Data preservation policy

The INFRA-ART Spectral Library is committed to ensuring the long-term preservation, accessibility, and integrity of its digital assets. This policy outlines the strategies, responsibilities, and infrastructure in place to support the sustainable curation and preservation of the existing spectral datasets over time.

Alignment with EOSC Long-Term Preservation Recommendations

Our preservation model follows EOSC’s vision of active, trustworthy, and FAIR-aligned data stewardship. We adopt preservation practices in line with the recommendations of the EOSC Association’s Long-Term Data Preservation Task Force (LTDP-TF), emphasizing active stewardship over passive storage.


Key alignments include:

  • • Active preservation commitment: We recognize that long-term preservation requires more than data storage. Our roadmap includes ongoing assessment, format monitoring, and metadata curation to ensure data remains usable and interpretable over time.
  • • Transparent levels of care: We are committed to documenting and communicating the level of preservation provided for each dataset—whether bit-level integrity, format migration, or full metadata support—to ensure trust and accountability.
  • • Appraisal at deposit: As we mature, we will implement structured evaluation processes at the point of data deposit to determine the appropriate preservation strategy for each dataset, based on value, and reuse potential.
  • • Preservation as shared responsibility: In line with the LTDP-TF, we view long-term preservation as a shared responsibility—requiring clear policies, dedicated staff, sustained resources, and institutional support.
  • • Support for FAIR and EOSC integration: Our preservation planning supports the long-term FAIRness of data and aligns with broader EOSC interoperability and sustainability goals, including eventual federation with trusted infrastructures.

Preservation Goals

What we aim to achieve through long-term preservation of our datasets.

Our preservation objectives are to:

  • • Maintain the authenticity, integrity, and usability of digital objects.
  • • Support the reuse of data over time, even as technologies evolve.
  • • Ensure data remains accessible through stable identifiers and open standards.
  • • Align preservation actions with FAIR and TRUST principles.
  • • Maximize the long term value of digital assets in line with resource curation standards.

Preservation Strategies

How we protect data across time, format, and systems, using layered and standards-based methods.

We follow a layered approach to digital preservation, based on community-endorsed best practices:

  • • Bit-level preservation: All files undergo regular integrity checks (e.g., checksums) and are stored in geographically redundant locations.
  • • Format sustainability: Preferred formats (e.g., open, non-proprietary formats like CSV, JSON-LD) are selected for long-term access and migration readiness.
  • • Metadata preservation: Both structural and descriptive metadata are preserved alongside the data objects, following schema standards that support interoperability and discovery (e.g., DCAT, Schema.org).
  • • Versioning and provenance: When updates occur, previous versions are retained with clear provenance records to support traceability and proper citation. Data deposit and version tracking are managed through the INFRA-ART Spectral Library Zenono Community.

Technical Infrastructure

The systems and features that support preservation, access, and future integration.

Preservation is supported through a robust and sustainable repository infrastructure, which includes:

  • • Redundant storage systems with automated backup and recovery protocols.
  • • Persistent identifiers (PIDs) assigned to each dataset (e.g., DOIs), ensuring long-term resolvability and citation. - Planned enhancement
  • • APIs and metadata export functions to facilitate interoperability and external archiving. - Planned enhancement

Sustainability Planning

How we ensure long-term support and funding for preservation efforts.

INFRA-ART’s preservation infrastructure is supported through:

  • • Institutional commitment by the National Institute for Research and Development in Optoelectronics INOE 2000 and project-based funding under the INFRA-ART initiative.
  • • Participation in networks such as FIDELIS Network of Trustworthy Digital Repositories, which promote sustainable governance models for trusted repositories.
  • • Engagement in international initiatives and projects that support FAIR-enabling practices—such as the Research Data Alliance (RDA)—to advance long-term planning for semantic interoperability and and repository sustainability.

Review and Compliance

Our commitment to keeping policies up to date and aligned with global standards.

This preservation policy is reviewed annually and updated as needed to reflect:

  • • Advances in digital preservation standards;
  • • Community feedback;
  • • Changes in technical infrastructure or institutional commitments;

We align with guidance from initiatives such as EOSC and EDEN-FIDELIS, and we regularly assess our repository maturity through frameworks like the CoreTrustSeal certification and TRUST Principles self-assessment.

Contact and Feedback

We welcome dialogue with researchers, data curators, and stakeholders to improve our preservation practices. Questions or suggestions regarding our preservation strategy can be sent to: infraart@inoe.ro

This Data preservation policy was last updated on 30 July 2025.