The UK Data Service is based around a functional model, which in turn is based on the Open Archival Information System (an ISO standard). This means that we can work with proper standards for archiving digital materials building trust relationships. Over and above the need for a trusted archival storage system is to guarantee data integrity. (assurance that any content alterations are accurately documented), ‘context’ and ‘provenance’ are critical for data to be used appropriately, whether for iran rcs data secondary analysis or the validation and replication of results. In addition, archives play a key role in tagging digital objects with unique and persistent identifiers (such as DOIs), which supports unambiguous reference and citation, simplifies the assignment of credit where it’s due (at both the data level and the publication level), and allows us to further enrich the environment of the data through appropriate linkage.
It is through the development of these supporting structures around the data — and crucially, making the data available as widely as safely possible through the application of clear rights and access — that trust and transparency are achieved. Many of these critical concepts are created and managed based on recognised metadata standards; at the UK Data Service, that includes the Data Documentation Initiative (DDI). It is generally acknowledged that the best time to generate rich, accurate metadata is as close as possible to data creation. Through the development of data lifecycle models, we can provide guidance and develop tools to create metadata which are packaged and maintained with the data throughout its journey.
In summary, our work to ensure easily referenced, authentic, linked data with clear provenance underpins the layers of supporting services, the assignment of credit and the assurance of accountability. These concepts are not only necessary to support further work, evaluation or decisions based on these valuable data assets; they are the building blocks for demonstrating true impact.