Authors : Adam Kriesberg, Jacob Kowall
In this paper, we examine the ways in which the evolution of federal and agency‐specific data management policies has affected and continues to affect the long‐term preservation of digital scientific data produced by the United States government.
After reviewing the existing literature on the role of archival theory and practice in the preservation of scientific data, we present the case of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to analyze how data management activities at this agency are shaped by legislative mandates as well as both government‐wide and agency‐specific information‐management policies.
Through the connected network of law, federal policy, agency policy, and the records schedules which govern recordkeeping practice in the federal government, we propose a number of further questions on how government agencies can effectively provide for the management of scientific data as federal records.