About the DCC

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Vision | Objectives | Partners | Directory of Staff | Funders | Project Documents

Scientists, researchers and scholars across the UK generate increasingly vast amounts of digital data, with further investment in digitisation and purchase of digital content and information. The scientific record and the documentary heritage created in digital form are at risk from technology obsolescence, from the fragility of digital media, and from lack of the basics of good practice, such as adequate documentation for the data. Working with other practitioners, the Digital Curation Centre will support UK institutions who store, manage and preserve these data to help ensure their enhancement and their continuing long-term use.

What is digital curation? Digital curation is maintaining and adding value to a trusted body of digital information for current and future use; specifically, we mean the active management and appraisal of data over the life-cycle of scholarly and scientific materials.

In addition, you might like to read our DCC Charter & Statement of Principles.

Vision

Our vision is to be the:

• Centre of excellence in digital curation and preservation in the UK
• Authoritative source of advocacy and expert advice and guidance to the community
• Key facilitator of an informed research community with established collaborative networks of digital curators
• Service provider of a wide range of resources, software, tools and support services

This is acknowledged as an ambitious vision but one which is built on the strong foundations achieved during the first phase, and which will enable the DCC to act as an agent of transformational change to facilitate digital curation best practice within the rapidly changing environment of e-Research.

Objectives

Our objectives for Phase 2 are to:

1. Provide strategic leadership in digital curation and preservation for the UK research community, with particular emphasis on science data
2. Influence and inform national and international policy
3. Provide advocacy and expert advice and guidance to practitioners and funding bodies
4. Create, manage and develop an outstanding suite of resources and tools
5. Raise the level of awareness and expertise amongst data creators and curators, and other individuals with a curation role
6. Strengthen community curation networks and collaborative partnerships
7. Continue our strong association with our research programme

Partners

Our expertise is spread broadly across the UK academic community. The following partners contribute to the core activities of the Centre and make up the DCC Consortium:

Directory of Staff

We employ many people from a wide range of subject areas from within the fields of digital curation, digital preservation and beyond. Our DCC Staff Directory lists all of these individuals.

Funders

We are funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) [external], an independent advisory body that works with further and higher education establishments, and the e-Science Core Programme [external]. Funding began on 1 March 2004, as a successful outcome of a response to JISC Circular 6/038 [external] by a consortium comprising the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, which together host the National e-Science Centre, UKOLN at the University of Bath, and STFC, which manages the Rutherford Appleton and Daresbury Laboratories.

Project Documents

Phase 3 Project Documents

Phase 2 Project Documents (reverse chronological order)

Phase 1 Project Documents (reverse chronological order)

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