Public Data Project

Between November and January 2025, we launched a government data vault to download, sign, and share copies of the public federal data that is most valuable to researchers, scholars, civil society, and the public. This work is part of Harvard Law School Library’s centuries-long role in preserving and sharing accurate copies of federal documents, ensuring that vital resources remain accessible notwithstanding any change in funding, priorities, or accidental loss.

Our approach is to rapidly build cutting edge archiving and playback software, while also building deep ties with historic libraries and archives, discovering and broadcasting best practices along the way. Our preservation methods include:

• Cryptographic provenance to verify authenticity
• Comprehensive metadata for discoverability
• Rigorous collection practices
• Robust client-side discovery layers
• Prioritization based on public needs
• Archives designed for resilient duplication.

Involving a mix of technical, social, economic, and educational interventions, we are preserving datasets in immediate danger through creation of new tools and technologies. We are also building communities of librarians and technologists who can solve the many challenges of high quality public data preservation by fostering affordable, incentive-aligned preservation networks that can robustly store information against global shocks.

Check this page, as well as our blog, for updates to this project. Please contact us at publicdata@law.harvard.edu.

We are grateful for the support of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF). The opinions and views do not necessarily state or reflect those of the contributors.