Data files as library materials

Abstract

Increasingly, organizational and public policies call for machine-readable data files to be treated as publicly available archived material. Data producers will be required to produce public-use files and documentation as well as the printed reports and on-line access they presently provide. An archivable machine-readable data file (MRDF) consists of three objects: The data file itself (either with or without a machine-readable dictionary), a set of documentation materials describing the file to the secondary user, and a set of bibliographic materials which lead the secondary user to the documentation and the file. Computing and data centers know how to produce data files. They can develop procedures for documenting files and producing bibliographic identification materials. By developing working relationships with technical libraries, data centers can relieve themselves of bibliographic, clerical, and financial burdens associated with the maintenance of a data archive. This paper outlines some procedures for the documentation and bibliographic identification of machine-readable data files. Some strategies for developing working relationships with technical libraries are suggested.