LibGuides: Government Information: FDLP Service and More: For Data Rescuers

How to Help

Become a member or affiliate

Note:

Please click each tab above to learn about several leading Federal government data rescue platforms. Each section outlines the methods recommended by each organization for contributing through their platform. Select your preferred platform and follow the provided instructions to help preserve federal government data. Thank you.

Handout: Federal data is disappearing. Meet the teams working to rescue it and learn how you can help. Feb. 13, 2025

Suggest agencies to FOIA

Join Slack for the Data Liberation Project

Get email updates from MuckRock

Check out volunteer positions

Part of End OF Term Archive

Save URLs on the Wayback Machine

Full text index of 2024/25 EOT Archive Collective (work in progress)

Submit lists of URLs via Google Sheet

Since the start of the new Trump administration, hundreds of federal data sets and government websites have gone offline without warning, sometimes returning with major changes and sometimes not returning at all. On February 13th, MuckRock hosted an event with organizations that are helping lead the efforts to preserve the public’s data. Presenting were Mark Graham of the Internet Archive; Sarah Cohen of Big Local News; Jack Cushman of the Harvard Law School Library Innovation Lab; and Lynda Kellam, PhD, Secretary of IASSIST, a member organization of the Data Rescue Project.

Follow on Bluesky

Follow on Github

More on Data Rescue Project

Please use the links below to access a few great national collaborative Federal government data / website rescue efforts' trackers provided by the Data Rescue Project.

Data Rescue Project
The Project is "a coordinated effort among a group of data organizations, including IASSIST, RDAP, and members of the Data Curation Network. Our goal is to serve as a clearinghouse for data rescue-related efforts and data access points for public US governmental data that are currently at risk. We want to know what is happening in the community so that we can coordinate focus. Efforts include: data gathering, data curation and cleaning, data cataloging, and providing sustained access and distribution of data assets."
Data Rescue Tracker
You can find maintainer's list and downloads list.
This is a collaborative tool built to catalog existing public data rescue efforts so that they can coordinate better across initiatives. At this stage, you can use the tool to help reduce duplication of rescue efforts. The Data Rescue Tracker aims to provide a consolidated overview of who is downloading which dataset from which government websites.
Data Rescue Resources
There are many individuals, organizations, and community-based resources that document and assist with rescuing efforts. You will find the list of tools, data sources, library guides, and articles with their associated scopes. This list was developed from the original Data Rescue Google Doc. Please email suggestions to datarescueproject@protonmail.com.
Current Data Rescue Efforts
There are many individuals, organizations, and community-based efforts to capture and preserve data in early 2025. You can find the efforts with their collecting scopes. This list was developed from the original Data Rescue Google Doc.

This Guide is created and maintained by Anna Xiong, Government Information Coordinator and FDLP Representative. Should you have any questions or need further assistance with government-related information research, you can reach her via email jax2@rice.edu or govhelp@rice.edu, or call 713.348.6212.