Avoiding a digital dark age for data: Why publishers should care about digital preservation

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of the needs and threats for digital preservation and summarizes the findings from project PARSE.Insight. This project, co-funded by the EU, contains one of the first large worldwide surveys about digital preservation including most players of the STM information chain: researchers, libraries, data managers, publishers, and research funders. One of the conclusions is that in the present data deluge, it is extremely important that all players in the information chain work together on proper digital preservation of all research output, to ensure its future usability, understandability, and authenticity. This poses a new role for publishers who can ensure better discoverability and citability via good linking and integration of data and publications. © Eefke Smit, Jeffrey van der Hoeven, and David Giaretta 2011.