“If the data you need still exists ...”
Data management was an important part of my job for several decades.
In 2012, while working for the U.S. Geological Survey in Santa Cruz, California, I wrote this email and sent it to one coworker (name redacted):
In 2012, while working for the U.S. Geological Survey 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
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
A few months later, she included that restatement 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.
I've received a few emails asking for the source of this quote. I hope this page helps future scholars track it down.
rexsanders.com
2021 August 28
2021 August 28
