At the end of the ten-year monitoring period of the WHO MONICA Project, the Council of Principal Investigators of the Project, in its IXth meeting in Milan, Italy in 1997 discussed the future of the MONICA database. It was concluded that the database needed to be archived in such a way that the use of the data for scientific analysis would be technically easy for anyone who was permitted access to the data. The archiving should be done independently of the rules for access to the data (described in the MONICA Manual, Part I, Section 2) and should not be a limiting factor for future decisions on the rules.
The MONICA Archive consists of five parts, which differ by access to and/or form of the archive.
The Basic analysis data set includes material sufficient for doing most of the anticipated analyses of the WHO MONICA Project data:
Dates of birth are not given in the data records. Only the month and year of birth are given, but the age of the subject has been appended to each record.
The text documents were prepared in HTML 3.2, and the data files are formatted text. The Basic analysis data set was archived on a CD-ROM. The reference specification and document type definition (DTD) of HTML 3.2 was also copied to the CD-ROM.
The MONICA Manual, the quality assessment reports and the data books have been published in the World Wide Web and on this CD-ROM (see WWW-publications from the WHO MONICA Project). The MONICA Publication Rules apply to the data files.
Many copies of the CD-ROM will be stored indefinitely at the National Public Health Institute (KTL), Finland. A copy of the CD-ROM has been given to each MONICA Collaborating Centre (MCC) whose data are included in the Basic analysis data set.
The Sample analysis data set, which was included in the CD-ROMs for MONICA Monograph and Multimedia Sourcebook, was taken from the Basic analysis data set.
The original MONICA data in the data transfer formats in which they were received in the MONICA Data Centre (MDC):
The text documents are prepared in HTML 3.2, and the data files are formatted text. The archiving will be done on a set of CD-ROMs and/or on a hard disk.
The MONICA Publication Rules apply to the Original data.
The Original data will be stored indefinitely at KTL, Finland. A backup copy will be stored at WHO, Geneva.
The Local data-collection procedures includes material which the MCCs have sent to the MDC on paper forms:
Most of the relevant information from these data have been summarised and checked in the quality assessment reports (see Part A above). The purpose of the archiving of the original data-collection procedures is the possible future need for information not included in the quality assessment reports.
The data were received on paper forms. These were scanned and stored on CD-ROMs.
The MONICA Publication Rules apply to the Local data-collection procedures.
The Local data-collection procedures will be stored indefinitely at KTL, Finland. A backup copy will be stored at WHO, Geneva. Copies may be given confidentially to MONICA investigators elsewhere for MONICA Collaborative analysis.
Paper forms for analysis proposals and other paper documentation. Plain text in electronic format for analysis documentation and source code.
Confidential. The MONICA Steering Committee can decide on release of specified details.
The Analysis proposals and data analysis documentation will be stored at KTL, Finland for five years after the paper in question has been published. Thereafter, the documentation will be destroyed.
This part of the MONICA Archive includes
Later versions of the Manual were included in Part A of the MONICA Archive.
Most of the original documents are on paper forms. These were scanned. The original minutes of the last years were electronic documents in HTML format. All these were archived on a CD-ROM.
Most of these material are being published in the MONICA Monograph and Multimedia Source Book. The MONICA Steering Committee will decide on the release of the unpublished material.
Many copies of the CD-ROM are stored at the National Public Health Institute (KTL), Finland, indefinitely. A copy of the CD-ROM will be given to each MCC.