Digital Curation Centre (DCC)
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.
What we can do for you
Digital Curation Centre case study 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. The purpose of our centre is to provide a national focus for research and development into curation issues and to promote expertise and good practice, both nationally and internationally, for the management of all research outputs in digital format. Digital curation is all about 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.
Research and development are key DCC activities and our R&D teams are working together to transform research-led innovation into tools and services that will enhance the take-up and implementation of digital curation practice. In addition to carrying out our own research and development, we are also committed to gathering and disseminating information about international research and development activity in the fields of digital curation and preservation. The DCC encourages the sharing of international curation news, research, and resources and provides a simple form on the DCC website that enables individuals to submit information. We host a forum and promote its use as a means of engaging with other curation practitioners and experts to discuss key digital curation themes. From high-level briefing papers, technology watch papers, case studies and interviews, to detailed digital curation manual instalments and a glossary of terms, we offer a wide range of learning resources specifically designed to help practitioners to effectively engage in digital preservation and curation activities.