In the light of the rapid development of IT technology and data science, data long-term archiving and preservation(LTA), as well as long-term availability under FAIR principles are important topics for every data producer and data provider in the bio- and geodiversity communities. COST MOBILISE WG4 is treating these issues by assessing current standards and strategies for data archiving and suggesting efficient and practical strategies for different kinds of taxonomic facilities and similar organisations/ institutions/ museums storing physical natural science collections and now producing related digital objects and digital object collections. Within the last years MOBILISE has addressed the topic of functional preservation (not bit-only preservation) in several workshops and (online) meetings.
Finally the core team of MOBILISE WG4 will adapt where possible, the required standards and guidelines for data archiving and long-term preservation, e.g., the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) ISO Standard. The approach will link the newly evolving LTA concepts at taxonomic facilities to the work of existing LTA organisations, projects and networks. This is done together with existing European and international communities and expertise as well as with existing generalised concepts and standards. On the other side, a focus is set on scientific collection-specific data types and dynamic datasets. The designed guideline will give messages and best practices for LTA.
With 2023, the COST MOBILISE Working Group 4 has more than 40 members. The members below were invited to enlarge the Archiving guideline editorial core team installed in 2020. They will meet at January 12th to 13th, 2023 (several of them also at 14th) in Munich with the goal to finalize the Archiving guideline and send the manuscript draft version for publication latest in February.