General introduction
Hi there! In this video, I’ll walk you through the key features of Fairdata IDA.
If you’re working with research data and need a repository to store and publish it, IDA is here to help. Once you’ve uploaded your files in IDA, you’ll need to freeze them in IDA and describe and publish them using the Qvain tool. In this video I’ll briefly explain how this is done.
You can choose to publish the dataset openly so that anyone can download it, or you can restrict access. The data owner, which might be for example you or your organization, decides how the data can be shared and under what conditions it can be used.
When you publish a dataset, it gets its own landing page in the Etsin service, along with a persistent identifier, either a DOI or a URN. That makes the dataset easy to find, reuse, and cite. You can also find published datasets through the Research.fi portal.
You can use IDA through the command line tool also, but we won’t go into that here. If you’re interested, you’ll find separate video guides at fairdata.fi.
Getting started and logging in
Let’s start by looking at how you can get access IDA.
To begin, you’ll need to register a CSC user account, create a CSC project, and request the amount of storage space you need. You can do all of this yourself through the MyCSC portal at my.csc.fi. Once you’ve submitted your IDA application, your home organization, a Finnish higher education institution or a state research institute, will review it.
Your CSC project can also include other members from different organizations, also from outside Finland.
Uploading data to the service
Now, let’s move on to uploading data.
You’ll find the IDA web interface at ida.fairdata.fi. You can log in using Haka, Virtu, or your CSC credentials. After logging in, you’ll see two folders named after your CSC project. One is for uploading and organizing data, and the other is a write-protected area where the data is stored in a frozen state.
You always upload data to the folder whose name ends with a plus sign. This is called the staging area. It’s where you bring in your data and where you can still organize or rename files before freezing them.
To add data, open the staging area. Then either use the “New” menu at the top, or just drag and drop files straight from your computer into the browser window. You can also upload entire folders. Make sure you organize the files in clearly, and use unique, descriptive filenames.
Freezing data
Once your data is ready to be stored in the service and you wish to publish it, it’s time to freeze it.
To do that, click the three dots next to the file or folder and choose “Freeze” from the menu. When you freeze data, it moves to another folder. It moves to the folder that has the same name as your CSC project, but without the plus sign. That’s the frozen area.
IDA takes care of the frozen data. It creates a copy of the data on a separate storage medium and calculates checksums to make sure the files stay intact and safe over time. The freezing process can take a while, depending on how much data you’ve frozen. You can follow the progress in the “Actions” tab at the top of the page.
Temporary shares
Note that if you need to, you can also share files temporarily outside the service, for example, for peer review. The sharing link you create is always valid for a limited time, and it’s meant for temporary and informal use only.
Publishing data
Once the data is frozen, you can describe and publish it using the Qvain tool. After publishing, the dataset gets a persistent identifier and a landing page in the Etsin service.
As I mentioned before, you can choose to publish the data openly, restrict access for example with an embargo, or just publish the metadata — whatever fits your needs.
And that’s it!
To learn more about publishing research data, check out the video called Publishing research data with the Qvain Tool. You’ll also find more guides at fairdata.fi.
Thanks for watching and good luck with your data!