Can a Data Repository Survive a Crisis? Development of the Repository Crisis Scorecards
Abstract
Disaster scenarios are not usually considered by scientists when publishing or archiving data. The goal is often to satisfy more immediate needs and requirements of funders, journal publishers, or collaborators. Yet, recent events around the globe, combined with the increased need for high-quality data to solve large-scale problems, have highlighted the vulnerability of data stored in repositories to crises. To address these concerns, we held a one-month sprint in March 2025 to develop the Repository Crisis Scorecards (RCS) with the goal of helping data repository personnel better assess and understand how their systems and infrastructure might be suited to withstand four crisis scenarios. We adapted the scorecard style proven successful by the EarthCube Research Coordination Network (RCN) on ‘What About Model Data?” because it was approachable, could be adapted to each repository, and could be shared widely without technical tools. We anticipate that the RCS could be used by established repositories, informal data collectors, and anyone holding data to plan for more sustainable and robust long-term data publication and preservation. Here, we outline the process for developing the RCS, share lessons learned, and next steps for its ongoing development.
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BibTeX
@misc{gum2026data,
title = {{Can a Data Repository Survive a Crisis? Development of the Repository Crisis Scorecards}},
author = {Joseph Gum and Rachael E. Blake and Lesley Wyborn and Amy Nurnberger and Jessica Choi and Alycia Crall and Ruth Duerr and Gerbrand Koren and Alexis Garretson and Reyna Broadhurst and Talya ten Brink and Carolina Berys-Gonzalez},
howpublished = {EarthArXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.31223/x57f7q},
url = {https://eartharxiv.org/repository/view/15077/},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Can a Data Repository Survive a Crisis? Development of the Repository Crisis Scorecards
AU - Joseph Gum
AU - Rachael E. Blake
AU - Lesley Wyborn
AU - Amy Nurnberger
AU - Jessica Choi
AU - Alycia Crall
AU - Ruth Duerr
AU - Gerbrand Koren
AU - Alexis Garretson
AU - Reyna Broadhurst
AU - Talya ten Brink
AU - Carolina Berys-Gonzalez
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/18
PB - EarthArXiv
DO - 10.31223/x57f7q
UR - https://eartharxiv.org/repository/view/15077/
AB - Disaster scenarios are not usually considered by scientists when publishing or archiving data. The goal is often to satisfy more immediate needs and requirements of funders, journal publishers, or collaborators. Yet, recent events around the globe, combined with the increased need for high-quality data to solve large-scale problems, have highlighted the vulnerability of data stored in repositories to crises. To address these concerns, we held a one-month sprint in March 2025 to develop the Repository Crisis Scorecards (RCS) with the goal of helping data repository personnel better assess and understand how their systems and infrastructure might be suited to withstand four crisis scenarios. We adapted the scorecard style proven successful by the EarthCube Research Coordination Network (RCN) on ‘What About Model Data?” because it was approachable, could be adapted to each repository, and could be shared widely without technical tools. We anticipate that the RCS could be used by established repositories, informal data collectors, and anyone holding data to plan for more sustainable and robust long-term data publication and preservation. Here, we outline the process for developing the RCS, share lessons learned, and next steps for its ongoing development.
ER -