A leaflet offering practical guidance for researchers on how to preserve their digital research material/data. This is one of the outputs of the JISC SHARD project, investigating research data preservation for history researchers, and related projects in the 2011-2012 JISC Digital Preservation programme

Collins, Anna

Raggett, Malcolm

Sleeman, Patricia

English

ULCC Publications Archive

Start early
make a plan of how you are going to manage 
your digital material
Think about the key issues that affect your 
research material over the course of the project. If 
in doubt, plan to preserve your material and data 
for the long term.
get permissions to publish copyrighted material 
as you go along
Whatever level of permission you obtain (personal 
use, controlled dissemination or open access) 
make sure you keep them as part of your 
research information.
don’t leave everything until the end of the project
Get into good habits early in your research. Little 
things, such as using appropriate file formats, 
organising your files and documenting material 
over the course of the project, will save time later. 
Sending your 
reSearch material 
into the future
more information
LSE FAQ:  www2.lse.ac.uk/library/services/training/
cambridge faQ: www.lib.cam.ac.uk/dataman/
ihr faQ : www.history.ac.uk/research-training/digital-research-skills 
If  I have seen further it is by standing on 
the shoulders of  giants. 
Isaac Newton, Letter to Robert Hooke, February 5, 1676
The principle of validating and extending the research work 
of others is long established. making both publications and 
underlying research material available for others to build 
on gives researchers kudos and more citations. Research 
in general will benefit by less duplication of effort, faster 
developments and more efficient use of scarce funds.  
 
So how do you send your digital research material and data 
into the future?
funding Body
Participating institutions
Share it
to gain more impact
Other researchers - in your field or in different 
disciplines - may want to make use of your 
material, now and in the future.
to enhance your reputation
Making research available allows you to 
demonstrate research excellence, increases your 
citations and can lead to collaborations.
to increase the chance of funding
Most funding agencies respond positively to  
you making your material and data available  
to others. 
use repositories and data centres for archiving  
your material
Consider making your research openly available. 
Choose a repository with controlled access if this  
is more appropriate for your research.
Store it Safely
make multiple copies
Use different types of storage media and store 
copies in different locations.
use open file formats where possible
Choosing non-proprietary formats means that files 
are more likely to be readable in the future. Your 
library or preservation service should be able to 
advise you on suitable formats.
control who can access your files
Take particular care about how you handle and 
store sensitive information. 
decide when to delete digital material  
and data
Be selective about what you keep so that it is 
easier to find relevant and useful information.
describe your research process
Help people understand your material and data 
in the future by explaining why you used a 
particular methodology, or how you analysed 
your data.
contextualise your material and data
Describe the circumstances prevailing at the 
time of your research and the parameters within 
which you were working.
explain acronyms and jargon
Don’t assume the reader will understand 
specialist terms - remember they may be 
reading your material in several years’ time.
provide information (sometimes called 
metadata) about each file
This will help a preservation service to index 
your material and people to find it. Some of this 
might be generated automatically by the digital 
equipment you use.
exPlain it
redact or embargo when necessary
Your material can still have value when personal 
or confidential information is removed, and most 
preservation services will embargo your material 
while you wait for publications or patents.


Sending your research material into the future

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