas of activity include long-term digital preservation, the provision of raw scientific data and its links to publications.
Raw scientific data is often scattered over a number of research institutes and in many cases is managed locally by the researchers themselves. The rapid aging of data carriers, formats and software and hardware environments means that their long-term accessibility is under threat. In many cases no preservation strategies exist for this data. There is therefore a risk of losing data which is of great significance for research.
The aim of PARSE.Insight is to draw up a roadmap and recommendations to support the e-Infrastructure for the digital preservation and long-term accessibility of this raw academic data. The project partners first analyze the digital preservation methods and the communities involved in the provision of raw academic data. They then carry out a Europe-wide survey to determine how raw academic data is currently being archived. Three case studies are providing specific and complementary information. The results will be used as the basis for plugging the gaps in the European e-Infrastructure with regard to the long-term usability of raw scientific data and then to devise a tool to support EU investment and infrastructure decisions aimed at ensuring long-term access to raw scientific data.
Nine partners from the fields of libraries, research, journalism and politics are working together in PARSE-Insight. The project is scheduled to run for two years.
Further information: http://www.parse-insight.eu/"