What better way to start off the semester than with a new "This Week in NDSA…"?!
Over the summer of 2014, I had the opportunity to complete my digital practicum at the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

ICPSR is the world's largest archive of behavioral and social research data. Similar to the curatorial work done on the Mona Lisa, ICPSR researchers organize, describe, clean, enhance, and preserve data-"data stewardship."

I helped Dr. Amy Pienta, Director of Data Acquisitions, update their data collection development plan, which provides depositors, data produces, and users with information about what types of data ICPSR accepts, intellectual property rights related to their data, and how these data will be curated and preserved. Though most social science data is accepted, ICPSR hosts and sponsors several special collections, such as: Resource Center for Minority Data, Terrorism and Preparedness Data Resource Center, and the NCAA Student-Athlete Experiences Data Archive.

For more information, take a look at these sites:

ICPSR www.icpsr.umich.edu

Resource Center for Minority Data www.icpsr.umich.edu/RCMD

Terrorism and Preparedness Data Resource Center www.icpsr.umich.edu/TPDRC

NCAA Student-Athlete Experiences Data Archive www.icpsr.umich.edu/NCAA

We hope everyone has a fantastic semester!

Christopher (Chris) Bonadio

NDSA Secretary