Oregon State University librarians are keeping a close watch on changes at the federal level that could impact government data necessary to conduct research at the university, including data related to climate change, natural resource management, STEM and other areas. The potential loss of access to such data could negatively impact many areas of research across the university, including those identified in the university’s strategic plan, Prosperity Widely Shared.
“OSU university librarians are tracking and participating in efforts to archive and backup government data that is actively or potentially being impacted by changes in federal policy,” said Anne-Marie Deitering. The Delpha and Donald Campbell Dean of Libraries. “Pre-emptive data rescue efforts can blunt the effects of data being removed elsewhere.”
Data is currently at risk for several reasons. Executive Orders signed in early 2025 laid out administrative demands for federal agencies to eliminate content related to targeted topics such as gender and climate change. Additionally, an ongoing reduction in the federal workforce and the defunding of federal agencies is also impacting federal data collection, availability and infrastructure.
Librarians at OSU are working with others across the nation to identify data that is at risk and find alternative paths to provide access. Staff are tracking new developments and providing guidance for researchers relying on federal data, continuing to build their expertise in data handling and rescue and are supporting rescue efforts by contributing to co-created lists around the nation.
Researchers at Oregon State are encouraged to join this effort by contacting library staff if their data becomes inaccessible or they perceive it might be at risk. They’re also urged to save copies of data that are essential to their research, and store and backup their observational or experimental data as well. Librarians can assist researchers with this task. Extra protection can also be provided when researchers duplicate their federal database submissions to non-governmental sources including Dryad.
Many of the sites and information targeted include references to diversity language and environmental justice topics, but the threat to data access goes further. It’s not just direct or intentional removal, Deitering said, but data access can also become collateral damage when programs and departments are defunded and understaffed, and there is always a possibility that complex data systems will get broken by those who don’t understand how they work.
“Determining what was targeted and what is the unintended consequence of agency reorganization or defunding efforts is a challenge, but it’s clear both are happening and that both will have negative impacts for researchers,” she said.
Part of the challenge for librarians is that paper distribution of government information has largely been replaced by digital distribution, so physical copies often do not exist, and there are no longer back-ups located around the country. While digital distribution makes access to data much easier and faster, it also makes it more vulnerable to removal and erasure.
And as directives change and legal action against those changes frequently arise, another challenge is that different agencies interpret compliance differently, meaning access can be restored one day and removed the next. The fluidity of the situation makes anticipating the next steps difficult.
“Research libraries like OSULP have a mission to serve the research institution,” Deitering said. “OSULP librarians are working to identify alternative access methods to ‘at risk’ data, support data preservation efforts, and continue ingesting research reports and data in ScholarsArchive@OSU, OSU’s institutional repository.”
An immediate way researchers can help is to participate in an informal survey about research data risk by filling out this form.
“We recognize that a full institutional impact assessment may be beyond the capacity of any one unit at this time,” Deitering said. “With your help, we are prepared to gather and organize information using surveys to help OSU understand where research activities may be impacted the most.”
More resources regarding federal data removal can be found here:
~ Theresa Hogue
Related Stories
