One of SND’s largest web development projects in recent years has now been launched. It is the research area adaptations of the data description form, where researchers can describe, upload, and publish their data.
The general profile for describing research data in the form has been complemented by five specific profiles:
- Archaeology and history
- Earth and environmental sciences
- Language resources
- Medical and health sciences
- Social science
The form has also been given a new layout in order give it a cleaner look and make it more user-friendly for researchers who want to describe their data materials.
–In this new web form, researchers won’t see a lot of irrelevant fields. Instead, on the first page they choose which research data profile they want to use to describe their data. The new form will also make it easier for secondary users to find relevant, specific information in our catalogue on which data are accessible in various research fields, says Sofia Agnesten, one of SND’s data managers who has worked on the data description form.
A large portion of the area-specific adaptation concerns controlled vocabularies, where researchers can choose between set alternatives in a list. Research area, accessibility level and data format are examples of sections of the data description form that use controlled vocabularies to describe properties of research data.
Several of the data managers and system developers in SND have contributed to the substantial work with the research area adaptations of the data description form. A work which will continue, as more research area specific profiles will be developed. Which areas will be next is yet to be decided.
You can find more information on how to submit data descriptions and research data on our Describe and deposit data pages. In order to access the web form, you have to log in with an account from a Swedish higher education institution, Facebook, or Google.