Detailed description of the service 

The Data Collections Explorer is an easy-to-use information system for the engineering community. It is a low threshold information that provides an overview of research data repositories, archives, databases, as well as datasets published individually by research groups.

Due to its low barrier of entry, the Data Collections Explorer facilitates easy sharing and discovering of repositories as well as datasets. Furthermore, scientists can get a quick overview of the most important facts about services and datasets, such as access rights and usage restrictions. Typical use cases include the following scenarios:

– Scientists searching for data sets: are there data sets available to aid in my research? Are there benchmarks available to check my results? Are these data sets available under an open access license? Are there usage or access restrictions?

– Scientists aiming to publish datasets: among community-specific repositories, which ones are suitable to publish my research data? Do repositories restrict the size of the datasets that can be uploaded, and if so, what are the limits? Is there any publication fee charged and if so, how much is it?

To answer these questions, the Data Collections Explorer provides a tabular overview with a free text search and filters for type of service, subject area, and license. Wherever appropriate and available, information on data size limits and publishing fees are given. Updates to the content are mostly initiated by scientist, therefore ensuring the service fits their needs.

Individual datasets, i.e. from the engineering sciences, are listed only if they are published outside the established infrastructure. Other services, such as repositories, databases, and archives, are listed irrespective of whether the operator is an individual, a community or a legal entity.

In addition, all information can be queried via SPARQL, which allows machine accessibility and enables integration with other RDM projects.