Dataset Acquisition Policy

1. Policy Overview and Introduction
   1. Policy scope: This policy pertains only to the acquisition of datasets through the UW-Madison Libraries. Exceptions to this policy may be made on a case-by-case basis by the Law Library, the Business Library, and Ebling Library for the Health Sciences.
   2. Policy goal: The University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries endeavor to responsibly steward library collection building by purchasing selected datasets that support research and instructional needs for campus patrons, and we welcome the opportunity to consider purchase or lease proposals that support the University’s programs and research goals. If resources allow, the Libraries will acquire datasets for researchers that align with the criteria described in the policy outlined below. Due to limited funding, the Libraries cannot acquire all datasets that researchers may need.
   3. Acquisition and decision-making process: Purchasing decisions will be made by the appropriate collection development librarian in consultation with Electronic Resources Management and the Library Technology Group and according to this policy document.
2. Selection Criteria and Usability
   1. Required
      1. The Libraries will consider acquiring datasets that are purchased or leased.
      2. Requests must come from current UW-Madison faculty, staff, or students.
      3. The Libraries will only acquire datasets that are accessible to all current UW-Madison faculty, staff, and students. Data cannot be restricted to individual schools, departments, specific groups, or individuals.
      4. Data must be accompanied by adequate user documentation.
      5. Datasets must fit within the current storage and access infrastructure the Libraries provide. If local hosting is required, dataset acquisitions will be reviewed by Library Technology Group staff for storage feasibility. Current storage availability and cost are subject to change.  
      6. Resources requiring the Libraries to monitor or provide patron information to vendors will not be considered.
   2. Desired
      1. If possible, datasets acquired by the Libraries should be accompanied by descriptive metadata.
      2. Preference will be given to acquire datasets that have broad curricular and research interest.
      3. Datasets acquired by the Libraries should be hosted online and have the ability to be accessed remotely by authorized users.
      4. When a vendor is responsible for hosting and providing access to a downloadable dataset, licensing terms should include compliance with ADA and WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) 2.1 AA that govern the vendor’s website.
      5. Datasets acquired by the Libraries should not require users to provide personal information to vendors or other third parties to access the resource.
      6. Standardized data formats are preferred, such as CSV, XML, JSON or other plain-text formats.
      7. When possible, dataset vendors should avoid proprietary data formats that require special software, including Excel files.
3. Licensing
   1. The Libraries will make best efforts to include terms in dataset licenses allowing for:
      1. Users to share the results of their research using the data in their scholarly works and beyond the UW-Madison campus.
      2. Scholarly sharing, such as sharing minimal amounts of data with colleagues outside the licensing institution.
      3. User ability to create derivative works.
      4. The ability of the Libraries to maintain a backup copy of the data.
   2. Acquisitions made through the UW-Madison Libraries will not be considered if the acquisition violates departmental, campus, and state purchasing policies and procedures.
4. Scope
   1. Types of data: The Libraries will avoid restricting acquisitions based on types of data, including, but not limited to, quantitative, textual, numeric, statistical, and geospatial data. 
   2. All languages, chronological time periods, and subjects will be considered.
   3. Vendor-supplied analytical tools are not covered under this policy.
5. Cost/Funding
   1. While there is no price limit on data purchases, purchases will depend on current budgetary constraints. 
   2. Cooperative acquisitions or acquisitions with shared departmental funding need to be pre-approved by Libraries Collections leadership and/or Acquisitions leadership.
6. Sustainability
   1. Storage/local hosting: in cases where datasets are locally hosted, the Libraries will only consider acquiring datasets that can be hosted using standard library hosting options. Dataset size and storage requirements will be considered for ongoing storage.
   2. Management and use: The Libraries are not responsible for downloading or making available any specific software for using data. Updates to datasets will be made under the consideration of the appropriate collection development librarian in consultation with the Library Technology Group.
   3. Retention: The Libraries may terminate access to licensed datasets and will discard purchased datasets at any time as needed. Considerations may include changes to costs, patron usage, technology or storage options, or other issues.  
7. Exclusions
   The Libraries will not address requests for the types listed below:
   1. Open access datasets.
   2. Datasets with restrictive license terms or with technical requirements limiting use to one individual or group or one specific project or purpose.
   3. Additional software needed to analyze datasets.
   4. Datasets that include personally identifiable information or any other sensitive or restricted access data.
8. Purchases outside the scope of standard collections purchasing policies should be directed to the appropriate collection development librarian for consideration.

Posted 01/13/2025