The Pathways of Research Software Preservation: An Educational and Planning Resource for Service Development

The Pathways of Research Software Preservation: An Educational and Planning Resource for Service Development. Fernando Rios. D-Lib Magazine. July/August 2016.
     A great deal of effort has gone into preserving digital research data, but not as much for the software and code preservation to use the data. The computer programs to view, process, analyze, and create data are an integral part of the research workflow. There are "many issues remain in regards to identifying and capturing metadata, dependencies, support for attribution and citation, infrastructure development, and developing appropriate workflows to enable service provision." The article looks at the development of a visual representation of software preservation at Johns Hopkins University, which looks at: 

1. major approaches to software preservation for research software and data
2. a need to evaluate our capacity to offer software preservation services
3. and the need for a road-map

One way to look at this is to view the development and use of software in the research process in general phases:

• developing concepts and theory
• writing the software 
• obtaining all objects required for execution 
• collecting inputs and setting parameters, and 
• making use of the results

A visual approach for evaluating the possible Pathways of Software Preservation, a user can better understand the capacity for software preservation activities, as well "a better appreciation of the nuances of research software preservation and sharing".

Digital Preservation Matters.