UW-CALMA-datarescue/how-to-start/track-1-communications.md

🎙️ Track 1 (Communications)

This track focuses on creating, revising, and sharing information about at-risk data. This includes adding context about collected data in order to improve management and findability of data for future purposes. The below are our initial goals coming from CALMA / Seattle-based efforts, but all participants are free to suggest and pursue other contributions.

Tech Skill Level: Beginner

Time Commitment: minimal (~1 hour)

Tasks Include (highlighted below in purple):

1. Write letters to advocate for individual researcher to deposit their research data
2. Contribute to group research on public records legislation
3. Contribute to group research on disappeared websites since start of 2025 administration
4. Share updates, news, or general takeaways with close friends, family, and peers

Tools Required (vary across tasks)

1. Spreadsheet editor (excel, google sheets)
2. Word processor (word, google docs, notepad)
3. Image repository (wikimedia, library/archives public domain digital collections)
4. Social media/communication portals (bluesky, facebook, instagram, tiktok, YouTube, etc.)

Breakdown of Task Sections
🚁 (helicopter emoji) gives summary of task
🗂️ (index dividers) outlines specific steps needed to complete task
🛠️ (hammer & wrench emoji) details skills & tools needed for task

SUGGESTED TASKS & INSTRUCTIONS

1. Advocate for Research Data Storing

🚁Summary: Help build awareness on the importance of preserving individual research data by sharing guides, tips, and resources for researchers needing to deposit their research data and findings in a public facing, yet secure site.

🗂️Workflow

1. Review the Digital Research Repository outreach template (Download copy via this link)
2. Find a researcher (& contact information) that you believe is conducting research in an area of significance.
3. Customize template with your recipient's basic info (name, their area of focus like Climate Science or Environmental changes, ideas for what to deposit, and how it might benefit the researcher and/or their audiences)
4. Send/distribute outreach message to selected recipient.
5. Repeat previous steps or share info about Open data with networks, friends, or family

🛠️Skills Needed: Basic understanding of English (template can be translated to other languages; we just ask that you share that translations for others to use). Basic understanding of the importance of , storing and sharing digital files about research.

2. Research Team 1 (topic of public records protection, preservation and access)

🚁Summary: While the importance and complexities of digital preservation are well documented and researched, there is less information on the relationship between legislation, public awareness, and structural threats to government data. This task helps with surfacing some existing findings and research on how legislation might help strengthen our public records laws and practices.

🗂️ Workflow

1. Read the following reflection from the 2016-2017 Data Rescues
   1. Article link: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3163616
2. Review the currently proposed bill “Public Archives Resiliency Act” proposed by Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Senator Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and Congresswoman Alma Adams (NC-12)
3. Conduct research on the following questions or add relevant questions to this shared document
   1. How do public records laws address data destruction or at-risk data?
   2. How does this legislation discuss or address data destruction by political parties and systems (across levels of government like local, state, federal)?
   3. What other legislation exists that deals with preservation of at-risk data (USA or beyond)?
   4. How does the American public perceive government data loss?
   5. How does this compare with other countries?
4. Write a paragraph on your findings, reflections, or lingering questions onto the shared research google doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BH24Ks63J55K1jFmdUxUKubuqusCAxwU-9verrfjTbc/edit?usp=sharing

🛠️Skills Needed: Basic command of English to either read or write summaries of findings. Intermediate to advanced levels of reading and writing in order to find, assess, and summarize findings for a general United States audience and English reader. Additional language skills would be useful for translation or finding global readings and data.

3. Group Research (topic of disappeared websites/webpages)

🚁Summary: Given the many changes that governments undergo during a political transition, this task allows us to record and report what ACTUAL changes occurred to previously available government data like websites, webpages, repositories, social media accounts, etc.

🗂️ Workflow

• Conduct research on the following questions or add relevant questions to this shared document
  1. What websites have been noted as "disappeared" or "offline"
  2. Have there been news coverage of these removals?
  3. Are people on social media commenting on these removals?
  4. Are there back up copies on sites like the Internet Archive, End of Term, DataLumos?
  5. How do these tactics of removing public federal information compare with other countries?
• Write a paragraph on your findings, reflections, or lingering questions onto the shared research google doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BH24Ks63J55K1jFmdUxUKubuqusCAxwU-9verrfjTbc/edit?usp=sharing

4. Create promotional text/images

🚁Summary: In order to better communicate the importance of digital preservation of at-risk data, we need different ways to communicate complex or obscure ideas and situations. By creating different representations, we can reach audiences across age, areas of interests, and ways of learning.

🗂️ Workflow

1. Help tell the story of rescuing at-risk data by creating infographics, social media posts, diagrams, or opinion pieces
   1. This is perfect for those who are interested in social media, photography, blogging and any other form of storytelling.
2. Using your preferred creating software (word, google docs, canva, snappa, lucidchart, etc) create an informational piece on the following topics (or something related)
   1. How can the public assess risks towards data?
   2. What happens when new administrations take over agencies and their data?
   3. Why should the public care about at-risk data?

🛠️ Skills Needed: Depending on the creation and software used, creative skills will vary. For visual creations, volunteers will need a beginner to intermediate graphic or art design skillset. For written creations, volunteers are asked to write in English first with translation as a secondary option.