"If the data you need still exists ..."

Data management was an important part of my job for 40 years.
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​In 2012, while working for the USGS in Santa Cruz, California, I wrote this email and sent it to one coworker (name redacted):

​From: Rex Sanders <rsanders@usgs.gov>
Subject: Re: DM Quote
Date: July 23, 2012 at 4:52:42 PM PDT
To: (Coworker) <coworker@usgs.gov>

Belated thanks.  Quote's been percolating in my idea factory.

Here's a restatement:

If the data you need still exists …
If you found the data you need …
If you understand the data you found …
If you trust the data you understand …
If you can use the data you trust …    
Someone did a good job of data management.

I prefer more positive statements.

-- Rex

Excellent science depends on excellent data management.

On Jul 5, 2012, at 11:22 AM, (Coworker) wrote:


I can't integrate what I can't find.
I can't use something I don't understand.
I don't want to use something I don't trust.
I can't use something that isn't there any more.
- 2010 NGC Workshop Report 

Several months later, she included the quote on the new USGS Data Management home page:

The quote stayed up for just a few months, until a web site redesign. But that was long enough for those words to gain a following.

​Why Manage Research Data, Columbia University web page

Guides, Tutorials, and Courses for Learning About Data Management, University of Wisconson web page
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Creating and Collecting “Open” Cultural Heritage Collections, Digital Odyssey 2015 presentation, slide #39

Data Wranglers in the Edge of Chaos, T. Scott blog post

How does data become information? answer to a BAYT question

Don’s Conference Notes, Against The Grain September 2015 issue

How Data Becomes Information…and Information Becomes Insight, The Green Tie blog post

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I've received a few emails asking for the source of the quote, so I hope this page helps future scholars track it down.

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rexsanders.com
​2018 March 27