Before depositing

The following aspects should be considered before you deposit your data.

Terms of Use 

When you create an account for the Data Stations, you agree to be bound by the Terms of Use. These terms of use apply to the general use of the Data Stations, such as requesting and downloading datasets, and to depositing datasets.

Personal data

Personal data within the meaning of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is data by which a living person can be identified, either directly or indirectly. Examples include names, identification numbers, location data, online identifiers, or elements that are characteristic of a person’s physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity. Anonymous data is not considered personal data. Pseudonymized data, however, is considered personal data.

When you deposit personal data in the Data Stations:

  • You, or your organisation, are a data controller and DANS is a data processor. You agree to be bound by the processing addendum by accepting the Terms of Use. This does not apply if your dataset(s) only contain(s) personal data to account for the dataset(s) such as the maker, rights holder or citations.
  • As a data controller under the GDPR, you or your organisation are responsible for the correct processing of personal data in your data set. This includes anonymising and minimising personal data, and the pseudonymisation and/or encrypting of personal data. It is important that you store the key securely and permanently elsewhere.
  •  You may need  to archive files containing  personal data as restricted files. This way, you can manage who accesses these files and you have the possibility to impose appropriate conditions for reuse. As data controller you are solely responsible for appropriate access and reuse restrictions.

File formats

Not all file formats ensure long-term usability, accessibility and preservation of data. DANS works with preferred formats. For more information, see the File formats page. For the purpose of sustainable archiving, DANS may convert non-preferred formats to preferred formats and publish a curated version of your dataset as a new version.

Preparing documentation and files

  • Which files are you going to deposit? Not all data needs to be preserved for the long term. More information can be found on the webpage ‘Selecting research data’ on the Research Data Netherlands website.
  • Provide the relevant documentation: how were the data collected and what is the meaning of variables, abbreviations and terminology? Relevant information includes codebooks and the dataset structure.
  • Are there many files in your dataset? If you deliver many files at once, please provide a file list, i.e. a list of file names, descriptions of the content and of any connections between the files.
  • Does your dataset include personal data? Please make sure that file names do not include personal data that should not be publicly available. This is because file names can be viewed by anyone. 

Discipline-specific deposit requirements 

Specific deposit requirements apply to the following disciplines:

  • Historical sciences:
    • Describe the (archival) sources.
    • Describe the selection procedure used.
    • Describe the way in which the sources were used.
    • Refer to the standards or classification systems (such as HISCO) which were applied.
  • Oral history and audiovisual sources:
    • A transcription with metadata of the interview is highly desirable with a view to reusing the data. Together with the University of Amsterdam, DANS has developed a Metadata Transcription Template that you can use for this purpose.
  • Social and behavioural sciences:
    • Describe the variable labels and value labels.
    • Describe the questionnaires and/or other research tools.
    • Include the fieldwork report (if available).
    • Include a codebook: a description of variables and information about population, types of data (units of observation/analysis), sample procedure, response/non-response, data collection method, weighting variables, constructed and/or derived variables.
    • Ensure that the language of the variable labels and value labels correspond to the language of the rest of the dataset. 
  • Language and literature studies:
  • Archaeology:
    • Would you like to know more about the E-depot for Dutch Archaeology? Please visit this page.
    • Projects that have been described using the archaeological exchange protocol (SIKB0102 standard) must be submitted via the ArcheoDepot. The dataset files deposited with the provinces must be supplied in Preferred Formats.
    • Via the ArchaeoDepot, datasets are automatically sent from the provincial depot to the DANS archive.
    • During the startup phase of the ArcheoDepot, datasets can still be deposited directly at DANS if the province is not yet connected to the ArcheoDepot.
    • With extensive data sets, users must be able to gain a thorough understanding of the contents of the various files. The Archaeological Metadata manual (in Dutch) will assist in preparing the required documentation.
    • Be aware if your data includes contact details of field staff or other parties involved, such as in the overview of personnel in planning documentation or in the administrative data of the final report. Refer to the Personal data section above if personal contact details are included.

General research practice information

Rate information

More information can be found on this page.

 

© DANS R.5.2 Version 1.2, May 1, 2023