Educopia and the PEGI Project Announce Publication of Environmental Scan of Government Information and Data Preservation Efforts and Challenges

Issued by the Educopia Institute in December 2018, the Environmental Scan of Government Information and Data Preservation Efforts and Challenges (Sarah Lippincott) is a multimodal environmental scan of at-risk federal digital content, commissioned by the PEGI Project and funded by concerned institutions. The Preservation of Electronic Government Information (PEGI) Project is a two-year initiative to address national concerns regarding preservation of born-digital government information by cultural memory institutions for long-term public access and use.

This free, open publication describes the landscape of initiatives within and outside of government that aim to disseminate and preserve government information and data. It describes government-led initiatives, from dissemination through official agency websites to publication on third-party platforms, and reviews a range of initiatives that have emerged in recent years outside of government, both those intended to address perceived gaps and vulnerabilities in the federal government’s curation initiatives and those that add value to publicly available information and datasets. The report also addresses existing policies and infrastructure undergirding both government-led and non-government initiatives. Each section contains representative examples of initiatives relevant to federal government information.

Preserving government information is a long-term responsibility that requires ongoing coordination and commitment. By surveying the current environment, defining key features of the problem space, and identifying gaps and pressing needs, this Environmental Scan contributes to the resources available to all who seek to plan cooperative solutions.

This report was developed with generous funding from participating institutions, including Arizona State University, Stanford University, University of Missouri, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University of North Texas, Yale University, and the Center for Research Libraries.

For more information, please contact info@pegiproject.org.