The Dataverse is an open source

web application A web application (or web app) is application software that is accessed using a web browser. Web applications are delivered on the World Wide Web to users with an active network connection. History In earlier computing models like client-serv ...

to share, preserve, cite, explore and analyze research data. Researchers, data authors, publishers, data distributors, and affiliated institutions all receive appropriate credit via a data citation with a persistent identifier (e.g., DOI, or

handle A handle is a part of, or attachment to, an object that allows it to be grasped and manipulated by hand. The design of each type of handle involves substantial ergonomic issues, even where these are dealt with intuitively or by following tr ...

). A Dataverse repository hosts multiple dataverses. Each dataverse contains dataset(s) or other dataverses, and each dataset contains descriptive metadata and data files (including documentation and code that accompany the data). In 2019, Dataverse won the Duke's Choice Award for university and higher education.

Background

The Dataverse Project is housed and developed by the Dataverse Team at the Institute for Quantitative Social Science (IQSS) at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

. Coding of the Dataverse (previously known as Dataverse Network) software began in 2006 under the leadership of Mercè Crosas and Gary King. The earlier Virtual Data Center (VDC) project, which spanned 1999-2006, was organized by

Micah Altman Micah Altman (born August 31, 1967) is an American social scientist who conducts research in social science informatics. Since 2012, he has worked as the head research scientist in the MIT Libraries, first as director of the Program on Informati ...

, Gary King, and

Sidney Verba Sidney Verba (May 26, 1932 – March 4, 2019) was an American political scientist, librarian and library administrator. His academic interests were mainly American and comparative politics. He was the Carl H. Pforzheimer University Professor at ...

as a collaboration between the Harvard-MIT Data Center (now part of IQSS) and the

Harvard University Library Harvard Library is the umbrella organization for Harvard University's libraries and services. It is the oldest library system in the United States and both the largest academic library and largest private library in the world. Its collection ...

. Precursors to the VDC date to 1987, comprising such entities as a stand-alone software guide to local data, preweb software, and tools to transfer cataloging information by FTP to other sites across campus automatically at designated times.

Installations

Harvard Dataverse

A collaboration with the Institute for Quantitative Social Science (IQSS), the Harvard Library, and Harvard University Information Technology (HUIT): the Harvard Dataverse is a repository for sharing, citing, analyzing, and preserving research data. It is open to all scientific data from all disciplines worldwide.

Dataverse in Europe

Dataverse is also installed in the countries of the European Union to preserve data collected by research communities of Netherlands, Germany, France and Finland. The largest Dataverse repository is called DataverseNL and located in the Netherlands providing data management services for 11 Dutch Universities. A similar service is being developed in Norway (cf. DataverseNO).

Dataverse installations around the world

There are several other Dataverse repositories installed in Universities and organizations around the world. Here is a list of some Dataverse repositories: *The Austrian Social Science Data Archiv
(AUSSDA)
*Odum Institute * Dutch Universities
dataverse.nl
operated b
DANS
*

Fudan University Fudan University () is a national public research university in Shanghai, China. Fudan is a member of the C9 League, Project 985, Project 211, and the Double First Class University identified by the Ministry of Education of China. It is als ...

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a Public university, public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexande ...

Libraries *Department of Cross Cultural and Regional Studies,

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia after Uppsala Unive ...

(ToRS) *ABACUS - British Columbia Research Libraries' Data Services *Scholars Portal -

Ontario Council of University Libraries The Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL) is an academic library consortium of Ontario’s 21 university libraries located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Formed in 1967, OCUL member institutions work together to maximize the expertise and r ...

(OCUL) *HeiDATA -

Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, B ...

*DataverseNO (Norwegian universities) *CIRAD Dataverse (France) *DataSuds (France) *Th
Australian Data Archive

APIs and interoperability

The Dataverse currently has multiple open APIs available, which allow for searching, depositing and accessing data.

Alternatives and similar projects

DSpace is often compared with Dataverse and is used for storing scientific data. CKAN provides similar functions and is widely used for open data.

References

External links

The Dataverse ProjectThe Harvard DataverseThe DataverseNL Data Repository (Netherlands)DataverseNO - Dataverse Network NorwayMap of Dataverse repositories around the world
{{Authority control Harvard Library Open science Open data Open-access archives Open access (publishing) Academic publishing Data publishing Scholarly communication