Data curation

Data curation is the active, end-to-end management of raw data—cleaning, organizing, and enriching it with metadata—to ensure it is Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) for future analysis.

Data curation is the disciplined process of transforming raw data into high-value, reusable assets. It goes beyond simple storage: the objective is to actively manage data throughout its lifecycle (ingestion to consumption) to guarantee quality and utility for decision-making. Curators apply rigorous steps—like the Data Curation Network's (DCN) CURATED model—to check files, augment metadata, and transform formats for long-term preservation and discovery. This practice ensures data meets the critical FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable), which is essential for compliance and deriving accurate insights in fields like genomics, where data integrity is paramount, or financial transaction analysis.

https://data.library.cornell.edu/data-curation-service