DataCite
Description
The DataCite Consortium provides three services to support efforts at increasing the ease and prevalence of data citation:
* the Metadata Store * the Metadata Search * the OAI Provider.
DataCite works with data centres to assign persistent identifiers to datasets using the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) infrastructure. It also attempts to establish easier access to research data on the Internet by exposing and providing a search interface for all metadata attached to datasets that have been identified using the service and registered with the Metadata Store.
Provider
The DataCite Consortium, which has as its current Managing Agent the German National Library of Science and Technology, TIB.
Licensing and cost
The APIs are licensed under Apache 2.0, and are free.
Development Activity
The service is currently running. The Metadata Schema 2.2 was released in July 2011. DataCite is a not-for-profit organisation; no information is available about its funding streams.
Platform and interoperability
All three service APIs require a servlet container such as tomcat, as well as Maven 2.2.1 and JDK 6. The Search API is based on Solr/Lucene. For the Metadata Store API, the user should have PosgreSQL 8.4 and Roo 1.1 installed. MDS uses Handle System Java API to make calls to the Handle Service, and so necessitates the Handle API client jar.
Functional notes
Repositories wishing to mint DOIs using the DataCite Metadata Store must first register an account with a member of the Consortium. They will then be given access to the APIs that underlie all three DataCite services. These APIs must be integrated into a repository’s existing workflows; for example, DataCite recommends that the Metadata Store API be integrated into a repository’s existing metadata management infrastructure.
Documentation and user support
Technical documentation exists for the Metadata Store API, which describes its installation and configuration. The project has an extensive support infrastructure, starting with a contact form on the main site, as well as email address listings for technical and membership questions. DataCite sends a regular newsletter through its mailing list, and has also organised a developers google group.
Usability
As DataCite services are API-based, the end-user experience is dependent on the interfaces that the system administrator has developed to integrate with the APIs.
Expertise required
Integration requires deep system administration knowledge, as well application programming experience and familiarity with the HTTP protocol.
Standards compliance
DataCite has created its own metadata schema; the standards underlying this schema are not advertised. The Metadata Store uses the Handle system to create DOIs, and uses the OAI-PMH standard to expose its metadata. All APIs are RESTful, and use the HTTPS standard.
Influence and take-up
The DataCite Consortium has over 20 Members and Associate Members, located in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. A listing is found at http://www.datacite.org/members. Information about wider use is unavailable.
User Experiences
Development Activity