Hervé L'HoursToday is World Digital Preservation Day. To mark this occasion Ollie Parkes and Hervé L’Hours discuss the relationship between the UK Data Service and CoreTrustSeal. They describe work on a recent working paper on preservation levels and what benefits this framework will bring to repositories like the Service and its users.
Who are CoreTrustSeal and why has the UK Data Service cooperated and aligned with it?
CoreTrustSeal are an international, community-based, non-governmental, and indonesia rcs data non-profit organisation promoting sustainable and trustworthy data infrastructures. They certify data repositories based on a community-agreed catalogue of requirements which reflect the core characteristics of trustworthy digital repositories. With over 100 repositories certified worldwide, they are a recognised indicator of trust across data infrastructures.
The UK Data Service has engaged with CoreTrustSeal since its origins as the Data Seal of Approval where Professor Matthew Woollard was part of the original international board. Repository Preservation Manager, Hervé L’Hours helped to develop the CoreTrustSeal through a Research Data Alliance Working Group and acted as Vice-chair of the CoreTrustSeal during the 2021 – 2024 board term. The UK Data Service was involved in the development of CoreTrustSeal’s Curation and Preservation levels, as well as further developing the CoreTrustSeal requirements and associated guidance.