ESF's institutional repository Digital Commons @ ESF (DC @ ESF) offers a great deal of flexibility for organizing and featuring data sets. Librarian will work with you to determine the best way to capture and showcase your datasets. DC @ ESF can handle large files and publishes the data in ways to allow it to be cited consistently.
Using DC @ ESF may not be the best fit for every dataset (see other repositories on this page). In situations where data is uploaded to other secure servers we may choose to link out to those records to increase findability.
DC @ ESF offers location restrictions so that only people visiting on campus can download the data. Additionally, for time sensitive data, embargoes may be set in place to archive the data until a specified amount of time has passed.
ESF's pilot Dataverse institutional repository offers an ideal platform for storing and making accessible all manner of data and computer code. It is an ideal alternative to Digital Commons @ ESF, in cases where the data is not suited to the DC platform.
Dataverse, a product from Harvard University, offers a unique and powerful solution to the problem of citing data found online. While many researchers will site data merely back to the database, the Dataverse generates a unique citation for every dataset that links the data back to the original creator and institution where the data was collected. This increases the chance that the people who find and make use of your data will be able to link it back to you and contact you.
ESF's Dataverse offers robust configuration options, allowing the librarians to work with you to determine exactly the access provisions needed to conform with grant or partnership requirements. The data you share on the platform can be made open access, or require users to accept a usage agreement and sign a guestbook for access. Like ESF's Digital Commons, the Dataverse is indexed by larger search engines and provides high visibility for data.
Contact Casey Koons Assistant Librarian for Scholarly Communications if you are interested in sharing your data via the Dataverse platform, or have questions about how to best share your data.
Is Digital Commons not quite right for your data? While we would love you to use Digital Commons, librarians understand you might want or need to make your data available elsewhere. Many repositories provide information on contributing your data. If you need help finding an appropriate repository, contact us.
Below you can see the work done by students in EFB/FOR 797, managing and archiving research data which might provide guidance on some of the other data repositories that are available to you.
