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User Guide

TUdatalib guidelines for users

Status: 14.05.2025

licensed under CC0 1.0, no copyright protection.

Scope

This guideline is primarily intended for users of TU Darmstadt. Partner universities that also use this system may have different rules. Find more about those here: Contact

1. About this guide

The following instructions are aimed at TUdatalib users and provide an overview of the functions and processes. Alternatively, you can find further information in our FAQs or, if you are the administrator of a department, in the TUdatalib administrator guide.

For questions or suggestions we are always at your disposal.

2. Registration

  • Open TUdatalib and select “Log In” at the top right corner of the screen.
  • Select Login via TU-ID if you are a member or affiliate of TU Darmstadt. The first time you log in this way, you will be automatically registered in the system.
    • In this case, you will automatically be assigned and receive access rights to the community of your work group
  • If you do not have a TU-ID, you can register with an external e-mail address. In that case you will be granted access by one of the communities' administrators.
    • To do this, enter "New user? Click here to register." Enter your e-mail address. You will receive a verification link by e-mail shortly.
    • Follow the verification link and enter your contact details and a secure password. You can now log in to TUdatalib.

In TUdatalib, all individual data and metadata are assigned to a collection, which in turn is assigned to a community. Administrators manage the communities and collections by community and administer the individual files if necessary. They assign roles and rights to users so that they can read unpublished collections, submit files and review submissions from other people. To upload files, you therefore usually need the required rights for a community or collection, which are assigned to you by the TUdatalib Admin appointed by your community. If you do not know who is responsible for you or your community, please contact us.

External users can register with their e-mail address and must be activated by a department administrator.

Users who are not registered can only access freely available datasets.

3. System times / Maintenance window

Every Tuesday from 06:30 to 08:30, TUdatalib may be unavailable due to maintenance.

4. Workflows on the TUdatalib web interface

4.1 Creating and describing datasets

To add datasets to your collection, you can proceed as follows:

  • Navigate to your "Workspace" via the button at the top right of the start page and either use the drag-and-drop function or click on "Browse" to select your file in the file explorer. Then select the collection to which you want to add data.

4.2 Naming of datasets

It is advisable to choose self-explanatory names for the data files, which are understandable for people mot directly involved, as well as to avoid special characters.

4.3 Metadata assignment

When uploading your research data as a dataset, various metadata fields are queried. The mandatory fields are marked with a * (see table). The main purpose of the descriptive metadata is to make datasets easier to find and to convey an understanding of their content.

All information on a dataset - with the exception of authorizations - should be mapped via the metadata in order to ensure optimal visibility and reusability of the data. This also applies, for example, to the assignment to (third-party funded) projects or the link to other resources and publications.

Metadata field Description Input type Field repeatable
Title* Name for the entire data set Free text ✔
Persons involved* Persons responsible for a dataset

We recommend using ORCID to identify persons, see: www.ulb.tu-darmstadt.de/orcid

By clicking on "Search", the name can be searched for in the ORCID registry and among authors already known in TUdatalib and then inserted into TUdatalib.		 Free text lookup in ORCID registry ✔
Creation date* Date on which the dataset was created. The year must be specified; the month and day do not need to be specified. Spin box ✘
Linked resources Relationship to and unique identifier of any linked resources (e.g. a journal article based on the stored data) Relationship type/identifier type: Drop-down menu Identifier/ID field: Free text ✔
Types* Specification of the type of data set Checkboxes ✔
Language Primary language of the data set, if applicable Checkboxes ✘
Keywords Free keywords to describe the content of the dataset. Due to international reusability, it is recommended to use English keywords only. Free text ✔
DFG subjects* Assignment of the dataset to the DFG subject classification system drop-down menu ✔
Description* Free short description of the dataset ("ReadMe") Free text ✘
Version description Version name of the data set Free text ✘
Third-party funded project Assignment to third-party funded projects at TU Darmstadt. Selection by lookup button from a list of entered projects possible. drop-down menu ✔

The "Project" metadata field enables a standardized selection of third-party funded projects to be assigned to the dataset. This is called up by clicking on "Third-party funded project".

You can search for projects in the lookup list using the search bar. It contains around 6000 third-party funded projects from recent years. Due to the fact that the quality of the entries in the list still needs to be improved, it is best to search by the funding code, or alternatively by the funding body or acronym / title of a project.

The metadata fields mentioned are only minimal. TUdatalib therefore allows you to add (almost) any additional metadata fields for your subject-specific context (i.e. your field or collection) - please contact us! This is the only way to enable a targeted search for data based on subject-specific parameters.

4.4 Research data documentation

In addition to the descriptive metadata, we recommend uploading research documentation in the form of a *.txt file. Such documentation should help third parties to interpret your data as clearly as possible.

4.5 Assignment of additional access authorizations

A dataset initially inherits the authorization groups of the collection in which it is located. In the input form for a dataset, however, you can also define by yourself whether and which access authorizations should be assigned for the dataset. You can choose out of 4 different options for this. Select "Open Access" if the dataset should be freely available on the internet. You also have the option of making a dataset accessible only to administrators or restricting access only to the files - not to the metadata.

4.6 Uploading files

You can upload your files to the dataset using the drag-and-drop field or the browse option both before and after you have entered all the details.

4.7 File formats

TUdatalib is not limited in the selection of file formats. However, there is generally no guarantee that certain formats will still be readable after many years. It is therefore advised to convert your files to one of the recommended formats before uploading, if possible. Recommended formats for long-term archiving and information on possible conversions can be found here: https://www.forschungsdaten.info/themen/bewahren-und-nachnutzen/formate-erhalten/. The TUdata team will also be happy to advise you.

In general, you should not upload your files in a container format (zip. or similar), as this makes long-term archiving and indexing much more difficult. Container formats are only recommended if you want to maintain a folder structure for your data or attach a large number of files to the data set. If you use container formats, please refrain from compressing the data.

4.8 File size limit

With a stable Internet connection from within the TU network, files in the range of 50–100 GB can be transferred via the web interface. Large files or many individual files can also be uploaded via the REST interface of TUdatalib. Sample code in the form of a Python script is available for use. Please contact us if you would like to use this. We also offer the option of attaching large files to the dataset afterwards using a form.

4.9 Licensing

A license regulates the rights with which third parties may use your research data if you publish it. The input form contains a list of different licenses with links to explain the individual licenses. Decide which rights of use you wish to grant and select the appropriate license from the list provided. If your desired license is not in the list, you can enter it in the free text field at the end. Please also enter a URL where the license can be found.

4.10 Testing and archiving

At the start of the upload process, you must accept the User agreement in order to be able to upload a dataset to TUdatalib. If there is no group for the reviewer role for the collection, the datasets are now immediately visible to all authorized users in the collection without any further checks.

TUdatalib allows data to be curated by a reviewer before it is finally archived if the collection is assigned to a group in the reviewer category. The procedure is then as follows:

  1. a submitter adds a dataset to a collection.
  2. the archived dataset initially remains invisible to authorized users and can no longer be changed until it is approved by a reviewer.
  3. the responsible reviewers are informed of the new dataset by email and can decide to accept (or reject) the dataset and edit the metadata if necessary.
  4. all submitted datasets will only be visible to authorized users after approval by a reviewer.

To activate this workflow for a collection, an administrator must assign a group to the reviewer category in the "Assign roles" sub-item in the "Edit collection" section. All members of this group can then complete the curation step before final archiving.

Once the submission has been approved, the dataset is archived in TUdatalib and assigned a unique and persistent identifier that can be read in the URL (example: https://tudatalib.ulb.tu-darmstadt.de/handle/tudatalib/1969). The identifier can be used to reference the dataset uniquely and permanently with its URL.

Attention

If you are one of the reviewers of a collection, you must accept all incoming datasets - including your own - before they can be finally published. The open datasets that can be reviewed can be found in your workspace under "All tasks".

4.11 Adding large files

The TUdatalib interfaces generally allow very large files to be uploaded. However, technical problems may arise in individual cases. For this reason, we offer a form to attach larger files that are provided to us via the Internet to TUdatalib datasets after archiving. This service works via a link on the respective landing page of the dataset.

Typically, the procedure would be as follows:

  1. create the dataset on the TUdatalib Website with a small (dummy) file. The dataset must be stored in TUdatalib so that we can attach large files as described below; a dataset in process is not sufficient.
  2. upload the large file(s) to an Internet address that is accessible to us. We recommend the service GigaMove for files up to 100 GB.
  3. open the form for uploading large files via the landing page of the data set. To do this, click on the letter symbol on the right side of the page. There you enter the Internet addresses (URLs) from the previous step, as well as your e-mail address.
  4. we will add the files to the data set and then contact you as confirmation, or if there are any questions from our side.
  5. delete the dummy file if you do not want it to be included in the final data set.

When using package files such as .zip, please use only letters, numbers and underscores in the file name.

If this form is not a suitable way to transfer your large files to TUdatalib, please contact us so that we can discuss alternative options.

4.12 Versioning

Versioning of datasets is possible, i.e. a new, slightly modified dataset (e.g. small changes in the actual files) replaces a previous dataset. The metadata does not have to be re-entered for the new dataset. For this step, you can select the "Create a new version of this dataset" button at the top right of the landing page for the dataset.

After versioning, the old dataset can no longer be found via the search bar in TUdatalib, but remains directly accessible via URL or DOI (Digital Object Identifier). A reference to the newer version is displayed.

Versioning instead of modification is the method of choice for all datasets provided with a DOI in order to ensure the traceability of the data.

4.13 Adding a preview image (thumbnail)

Thumbnails are usually generated automatically, e.g. when you upload a pdf. However, this is not possible for all file types. If manual changes to the Thumbnail are necessary, please contact the TUdatalib admin of your working group.

5. Visibility of published datasets

Datasets published in TUdatalib, especially those with DOI, are made visible in many places on the web, e.g:

6. Personal data

Your research data must not contain any personal data. If necessary, the data must be anonymized. If you have any questions, please also contact the TU Ethics Committee: https://www.intern.tu-darmstadt.de/gremien/ethikkommisson/index.de.jsp.

7. External review

TUdatalib offers options for releasing otherwise blocked datasets for individual people without the need for a personal account in the system. These are explained in more detail in the Admin guide. If you need help with this, please contact your local administrator.

8. Contact

If you have further questions or inquiries, please check out the Contact page to get it touch with the TUdatalib Team.