A Renewed Call for Preservation of At-Risk Government Data
ANN ARBOR —The directors of the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research (ISR) and the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) are emphasizing the critical need for preserving government data that may be at risk due to recent policy shifts.
For over sixty years, ICPSR has been at the forefront of advancing social and behavioral research by maintaining access to invaluable datasets and offering responsive educational opportunities designed to serve both current and future generations of researchers. In their joint communication on Feb. 20, Kathleen Cagney, Director of ISR, and Margaret Levenstein, Director of ICPSR, underscored the ongoing commitment of their organizations to act as global leaders in data stewardship.
Through DataLumos, an ICPSR archive for valuable government data resources, ICPSR is helping the data community to preserve, document, and disseminate thousands of files from agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and the Department of Education.
Cagney and Levenstein appealed for philanthropic support, stressing the importance of collaborative, open, and equitable data sharing for maximizing social benefits. The call for support also extended to volunteers with expertise in metadata—a crucial component for data accessibility. Volunteers are invited to assist with enhancing dataset descriptions.
“We remain committed to maximizing the social good produced by collaborative, open, and equitable data sharing. Our researchers are working tirelessly to preserve and expand access to datasets that provide impactful insights across a variety of populations and topics, continuing our legacy of data stewardship,” they said.
The directors emphasized that during this pivotal moment for the social sciences, collaboration is essential for creating lasting change. They expressed gratitude for the community's support, which enables the ISR and ICPSR to continue leading in social science research aimed at promoting the public interest.
How to Help
- Support Critical Government Data Preservation
- Explore or contribute to DataLumos
- To volunteer, please email icpsr-data-rescue@umich.edu and indicate what datasets you can support.
Contact: Dory Knight-Ingram
Feb 20, 2025