Exciting news! We are merging the DataUp tool with our new data sharing platform, Dash.
About Dash
Dash is a University of California project to create a platform that allows researchers to easily describe, deposit and share their research data publicly. Currently the Dash platform is connected to the UC3 Merritt Digital Repository; however, we have plans to make the platform compatible with other repositories using protocols such as SWORD and OAI-PMH. The Dash project is open-source and we encourage community discussion and contribution to our GitHub site.
About the Merge
There is significant overlap in functionality for Dash and DataUp (see below), so we will merge these two projects to enable better support for our users. This merge is funded by an NSF grant (available on eScholarship) supplemental to the DataONE project.
The new service will be an instance of our Dash platform (to be available in late September), connected to the DataONE repository ONEShare. Previously the only way to deposit datasets into ONEShare was via the DataUp interface, thereby limiting deposits to spreadsheets. With the Dash platform, this restriction is removed and any dataset type can be deposited. Users will be able to log in with their Google ID (other options being explored). There are no restrictions on who can use the service, and therefore no restrictions on who can deposit datasets into ONEShare, and the service will remain free. The ONEShare repository will continue to be supported by the University of New Mexico in partnership with CDL/UC3.
The NSF grant will continue to fund a developer to work with the UC3 team on implementing the DataONE-Dash service, including enabling login via Google and other identity providers, ensuring that metadata produced by Dash will meet the conditions of harvest by DataONE, and exploring the potential for implementing spreadsheet-specific functionality that existed in DataUp (e.g., the best practices check).
Benefits of the Merge
- We will be leveraging work that UC3 has already completed on Dash, which has fully-implemented functionality similar to DataUp (upload, describe, get identifier, and share data).
- ONEShare will continue to exist and be a repository for long tail/orphan datasets.
- Because Dash is an existing UC3 service, the project will move much more quickly than if we were to start from “scratch” on a new version of DataUp in a language that we can support.
- Datasets will get DataCite digital object identifiers (DOIs) via EZID.
- All data deposited via Dash into ONEShare will be discoverable via DataONE.
FAQ about the change
What will happen to DataUp as it currently exists?
The current version of DataUp will continue to exist until November 1, 2014, at which point we will discontinue the service and the dataup.org website will be redirected to the new service. The DataUp codebase will still be available via the project’s GitHub repository.
Why are you no longer supporting the current DataUp tool?
We have limited resources and can’t properly support DataUp as a service due to a lack of local experience with the C#/.NET framework and the Windows Azure platform. Although DataUp and Dash were originally started as independent projects, over time their functionality converged significantly. It is more efficient to continue forward with a single platform and we chose to use Dash as a more sustainable basis for this consolidated service. Dash is implemented in the Ruby on Rails framework that is used extensively by other CDL/UC3 service offerings.
What happens to data already submitted to ONEShare via DataUp?
All datasets now in ONEShare will be automatically available in the new Dash discovery environment alongside all newly contributed data. All datasets also continue to be accessible directly via the Merritt interface at https://merritt.cdlib.org/m/oneshare_dataup.
Will the same functionality exist in Dash as in DataUp?
Users will be able to describe their datasets, get an identifier and citation for them, and share them publicly using the Dash tool. The initial implementation of DataONE-Dash will not have capabilities for parsing spreadsheets and reporting on best practices compliance. Also the user will not be able to describe column-level (i.e., attribute) metadata via the web interface. Our intention, however, is develop out these functions and other enhancements in the future. Stay tuned!
Still want help specifically with spreadsheets?
- We have pulled together some best practices resources: Spreadsheet Help
- Check out the Morpho Tool from the KNB – free, open-source data management software you can download to create/edit/share spreadsheet metadata (both file- and column-level). Bonus – The KNB is part of the DataONE Network.
