Collecting Scope
What are we collecting? Why?
Seattle Data Rescue Suggested Collection Criteria In an effort to continue advancing environmental advocacy, protection and actions, the Data Rescues in Seattle will focus on Climate Data with the following data themes and types (collecting scope):
Geographic Parameters
Pacific Northwest, Alaska, and Antarctic regions
Time frame
2020 - present day
Record Types
Public Resources (examples: PSA about cooling centers, programming flyers about relevant talks)
Agency Reports and assessments (examples: reports of pollutants in water systems)
Grant funded project datasets from researchers or consultants (examples: grant reports, funding proposals, or publication samples)
Data types
Image files (JPG, TIFF, etc.)
Digital documents (DOCX, PDF)
Web files (WARC, ARC, or HAR files)
Rights & Restrictions:
Only public records (information created or maintained by a government agency that is available to the public upon request) (think those created via public funding or by government agencies)
Languages
English primary; other languages as volunteer skills are available
Rationale
We, the host of the 2025 Seattle Data Rescue, acknowledge the various threats many government data types face today and across time, but in order to keep the intention and scope manageable and relevant to our immediate Washington state and Pacific Northwest communities, we selected the above criteria. We note that many researchers, students, and educators in Washington place a heavy emphasis on environmental and climate data due to our local histories including agriculture, trade, cultural beliefs, and social activities. We attempt through our select scope to appeal to local volunteers as well as to utilize local knowledge to the best of our abilities.
We have also chosen to prioritize federal government data due to the highly vocal apprehension from federal officials. We assume that given Washington Stateβs more supportive attitude towards environmental and climate science initiatives, there are fewer immediate threats compared to the federal government or other less supportive states.
Other Data Repository Collection Development Criteria
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