With many wondering how to address the clashing viewpoints over environmental research and policy within the incoming administration and among the general public, there is a renewed call to action to preserve public information and data. As part of this preparation, CALMA is joining a constellation of community-led national efforts to preserve publicly available data about “grand challenge” issues such as the climate crisis.

This is the first of two “Data Rescue” events to be held in January in the Open Scholarship Commons of Suzzallo Library on the UW Seattle campus. The session will be facilitated by CALMA-affiliated Information School PhD candidates Itza Carbajal and Sarah Nguyễn. These events are open to all who are interested and will have a Zoom option for those who cannot attend in person. Lunch and snacks will be provided on site. All skills and interests are welcome!

What is a Data Rescue: Modeled after the 2016-2017 Data Rescue/Refuge movement, these “guerilla archiving actions” are community run hackathons; that is, collaborative drop-in events where people work together on a variety of digital archiving tasks over a short period of time. While Data Rescues can focus on any type of at-risk public data, many have focused on environmental issues given documented threats and modifications by presidential agendas or politicians. 

How to participate: You can choose to attend either one or both sessions, for at least one hour. Use the RSVP link to access the registration form, to indicate your plans to attend and any accessibility or dietary needs.