Collection Development Unit

ICPSR's Collection Development unit is responsible for acquiring data to build the collection and for processing and enhancement of ICPSR's data resources. An Acquisitions Director guides collection development activities, with advisory committees of the ICPSR Council providing additional direction regarding data acquisitions and processing. ICPSR encourages social scientists in all fields to contribute to and to utilize ICPSR's data resources.

The Collection Development staff consists primarily of research associates with social science training who process and add value to the data that ICPSR acquires. Staff also conduct disclosure analyses to ensure that confidentiality of human subjects is maintained.

In addition to the ICPSR General Archive, which processes data in the core social science disciplines such as political science, sociology, and demography, the Collection Development unit also consists of several topical archives with specific thematic orientations. The topics represented in these archives include child care and early education, health and medical care, education, aging, criminal justice, substance abuse and mental health, and racial and ethnic minority populations.

For more information about the Collection Development unit at ICPSR, please contact: archive@icpsr.umich.edu.