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In early June, DRP Director Dr. Lynda Kellam delivered a moving keynote presentation at the annual IASSIST conference. In her presentation, Lynda made the connection between data stewardship roles and civic life. Lynda has kindly made her slides, and a transcript of the presentation, publicly available. But for those who
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The following post is authored by Molly Blake, co-founder of Save Our Signs and Social Sciences Librarian at the University of Minnesota. In spring 2025, the Trump administration targeted all National Park Service (NPS) sites with censorship via Executive Order 14253 and Secretarial Order 3431. These orders have resulted
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Getting people to care about statistical methodologies is a challenge. Hence the hyperbolic title, but give us a few minutes because what is happening matters for you and your privacy. Last night, Hansi Lo Wang, a correspondent at NPR, reported that multiple pages that mention “differential privacy” or “noise infusion”
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At the DRP, we are always excited to amplify our colleagues' efforts. This week, ESIP released its final report on the repository resilience project, which began at the end of last year. They have released the project's resources on Zenodo: * White Paper: Repository Resilience in Practice: Findings
Today's guest post is from Emily Zoe Mann, a research and instruction librarian at the University of South Florida Libraries. Read on to learn more about an exciting data literacy initiative she has spearheaded! Launched in 2024, Data Literacy for Community Action (DLCA) is a collaborative project created
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After sharing a call to action yesterday regarding the closure of the Ocean Monitoring System, we have since learned that data that have been collected are not currently at risk. The NSF Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) has stated that data previously collected will be maintained, with funding available until 2028
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The National Trust for Historic Preservation has released their list of 11 most endangered historical sites, which includes sites across the country that are physical reminders of the fight to ensure liberty and justice for all. Among this list are stories of oppression, segregation, physical harm, and family separation - as
If you’re looking for summer plans, we have great news: there are always opportunities to volunteer with the Data Rescue Project! Whether you’re newer to the DRP, a veteran looking for a refresher, or just want to hang out with some fellow data nerds for a bit, we
We have exciting news!! Thanks to generous funding we are advertising for the following limited term opportunities to work closely with the Data Rescue Project Steering Committee. If you are interested, please check them out! We are prioritizing applications submitted by May 22. We are hoping for the work to
Preserving public data
These past few weeks have felt like months, and these months have been years. We’ve taken great solace in the company of data nerds interested in preserving and providing access to public federal data. But we know that LGBTQ+ data is disproportionately affected, especially the loss of data on
Understanding and navigating federal data can be tricky– for both novices and experts! But there is now a resource to help you understand this complex ecosystem. Through support from the UC Berkeley Executive Fellowship in Applied Technology Policy, federal data experts Denice Ross and Chris Marcum have teamed up to
The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) is designed to assess the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States conducted by the CDC. The survey is unique in that it combines interviews and physical examinations. This is a very important dataset for health, public
Our colleagues at the Humanitarian Archive Emergency (HAE) Project have an updated request for our data rescuers! This initiative, based at the University of Manchester, is focused on the global threat to knowledge infrastructure, specifically for humanitarian aid organizations. Decades of materials in digital archives are currently unprotected and therefore
Today's post is from Rachel Santarsiero, Director of the National Security Archive's Climate Change Project, and creator of the Disappearing Data Chronology. “SignalGate happened when?!” I thought to myself as I checked and doublechecked my dates. Yes, SignalGate—the political scandal in which Atlantic editor-in-
One of the questions we hear regularly is if folks can still help rescue data without advanced technical skills. The answer is a resounding YES! But, if you’re interested in learning more about how you could scrape websites to capture a large amount of data quickly, join us on
Following the 2026 Information Stewardship Forum hosted by Internet Archive, there is a new call to action available for your review and support. James R. Jacobs, along with others who provided feedback on the document, drafted a concise statement articulating the current situation and potential future preservation efforts. Signatories agree
During the final week in March, members of the DRP Steering Committee Lynda Kellam and Amy Nurnberger attended a global gathering of data experts and advocates hosted by AGU. This convening brought nearly 100 cross-disciplinary experts to Berlin, Germany. Over 5 days, discussions prioritized building relationships, identifying challenges, and
The past four months have been a challenging and sobering time for the Save Our Signs team. Most of us live in Minneapolis and St. Paul and as the ICE occupation in Minnesota devastated our communities, we had to balance our professional work with our efforts to support our neighbors.
Join us on Wednesday, April 1, from 2:30-3:30 p.m. Eastern for a discussion on teaching with federal data resources! We want to hear how you’ve changed your instruction practices or adapted existing tools to help learners of all ages use federal data. Don’t forget
In late 2025, members of the DRP Steering Committee traveled to the University of Manchester, UK, to attend the launch of the Humanitarian Archive Emergency (HAE) Project. As we have seen in the US over the past 15 months, digital archives, records, and datasets linked to humanitarian action and global
If you’ve attended any of our presentations or office hours, you’ve probably heard us mention just how complicated the U.S. federal statistical system is. Luckily, our partners at the Federal Data Forum have maintained an active and supportive online space to share information, announcements, and materials about
