Many organizations create and use geospatial data to carry out and support their work and of course some of this information will have longer term value. This is particularly so for those organizations charged with managing and decommissioning nuclear sites. Knowing exactly which buildings were where will be of huge importance to future generations long after the physical traces of a site are no longer apparent. It is no surprise therefore that the preservation of geospatial data has been raised as a concern during the DPC’s project with the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority leading to this briefing day on the topic.

This online event will be of interest to anyone who wants to find out how a range of different organizations manage and preserve geospatial data at various points in its lifecycle. As well as hearing from the Nuclear Decommissioning sector on how they have been managing their geospatial data over the last twenty years, we will hear from the digital preservation and geospatial data community about recent work on standards, metadata and file formats. A range of organizations will share case studies on how they are preserving, enhancing and providing access to geospatial datasets. As always there will be opportunities for Q&A and discussion and we will be discussing what else the DPC can do to move this topic forward for the community.

Programme

13:00 - Welcome and introduction
13:15 - Angela Bartlett, Magnox and Gavin Coppins, Cavendish Nuclear - Managing Change: 20 Years of Geospatial Data Management
13:40 - Edd Lewis, British Geological Survey - Data standards for authoritative data providers
14:05 - Break (20 minutes)
14:25 - Linda van den Brink, Geonovum - Preservation of spatial data on the web
14:50 - Callum Irving, UK Cabinet Office - Introducing a Q-FAIR approach to Geospatial Data Improvement
15:10 - Meagan Snow, Timothy St Onge and Rachel Trent, Library of Congress - An Introduction to the Library of Congress Geospatial Recommended Formats Statement
15:35 - Break (20 minutes)
15:55 - Case studies

• - Kieron Niven, Archaeology Data Service - Time to Move On? Archaeology's lingering love for the Shapefile
• - Chris Fleet, National Library of Scotland - Geospatial data preservation activities at the National Library of Scotland

16:30 - Discussion and Q&A
16:55 - Next steps
17:00 - Close

Further reading (for discussion)

The DPC’s Technology Watch Report on 'Preserving Geospatial Data' by Guy McGarva, Steve Morris and Greg Janée was published in 2009 and is now due for revision. Does this report still offer useful guidance? How much has this topic moved on over recent years? What is missing? http://doi.org/10.7207/twr09-01

The DPC released a much shorter Technology Watch Guidance Note on 'Preserving GIS' last year. This was part of a series of Data Types Guidance Notes commissioned with Artefactual Systems. This short note tries to summarises some of the main preservation challenges, file formats, standards and methods for preserving geospatial data. Does it capture and summarise the key areas well? http://doi.org/10.7207/twgn21-16

Registration

Places are strictly limited and should be booked in advance. Registration will close at 12:00 GMT on 23^rd March and early booking is recommended as we expect this event will be popular. Registration is free for DPC Members. There is a limit of 5 places per Full Member and 1 place per Associate Member and these will be available on a 'first come, first served' basis.

DPC members can claim their free place by entering the promotional code DPCMEMBER. Cancellations will be accepted until 12:00 GMT on 29^th March, a 'no show' fee of £75 may be charged for those who cancel after this time.

Non DPC Members can attend this event for a price of £75.

If you have any questions about registration please contact Ellie O'Leary (eleanor.oleary@dpconline.org)