Archiving a DAC or RDC

When you have finished a research project or once you have collected all the raw data, it is considered best practice to archive your data for scientific integrity. Proper archiving is part of Radboud University's research data management policy and can be done in the Radboud Data Repository. Archiving ensures that the Data Acquisition Collection (DAC) or Research Documentation Collection (RDC) becomes read-only and is protected against changes, desired or otherwise. The collection manager can still update user access to archived collections and download the stored data, but they can no longer edit the content. Only a few metadata fields can still be edited. Should it be necessary to edit the collection after it has been archived, the manager can request a second version of the collection by contacting their research administrator. Note that this is not recommended, so be sure to inspect your collection carefully before archiving.

When you archive your DAC or RDC, you can make your collection metadata visible to the public by contacting your research administrator. If your metadata are not public (default setting), the collection’s metadata will only be visible to collection managers, contributors, viewers, the research administrator(s) of your Organisational Unit (OU) and the system administrator(s) of the RDR. Anyone else who has the DOI will be directed to a page with a message stating that they are not authorised to see any information of this collection. If you choose to make your metadata visible to the public, anyone who follows the DOI of your collection will be presented with your collection’s metadata. This means all the fields that are visible under your collection's metadata tab, the list of files visible under your collection's files tab, and the automatically generated ABOUT.txt, LICENSE.txt and MANIFEST.txt files. Additionally, this information will also be registered in RIS, meaning that the metadata visible under the metadata tab of your dataset are automatically added to your RIS account when the collection is archived. If you wish to make your metadata visible, please contact your research administrator.

Apart from making your collection read-only, archiving triggers the following events: the DOI will become active, the collection will receive a version number and a manifest file will be created.

If you have further questions on the process of archiving your collection, contact us at rdmsupport@ubn.ru.nl for Radboud University employees or datastewardship.im@radboudumc.nl for RUMC employees. If you encounter any errors or problems when switching between collection states, you can contact the ICT helpdesk (email: icthelpdesk@ru.nl, telephone: 0031 (0)24 3622222).

Note: only a collection manager can archive a collection. Archiving can take up some time: the transition from internal review to archived could take more than a day, even for small collections.

Step 1: Prepare your collection

Please make sure that you properly prepared your collection to be reviewed and published:

  1. The collection should be properly documented. The goal is to document a collection in such a way that it is self-sufficient, meaning that anyone (e.g. yourself ten years from now or other researchers) can understand the collection and its contents without further explanation. These best practices are described in our best-practice pages on data documentation and metadata. This step could save you a lot of work in the future!

  2. Update your collection's metadata. Make sure that all the metadata fields of your collection are correctly filled in. This makes your collection findable (if you have selected to make your metadata visible to the public) and is part of proper archiving. See our page on adjusting metadata for more detailed instructions

  3. The collection should be complete. No file should be missing or incomplete. You can check this with the MANIFEST file.

Step 2: Switch to internal review

In this step, you will switch the status of your collection from editable to internal review. In this status, your collection is read-only so no changes can be made. It serves as a final checkpoint for you and your colleagues (other managers, contributors and viewers) to inspect the collection before archiving it. This switch is reversible, so you can always go back to the editable state to make changes. In order to switch to internal review, follow these steps:

  1. Log in to the RDR and select the collection that you want to archive

  2. Click the button Switch to Internal review near the top left of your screen

    ../../../_images/archive_review_internal.png

  3. Some metadata fields are obligatory. If you have not filled these in, you will be prompted with an error message. If this is the case, fill in the missing metadata fields and click Save updates

  4. A message will appear asking you to confirm your choice to switch states. Click Confirm.

If you want to edit your collection after internal review, if a file is missing for example, you can change the collection's status back to editable by clicking Switch to Editable. Next, make your changes and repeat Step 2.

Step 3: Switch to Archived

Note: Unlike Step 2, this step is not reversible.

If you and your collaborators decide that a collection is complete, you can archive it by clicking on Switch to Archived near the top left of your screen.

../../../_images/archive.png

A message will appear asking you to confirm the state switch. Click Confirm. Your collection has now been archived.

Metadata fields that can be changed after archiving

Once a collection is archived, the following metadata fields are still editable:

  • Managers

  • Contributors

  • Viewers

  • Audience

  • Associated publications

  • Associated data

  • Associated analysis tools

  • Associated pre-registrations

  • Keywords

  • Preservation time: this field is only editable by the research administrator. Please contact your research administrator if you want to change the preservation time.