In celebration of anchors: The Data Rescue Project's fast + Slow development
Abstract
Starting in January 2025, the US data landscape underwent dramatic changes. Threats to federal funding—and by extension, federal datasets—prompted urgent preservation efforts. What began as hurried Slack conversations, a rapidly expanding Google Doc, and last-minute meetings, quickly evolved into the Data Rescue Project. As an independent coalition of data librarians, scientists, journalists, and anyone passionate about data preservation, our group has flourished over time, bringing with that growth a distinctive set of challenges. We are navigating the tension between urgency and expansion versus deliberate and sustainable approaches. We have sought to balance the project’s potential with our capacity, learning when to decline requests, direct inquiries to other resources, or dive in wholeheartedly. In this presentation, attendees will discover not only the work of the Data Rescue Project, but also how we have integrated intentional, sustainable methodology into our efforts—including our successes and areas for continued improvement.
Full text
Data Rescue Project www.datarescueproject.org/ bsky.app/profile/datarescueproject.org ⚓In celebration of anchors: The Data Rescue Project’s fast + Slow development⚓ Presented by Mikala Narlock with support from the DRP
Data Rescue Project www.datarescueproject.org/ bsky.app/profile/datarescueproject.org Agenda ⚓What is happening (and what even IS a federal data resource) ⚓The development of the Data Rescue Project ⚓Current DRP efforts ⚓What is Slow - and how the DRP has embraced it ⚓Lessons learned ⚓Next steps 2
Data Rescue Project www.datarescueproject.org/ bsky.app/profile/datarescueproject.org literally hundreds of volunteers 3 The Data Rescue Project Community 3
Data Rescue Project www.datarescueproject.org/ bsky.app/profile/datarescueproject.org ⚓2025: The year of chaos⚓ 4
Data Rescue Project www.datarescueproject.org/ bsky.app/profile/datarescueproject.org What’s happening? US gov’t data resources and websites are being ▪removed ▪made inaccessible ▪altered https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_ United_States_government_online_ resource_removals 5
Data Rescue Project www.datarescueproject.org/ bsky.app/profile/datarescueproject.org “We found that 114 (49%) of the 232 included datasets were substantially altered. … Only 15 (13%) of the 114 altered datasets logged or otherwise indicated that the change had occurred.” -Freilich and Kesselheim 2025: “Data manipulation within the US Federal Government” 6
Data Rescue Project www.datarescueproject.org/ bsky.app/profile/datarescueproject.org What are public federal data resources? 7
Data Rescue Project www.datarescueproject.org/ bsky.app/profile/datarescueproject.org ⚓About the Data Rescue Project⚓ 8
Data Rescue Project www.datarescueproject.org/ bsky.app/profile/datarescueproject.org Feb. 3 Feb. 5 Feb. 7 Feb. 10 Shared Google Doc for resources, events, etc. Formalized DRP. Launched Bluesky account. Launched Data Inventory + Rescue Workflow Launched website and Mattermost. A brief history of the 9
Data Rescue Project www.datarescueproject.org/ bsky.app/profile/datarescueproject.org Save Our Signs ●Crowdsourced effort to archive National Parks Interpretive signs ●Partnership with University of Minnesota and Safeguarding Research and Culture ●More than 10,000 photos submitted from around the country saveoursigns.org 16
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Data Rescue Project www.datarescueproject.org/ bsky.app/profile/datarescueproject.org ⚓Reflections⚓ 18
Data Rescue Project www.datarescueproject.org/ bsky.app/profile/datarescueproject.org Enter Slow - Rejection of rapid culture: Fast food, fast fashion, etc. - Celebrating seasonality - Balancing rest and growth - Expensive, Privileged, Elitist - Slow Food (Petrini 2003) - In Praise of Slowness (Honore 2004) - Navigating Slow and Fast (Brooks-Kieffer 2018) - Wintering (May 2020) 19
Data Rescue Project www.datarescueproject.org/ bsky.app/profile/datarescueproject.org A Slow framework 1. Prioritize Quality and Care over Quantity 2. Center Both User and Worker Experience 3. Build Sustainable and Responsible Practices 4. Enhance Accessibility Through Documentation Berger, T. and Narlock, M. (forthcoming). 20
Data Rescue Project www.datarescueproject.org/ bsky.app/profile/datarescueproject.org Prioritize Quality and Care over Quantity “…emphasizing careful attention to detail and quality of output. This includes better scanning quality, more thorough metadata, and attention to the unique characteristics of each digitized item.” Description ●Standard data capture workflow that emphasizes curation ●Balancing batch capture (e.g., web scraping) with manual capture DRP Implementation 21
Data Rescue Project www.datarescueproject.org/ bsky.app/profile/datarescueproject.org Center Both User and Worker Experience “...acknowledges that digitization staff often have unique insights into materials due to their intimate interaction with items at the page level, and it creates systems to capture and share that knowledge.” Description ●Encouraging volunteers to take data that interests them ○Allowing volunteers pseudonyms ○Encouraging volunteers to lead data rescue efforts ●Build channels for data capture discussions ●Celebrate publicly data successes DRP Implementation 22
Data Rescue Project www.datarescueproject.org/ bsky.app/profile/datarescueproject.org Build Sustainable and Responsible Practices “...emphasizes sustainable workflows that can be maintained long-term. This includes careful consideration of equipment usage, staff training, and establishing consistent documentation practices…” Description ●Using existing sources (e.g., DataLumos) + not duplicating effort ●Transparent practices in all of our work: ○Data capture ○Finance DRP Implementation 23
Data Rescue Project www.datarescueproject.org/ bsky.app/profile/datarescueproject.org Enhance Accessibility Through Documentation “...emphasizes the importance of documenting… characteristics that might affect user experience or understanding.” Description ●Capturing provenance with datasets ○In documentation + data inventory ●Highlighting datasets through Data Rescue Portal DRP Implementation 24
Data Rescue Project www.datarescueproject.org/ bsky.app/profile/datarescueproject.org ⚓Lessons Learned ⚓ 25
Data Rescue Project www.datarescueproject.org/ bsky.app/profile/datarescueproject.org ⚓[email protected]⚓ 32
Data Rescue Project www.datarescueproject.org/ bsky.app/profile/datarescueproject.org References ●Berger, T. and Narlock, M. (forthcoming). Scanning in the Name Of: A Call for Slow in Digitization and Digital Collections. Slow Librarianship: Reflections and Practices, ed. Ashley Rosener. Sacramento, CA: Library Juice Press. Preprint: https://hdl.handle.net/2022/33723 ●Brooks-Kieffer, J. (2019). “Structures in Tension: Navigating Fast and Slow in the Neoliberal University.” Midwest Data Librarian Symposium, Chicago, IL, September 30-October 1. http://hdl.handle.net/1808/29834. ●Honoré, C. (2005). In praise of slowness: Challenging the cult of speed. HarperOne. ●May, K. (2020) Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times. Random House. ●Petrini, C. (2003) Slow food: The case for taste. Columbia University Press. 33