Caltech Library News

New Version of CaltechDATA Launches on InvenioRDM

Caltech Library is pleased to announce that CaltechDATA, our institutional data and software repository, launched a major upgrade on Wednesday September 21, 2022. 

CaltechDATA has served as critical research infrastructure for campus since 2017, and it hosts over 20,000 records containing datasets and software for a wide variety of disciplines. With this launch, CaltechDATA now runs on the open-source InvenioRDM platform and brings many new features that Caltech researchers have requested:

• Easier record creation with autocomplete for creators, affiliations, subjects, and funders

• Automatic record versioning

• Private share link for reviewers

• Improved record views, with dynamic citations and an expanded file previewer

This version of CaltechDATA also introduces communities, which enable groups at Caltech to create their own record curation and approval processes. Researchers can collect records into a single browse and search interface. A curation pipeline allows records to be submitted by Caltech users, and then approved by a defined set of curators. We’ve pre-seeded a small number of initial communities, and look forward to seeing what researchers create.

InvenioRDM is a customizable open-source repository platform developed by CERN and twenty partner organizations, including Caltech Library. It is built on the twenty-year history of the Invenio repository platform, whose most-successful implementation is the Zenodo generalist repository hosted by CERN. InvenioRDM takes the features of Zenodo and makes them customizable for institutions. InvenioRDM will enable Caltech Library to more rapidly roll out new features and collaborate with other institutions to establish repository best practices.

New Version of CaltechDATA Launching Soon

We're excited to announce that a new version of CaltechDATA will be launching soon with many features that have been requested by researchers.

• Easier record creation with autocomplete for creators, affiliations, subjects, and funders

• Automatic record versioning

• Private share link for reviewers

• Improved record views, with dynamic citations and an expanded file previewer

On Tuesday, September 20 no new uploads will be accepted and CaltechDATA will experience temporary outages as we transition to the new version of the repository.

All existing records will be available and you’ll be able to upload files to CaltechDATA as normal on Wednesday, September 21.

We’re still working on a few features, which will re-launch at a later date:

• GitHub Integration

• Metadata listing on landing page:

  • Views and Downloads

  • Geolocation metadata

If you experience slow uploads with large files, we continue to offer an alternative upload option. Email data@caltech.edu for more details.

CaltechDATA Welcomes the Caltech HTE Materials Experiment and Analysis Database

CaltechDATA is pleased to welcome over 17,000 records from the Caltech High Throughput Experimentation (HTE) group. The Materials Experiment and Analysis Database (MEAD) was collected by the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis over many years. It contains raw data and metadata from millions of materials synthesis and characterization experiments, as well as the analysis and distillation of that data into property and performance metrics. The unprecedented quantity and diversity of experimental data are searchable by experiment and analysis attributes generated by both researchers and data processing software. Each record is uniquely identified with a DataCite DOI, which allows links to the datasets to remain the same even after the transition. Data storage is supported by a grant from XSEDE on the Open Storage Network. The migration of this database illustrates how data resources created at Caltech can be sustainably managed for the long term by Caltech Library in the CaltechDATA repository.

CaltechDATA now provides usage information to DataCite

We now submit usage reports of views and downloads that follow the COUNTER Code of Practice to DataCite. This allows you to see use over time in DataCite Search for any record in CaltechDATA by using the DOI: e.g. https://search.datacite.org/works/10.14291/tccon.ggg2014

Support for Running Software Interactively using Binder

CaltechDATA is now a source of content for Binder , an open source service that allows you to interactively run software in your web browser. Software that runs successfully on Binder will get a Binder badge on their CaltechDATA landing page like https://doi.org/10.22002/d1.1250 . Binder can run Python, R, and Julia code in a variety of interfaces and has extensive documentation . Want help preparing your software? Sign up for our workshop or ask for help by emailing data [at] caltech.edu . If your CaltechDATA record is ready for a Binder badge, send us an email at data [at] caltech.edu for approval.

Usage statistics listed in CaltechDATA

We now list unique views and downloads on every CaltechDATA item page. We follow the COUNTER Code of Practice for Research Data Usage Metrics to define usage of our data files. All usage tracking is via JavaScript using matomo , so our usage statistics definitely undercount actual usage. Automated downloads from applications like curl or individuals who disable JavaScript manually or via an ad blocker are not included. Research has shown this may be up to 60% of repository usage, and we hope to capture more of this usage in the future. More info on usage statistics in CaltechDATA .

CaltechDATA and CaltechTHESIS automatic links

CaltechDATA now automatically includes links to theses in the CaltechTHESIS repository. If you’re writing a thesis at Caltech, it’s easy to include data files and software:

1. Upload files to CaltechDATA as you write your thesis or activate automatic Github preservation.
2. When you submit your thesis to CaltechTHESIS, include the CaltechDATA DOIs in the Related URL section with type DOI.
3. Once your thesis is approved, your thesis DOI will appear in CaltechDATA within 24 hours.

Recommended citation now available in CaltechDATA

All CaltechDATA records now include a recommended citation as part of the description field. A link to the citation in different citation styles is also available. A recommended citation will appear on new records approximatly 10 minutes after the record is submitted. This service is powered by CrossCite and the DataCite metadata we register as part of the DOI creation process. See an example at https://doi.org/10.22002/d1.1089

Enhanced software preservation now available in CaltechDATA!

CaltechDATA has supported automatic preservation of GitHub software repositories since launch, so anyone at Caltech can get a DOI (permanent identifier) for their software project and have Caltech Library handle long term preservation. However, most GitHub repositories do not include clear metadata such as authors, affiliations, or ORCID identifiers. CaltechDATA now supports CodeMeta , a new standard format for software metadata. By including a codemeta.json file in your GitHub repo, your full author list, keywords, and license will be listed in CaltechDATA and registered with your DOI.

This improvement is powered by ames , a Python package for automating metadata changes developed at Caltech Library. Every 5 minutes, ames harvests all the GitHub-created records in CaltechDATA and stores them using dataset (our lightweight data storage package). These records are then analyzed for codemeta.json files. If a CodeMeta file is found, the relevant metadata is extracted and added to the CaltechDATA record and DOI. We currently support authors, keywords, and license fields - but more will be added as a community of practice develops. We’re also exploring better ways to generate CodeMeta files as part of the software release process.

CaltechDATA powers the GPS thesis map!

View locations from Geological and Planetary Science division theses. CaltechDATA now contains hundreds of historic plates and maps that were supplements to theses. From the map interface you can see all the items that have geocoordinates. Want your thesis to show up on the map? Send us an email at data [at] caltech.edu .

CaltechDATA now offers a citation alert service

CaltechDATA now offers a citation alert service! We automatically add citations of CaltechDATA DOIs found in published papers to your CaltechDATA record. If you provide an email address for the "Contact Person" we'll also send you an email with each new citation. The terms of deposit have been updated to reflect this new service.

Users can edit metadata for their CaltechDATA records

Users can edit metadata for their CaltechDATA records. Email us at data [at] caltech.edu if you need to edit files.

CaltechDATA welcomes the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON)

CaltechDATA welcomes the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON). See their custom repository home page at tccondata.org

CaltechDATA has officially launched!

View the press release .

CaltechDATA now supports Shibboleth (IMSS access.caltech) logins

All Caltech users can log in at data.caltech.edu/login by clicking "Login with a Caltech account". Beta user can log in by entering their existing CaltechDATA user name and password or by clicking "Login with a Caltech account".

Write API is now operational.

Email us at data [at] caltech.edu if you want automatically submit data sets.

CaltechDATA Beta is Open!

CaltechDATA is now open to Beta users. Send us an email at data [at] caltech.edu if you'd like to test out the service.