9.
Dissemination of data
Datasets are not sold by the archive. Most archives do, however,
charge a small fee for every copy of a dataset. These fees form a
threshold that avoids abundant misuse of the services. A user who
obtains a copy of a dataset from the archive is not given any
rights to redistribute the data beyond the project for which the
data was requested.
The normal way to disseminate datasets from the archive is on disk
or via the Internet. Data is written in a standard format that can
be used by the user’s computer system.
If available, a machine-readable documentation file
is included. Many archives use either the SPSS or the SAS format
for data and documentation.
Both formats will allow the user to start with the analysis as
soon as the dataset is loaded on his machine.
In recent
years network facilities have become available for transfer of
large datasets. Users can get datasets from the archive to their
own computer system via a network connection.
Data archives are confronted with the question whether or not to
make their holdings freely accessible through such networks.
Technically it is possible to let any user in a network get access
to all datasets from the archive for downloading without any human
intervention.
Before offering this service the archive should deal with a number
of possible problems:
-
how can you
keep contact with the users,
-
can you
prevent misuse of the facilities like unauthorised changes in
the originals for distribution,
-
are you able
to include enough documentation to the data,
-
can you keep
track of the usage?
By now some 25 social science data archives from all continents
are cooperating in the International Federation of Data
Organizations for the Social Sciences (IFDO).
In this way they can build on experiences and
developments of partner archives and - equally important - can
support international data transfer. Within Europe the Council of
European Social Science Data Archives (CESSDA) provides a platform
for interarchival cooperation (Secretariat of IFDO and CESSDA:
Steinmetz Archives, NIWI, Amsterdam).
People working in the field of social science data services can
participate in the activities of the International Association for
Social Science Information Services and Technology (IASSIST), the
international association of individuals who are engaged in the
acquisition. processing, maintenance, and distribution of machine
readable text and (or) numeric social science data.
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