Data Rescue: Call to Action at WashU

WashU Libraries are participating in nationwide initiatives to rescue and make accessible disappearing federal data. Access to federal data is important for researchers and students, including here at WashU. If you have visited a U.S. federal website recently, you will have noticed that previously free and open data has been temporarily unavailable or removed completely. This includes the Census Bureau, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Department of Energy. Data tools have also been removed—the DOE’s Low-Income Energy Affordability Data (LEAD) Tool, an interactive platform, now redirects to the DOE homepage.

The recently formed Data Rescue Project has the objective to serve as a clearinghouse for data-rescue efforts, including data gathering, curation, and cleaning as well as providing sustained access. Data Rescue is a joint effort among a group of data organizations, including the International Association for Social Science Information and Technology, Research Data Access and Preservation, and members of the Data Curation Network.

Call to Action

Join us for the Data Rescue event on February 27 and February 28 in John M. Olin Library, hosted by WashU Libraries. During this event, Libraries staff will work with WashU volunteers to capture federal data to make it available outside of government websites. The events are free and open to all; registration is requested.

Resources

If you are unable to access data needed for research or teaching, please contact Data Services or a subject librarian in your discipline. Let the Libraries know what data is of particular importance to the WashU community. In addition, a compilation of resource guides from other institutions and alternative data sources are available at the Data Rescue Project.