Contribute with data

Welcome to submit your data to the Bolin Centre Database!

It is easy, just fill in the form below following the instructions there.

Use this form to provide your metadata. Metadata are the description of the actual data. This is your "data about the data". Metadata is important to help others to find, understand and use your data.

Fill in the Basic information, Contact information and Mandatory metadata. In the Optional metadata section, you can leave fields blank if you wish.

Save and update your metadata

Click on the green button ‘Save draft’ at the bottom of the Data Entry Form, and then click on ‘Preview your data’. You will then see your metadata in the browser. A temporary web address (URL) is shown in the address field. You can save it as a bookmark, come back, and make further revisions later.

Each time you save the metadata, a new revision with a new URL is created. You can find all revisions in the Revision list shown at the bottom of the metadata presentation. Start from the most recent revision when you want to update the metadata.

Upload data files

You can store your data files either in the Bolin Centre Database or somewhere else. If you prefer to store your data files in the Bolin Centre Database, and if the total file size is smaller than 10 GB, you can upload data directly in the Data Entry Form if you are connected to the Stockholm University computer network.

If your dataset is large or if you are not connected to the Stockholm University network, please let us know so that we can provide information on how you shall upload them. If you prefer to store your data files somewhere else, your metadata should include an internet address leading to the data.

If your data volume is large we ask you consider to make some reduction. Primarily, we ask you to keep the data values but reduce the file sizes by:

Compressing data
Reducing data precision

For very large data we also ask you to consider to reduce the data volume by publishing only a meaningful subset. Some ways of doing that could be the following.

Parameters subset
Regional subset
Temporal subset
Mixture of complete data for some parameters, but reduced for other
Summary statistics of raw data (processed data)
Figure or table data
Needed for the publication

Make your data public

Send us an email to bolindata@su.se when you have entered as much information as you can on your own.

We will then review the metadata and data in order to fulfil general requirements for data publishing. This is called data curation. Please, except this process of publishing a dataset, including data curation and communication between all involved persons to take in the order of one month. For experienced data contributors this can take much less time.

We will publish your metadata and data when we agree that it can be made public.

Publish source code

Browse to git.bolin.su.se, register and upload your code. You can use the web interface a command line interface, whichever you prefer. Please make sure to choose a license for your code. We recommend the MIT licence.

We will then review your code repository. When we agree that it can be made public, we will clone your reporitory, create a tag and make the repository public in order to ensure that it's not being deleted or updated. The tag identifies a specific version. However, you can still continue to use and update your initial repository.

There are many places with more information about git on the web, e.g. git-scm.com or a short cheat sheet. There is also a simple tutorial for GitLab.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

All new datasets in our database will get a unique DOI. The DOI will be active when the dataset is published.

Get help

Please do not hesitate to contact us at bolindata@su.se if you have questions or need assistance with filling in the Data Entry Form. We will be happy to hear from you, and we will answer as soon as possible. We love data!

Data Entry Form

Basic information

Dataset title

Choose a title that is likely to be understood by colleagues, students and if possible even the general public and not only those who are experts on the subject (max 128 characters). The title should contain the following information whenever relevant:

What has been recorded?
Where were the data collected?
When were the data collected or what time period in the past does the data represent?

Summary

This should be a brief general description of the dataset that allows others to easily understand what your data is about and to determine if the dataset is useful for their needs. Please, write three paragraphs of maximum two sentences each.

What (general information — what has been recorded and what form does the data take?)
Why (scientific value — why were the data collected or generated? what can it be used for?)
Where, when, how (practical information — where, when and how were the data collected or generated? which time period and/or region does the data represent? is the data spatially gridded or scattered? which method was used?)

The text should be concise but should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to ascertain rapidly the scope and limitations of the resource, even if the person is not an expert in the field (e.g. students and even the general public).

References

Provide references to scientific papers that describes the data. Include a DOI number if this is available. Separate multiple references by a new line. Our preferred style of reference format is the one used by Climate Dynamics and other Springer journals.

Data creator

Name of the persons who have developed the dataset and who should be named when the data is cited. This should include all relevant persons who have helped to create the dataset (e.g. project PI, data processors, data analysts, instrument operators, instrument designers, model developers, etc.). Separate personal names with commas (, ).

Keywords

Enter some informative keywords, of your own free choice, separated by semicolon and space. One single keyword can contain several proper words. The first letter in each keyword should be a capital letter.

Sub-category

Choose the sub-category in the list that is most relevant or choose "other" to write in a new un-exsiting sub-category.

Internet address

Internet address for the dataset if it is stored outside the Bolin Centre Database.

Website

Optional web site address for the dataset

Contact information

First name

The first name (given name) of the contact person for the dataset.

Last name or organization

The last name (surname) of the contact person for the dataset. If you want to put the name of an organization as responsible instead of a named person, you shall write the organization's name here.

Email address

Email address to the contact person.

Phone number

Phone number to the contact person.

Address

This is, for example, the name and address of the department and university to which the contact person is affiliated.

Postal code

This is, for example, "SE-106 91".

City

This is, for example, "Stockholm".

Province or state

Country

This is, for example, "Sweden".

Mandatory metadata

Data description

Provide a technical description and information about the dataset and data files. This can include brief information about file types, file sizes, number of files, file content, file structure, etc. Provide all information that is necessary for future users to understand your data.

GCMD science keywords

Choose the most relevant line with keywords in the list, which derives from the Global Change Master Directory. More information at http://gcmd.gsfc.nasa.gov/learn/keywords.html

GCMD location

Choose the most relevant location in the list, which derives from the Global Change Master Directory. More information at http://gcmd.gsfc.nasa.gov/learn/keywords.html

Dataset language

Describes the language used in preparation, storage and description of the data. Usually it is English.

Project

Name and other short information about the research project within which the dataset was developed. Provide information about project funder and grant number whenever relevant.

Optional metadata

Comments

Any additional useful comments. This can e.g. be names, affiliations and roles of persons involved in creating the dataset, or any additional information of relevance to understand the dataset, spatial coverage, why it was created, what it can be used for, instruments or methods used, data quality assessment, etc.

Publisher

Name of the place (organization, database, etc.) where the data is stored, if this is outside the Bolin Centre Database.

Begin date

If the dataset covers a well-defined time period: Enter Begin Date as YYYY-MM-DD.

End date

If the dataset covers a well-defined time period: Enter End Date as YYYY-MM-DD.

Dataset version

The version of the dataset. We recommend version number 1, 2, 3, etc., but e.g. 1.0.0 or 2.3 can be allowed if necessary.

License

We recommend Open Data Commons Attribution License (ODC-By) v1.0. However, you are free to choose any of the listed licenses or any other suitable license.

Use limitations

Default is None but you have the possibility to describe any limitations in the usage of your data.

Desired publication date

The approximate date that you wish to publish the dataset, as YYYY-MM-DD.

Updates

Short text about updates since previous revision.

Basic instructions