The Data Archiving Guide (DAG) is designed to support the work of employees of data repositories by providing a general understanding of the full range of activities a data repository performs. Although the DAG was developed for and by employees of social science data archives, a lot of information applies to other archives as well and is equally useful for archiving professionals from other disciplines.

Note: the DAG is under development.

In the guide you will learn what a data archive is, what it does, and why data archives play an important role in the scientific infrastructure. After reading the DAG, you will have a basic understanding of the working procedures of a data archive and you will also be familiar with the most common policies that a data archive needs to have in place to function optimally and know where to find examples and suggestions for how to adapt policies to your institution.

The Data Archiving Guide has been created for CESSDA ERIC by a number of its service providers' experts at ADP, AUSSDA, CSDA, DANS, DNA, FORS, GESIS, NSD, SND and So.Da.Net.