The United States federal government collects, aggregates, and disseminates a large volume of information and data, content used by researchers, policymakers, businesses, even farmers. Protecting access to federal government data between and during presidential administrations is critically important — and not only for MIT’s research community. When data disappears, it erodes the reproducibility of previous research, interrupts work, and deteriorates trust in science and government.
“If the data and tools used to understand complex data are abruptly taken off the internet, the work of scientists, civil society organizations and government officials themselves can grind to a halt,” wrote Energy and Environment Librarian Alejando Paz in The Conversation.
Shortly after the 2024 presidential election, acutely aware of the heightened risk to data resources supported, hosted, and maintained by the federal government, a dedicated team of MIT Libraries experts sprang into action. Staff identified the need for practical tools and, collaborating with researchers, rapidly deployed a checklist to help users identify, document, and safeguard the government data they rely on.
“We wanted to create resources that would be valuable both for our local research community and for the broader research and library community,” says Amy Nurnberger, the Libraries’ program head for Data Management Services. “The checklist provides a starting point for these important conversations and considerations.”
The checklist has been a key resource for the Data Rescue Project, which serves as a clearinghouse for data rescue-related efforts, and is one of several coordinated efforts across the country to sustain public access to data. In addition, library staff held three events at MIT during the spring semester where they trained participants to contribute to the Data Rescue Project and to nominate vulnerable datasets to the End-of-Term Archive, which captures and saves government websites at the end of presidential administrations.
In appreciation for their efforts, Libraries staff including Paz, Nurnberger, Phoebe Ayers, Sabrina Brown, Joe Carrano, Jonavelle Cuerdo, Sadie Roosa, and Ece Turnator received the 2025 Infinite Mile Award for Innovation, Creativity, and Problem Solving. “This team didn’t just rise to the challenge,” said Director of Libraries Chris Bourg, “they executed solutions at record speed.”
