Journal Article: “The Financial Maintenance of Social Science Data Archives: Four Case Studies of Long-Term Infrastructure Work”
The article linked below was recently published by the Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology (JASIST).
Title
Authors
Kristin R. Eschenfelder
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Kalpana Shankar
University College Dublin
Greg Downey
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Source
Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology (JASIST)
First Published: June 16, 2022
DOI: 10.1002/asi.24691
Abstract
Contributing to the literature on knowledge infrastructure maintenance, this article describes a historical longitudinal analysis of revenue streams employed by four social science data organizations: the Roper Center for Public Opinion, the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), the UK Data Archive (UKDA), and the LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg (LIS). Drawing on archival documentation and interviews, we describe founders’ assumptions about revenue, changes to revenue streams over the long term, practices for developing and maintaining revenue streams, the importance of financial support from host organizations, and how the context of each data organization shaped revenue possibilities. We extend conversations about knowledge infrastructure revenue streams by showing the types of change that have occurred over time and how it occurs. We provide examples of the types of flexibility needed for data organizations to remain sustainable over 40–60 years of revenue changes. We distinguish between Type A flexibilities, or development of new products and services, and Type B flexibilities, or continuous smaller adjustments to existing revenue streams. We argue that Type B flexibilities are as important as Type A, although they are easily overlooked. Our results are relevant to knowledge infrastructure managers and stakeholders facing similar revenue challenges.
Direct to Full Text Article
Filed under: Archives and Special Collections, Associations and Organizations, Data Files, Interviews, News
About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.