Preservation of Scientific Data (in Natural Sciences)

Thomas Severiens

Abstract:
Preservation of "Primary Data" is of very high relevance in science. While letter publications become redundant by review publications over the years, and while review articles are remembered by many readers, primary data often can not be reconstructed. Primary data as there is e.g. weather data, accelerator data, space observation data, build the backbone of scientific research and publication activities. It is essentially required to reconstruct experiments, to recalculate final results in scientific publications and to check their correctness. The existence of primary data makes the difference between fiction and science. Primary data often is open for re-usage in other research activities, e.g. measurement of the radius of the proton at CERN.
This talk will offer an overview of the relevance of primary data in natural science, of its preservation requirements, and how it is preserved today.