Data Preparation

The long-term preservation of research data necessitates a number of preparatory steps:

• The selection of suitable data formats
• The conversion of existing data formats into formats that facilitate long-term preservation
• The conversion of legacy data into new versions of appropriate data formats
• A quality assurance process, including data curation and the documentation and metadata description of research data

CLARIN-D supports Humanities and Social Sciences scholars in addressing all issues surrounding data preparation and preservation. CLARIN-D centres offer their expertise through informative material, consulting services, computer-supported tools for data conversion, and repositories for long-term data archiving. The user handbook provides a good point of entry. Specialised CLARIN-D centres provide help and advice and give an overview on the available software for preparation. Since different data types need different tools, it is best to directly contact the specialised CLARIN-D centre.