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Borealis

University of Lethbridge Borealis Deaccession Guidelines 

 

Purpose 

To provide clear guidelines about the deaccession, removal or suppression of Datasets from the U of L’s Institutional Collection in Borealis, and to clearly identify the conditions or circumstances that determine how and when this occurs.  

 

Definitions  

Borealis, the Canadian Dataverse Repository: The instance of the Dataverse platform as a shared service provided in partnership with Canadian regional academic library consortia, institutions, research organizations, and the Digital Research Alliance of Canada, with technical infrastructure hosted by Scholars Portal and the University of Toronto Libraries.  

Collection: A collection is a container for Datasets (research data, code, documentation, and metadata) and other sub-collections, which can be setup for individual researchers, departments, journals and organizations (from the Dataverse Project with adaptation).  

Dataset: Any organized collection of data in a computational format, defined by a theme or category that reflects what is being measured/observed/monitored. The presentation of the data in the application is enabled through metadata (from CASRRAI’s glossary). See the Borealis User Guide for more information.  

Deaccession: To remove access to a Dataset or files, or to suppress, move, or delete the metadata, Dataset, or files.  

Depositor: A user who submits a Dataset to a collection in Borealis. In most cases, the Depositor will be either an author of the submitted Dataset, a researcher collaborating with the author(s), or a librarian.   

Institutional collection: Also known as a Dataverse collection. One or more collections in Borealis that are under the administration of a single university, academic library, or research organization. Each university in Borealis has an Institutional Collection that may contain other sub-collections and Datasets.  

 

Types of Deaccession 

Currently, Borealis allows two levels of deaccession:  

  1. Institutional administrators can deaccession a Dataset (or a version of a Dataset):  

  1. A tombstone landing page with basic citation metadata and reason for deaccession will always be accessible to the public via the persistent URL (handle or DOI) provided in the data citation.  

  1. End-users will not be able to see or access any files or additional metadata that were previously available prior to deaccessioning.  

  1. Files and metadata will be accessible to the Dataset admins, curators, contributors and contributors.  

  1. Super-administrators (Borealis staff) can destroy a Dataset for cases where there is spam or where the Dataset violates the Terms of Use:  

  1. The Dataset will be deleted and no tombstone landing page will exist (the persistent URL, Handle or DOI will not resolve).  

  1. Files and metadata will be deleted from storage.  

 

Deaccession Guidelines 

The University of Lethbridge collection in Borealis is primarily a platform for publishing and sharing Datasets. It is not appropriate for the storage of highly sensitive or confidential data. Datasets must only contain unrestricted content with no private, confidential, or other legally protected information. Published Datasets are perennial, they can be deaccessioned or removed only in certain specific circumstances. Requests for deaccessioning published Datasets are reviewed by Borealis administrators with reference to these guidelines. In most cases, a tombstone marker with descriptive metadata about the Dataset will be retained for the public record. 

 

Deaccession of Datasets: 

Datasets deposited into University of Lethbridge Library’s collection in Borealis will be retained for a minimum of ten years, unless they have been deaccessioned by request (see below). After this period, Datasets will be subject to regular review and U of L Library reserves the right to deaccession or remove Datasets due to obsolescence, lack of use, duplication elsewhere, or for any other reason that U of L Library deems relevant.  

Depositors may request the removal of a Dataset they deposited or a Dataset in a collection they manage within the University of Lethbridge Dataverse collection. Such requests should be sent to library.rsg@uleth.ca. The Library’s Scholarly Communication Librarian may consult with the depositor or other parties as necessary, and the Library’s Research Support Group will review the request and make a determination.  

In the event that a third party requests the deaccession of a Dataset, the Scholarly Communication Librarian may consult with the Depositor or data creator. The Scholarly Communication Librarian and Research Support Group will review the request and any supporting information provided by the requestor and make a determination regarding the deaccession of the Dataset in question.  

When a Dataset is deaccessioned, the Library will send an email notification to the long-term contact person as defined in the descriptive metadata. In the event that the Dataset is deaccessioned and the designated person is not reachable, the appropriate faculty or administrative unit at the University will be notified. 

Whenever possible a tombstone landing page with basic citation metadata and an explanation for the deaccession will be maintained.  

In all circumstances, the final decision over the deaccession of a Dataset is solely at the discretion of the University of Lethbridge Library. 

 

Deaccession of Dataset Drafts: 

It is the expectation that data deposited in the University of Lethbridge collection be published and publicly accessible where possible. In the event that draft Datasets are created and left unpublished for more than 2 calendar years, the University Library will contact the person who created the draft, or the contact person listed in the metadata. If, upon notification that the Dataset needs to be completed and submitted for publication, the person responsible does not complete and publish the Dataset, the Library reserves the right to delete the Dataset and any associated files from the U of L Borealis collection.  

If the Library is unable to contact the Depositor or the contact person listed in the metadata, or if the Depositor has left the University with no forwarding contact information, the Library will delete the draft Dataset from the U of L Borealis collection. 

 

References 

 

This document has been adapted from several sources, including: