Discoverability
The Data Catalogue exists to provide a repository in which publicly-available records with associated discovery information can be created and accessed. The repository supports quality metadata and controlled vocabularies.
The repository is intended to hold information about research in which Liverpool University researchers have taken part, and can contain metadata relating to such research even if the data itself is held somewhere else. Such metadata will persist and still be available even if the data is no longer available. Where one does not already exist, the Data Catalogue can assign a persistent identifier, in the form of a DOI, that points to the landing page of the resource. This identifier can then be used in citations. Similarly, the DOI will persist even if the data is not available.
The repository offers a search facility, which allows discovery via a range of options, such as creators, titles of dataset, and collection descriptions. Search terms can be entered into just one of the search fields, or multiple ones at the same time. Additionally, it is possible to browse for records by Year, Author, Division, or Collection.
The metadata is or could be indexed by external discovery services and/or aggregators. It is included in the Re3data general registry of research repositories.
Access
The Liverpool Data Catalogue provides access at no cost to finalised research data, as well as metadata records that link to data held elsewhere. All data or metadata records in the Data Catalogue will at the very least be available for a period of 10 years from the date of deposit, in order to achieve compliance with University Policy on Research Data. The Data Catalogue is entirely web based, can be accessed via a range of browsers, and as such no specific device is required.
Reuse
Each data file uploaded to the Data Catalogue is required to have a licence with it to show the conditions under which it is being shared. The default recommended licence under which data deposited in the Data Catalogue are held is a Creative Commons – Attribution licence. This clearly lets potential users know that they are free to re-use data as part of their own research, provided they give proper attribution. Other licences are available, both more and less restrictive, and the Data Catalogue provides links to further information on those licences
All metadata entered onto the Data Catalogue has a Creative Commons Public Domain licence (CC0).
All data files deposited into the Data Catalogue should be in formats which are generic and not likely to be obsolete in the medium term. Non-proprietary formats are preferred to proprietary types. The UK Data Service has a list of formats which would be acceptable in the Data Catalogue.
Quality Assurance
The RDM team can be contacted at rdm@liverpool.ac.uk. We aim to respond within 5 working days.