Navigating the Challenges of Legacy Data: A Systematic Literature Analysis

Abstract

Legacy data is data collected systematically in the past, for which contemporary use and reuse are at-risk, difficult, or impossible due to issues such as missing metadata, obsolete storage media, outdated file formats, and unsupported software. As we introduced in Buchanan, et al. (2023), there is a demonstrated need for more systematic understanding of legacy research data efforts and the value of these data and efforts as perceived across stakeholder groups. We are conducting a literature analysis of publications on the topics of legacy research data use, preservation, curation, and management. Using an established search query and online literature databases, we retrieved and manually reviewed a pool of 1,338 results and identified 69 papers that fit the following criteria for our study: peer-reviewed articles published in the last 15 years including studies discussing methodologies and best practices; studies that describe repurposing legacy data; studies focusing on storage or archival methods for older data; and studies that discuss software and migration challenges. We are analyzing the sample of papers using content analysis and bibliometric methods, focusing on references to individuals involved, processes, data types, formats, locations, and problems being addressed.