DRUM for Data

Using DRUM to Share and Preserve Data

The Digital Repository at the University of Maryland (DRUM) collects, preserves, and provides public access to the scholarly output of the university. Faculty and researchers can upload research products for rapid dissemination, global visibility and impact, and long-term preservation. Depositing data in DRUM can help you satisfy data management and sharing requirements from the NSF, NIH, and other funding agencies and journals. You can also deposit code, documents, images, supplemental material, and other research products. DRUM tracks downloads of your research, and content in DRUM is indexed by Google and Google Scholar. DRUM assigns permanent DOIs for your items, making it easy for other researchers to cite your work.

Librarians are available to provide advice and assistance at any stage of data depositing. Contact lib-research-data@umd.edu in advance for assistance.

Before You Submit

Guidelines and Recommendations

Guidelines

1. DRUM may not be used for deposits totaling more than 15GB. For recommendations about alternative repository options, see our list of recommended data repositories or contact lib-research-data@umd.edu for consultation.
2. Individual files should be less than 2GB. Multiple files may be included with each submission, but for technical reasons the self-submission form will not accept individual files over 2GB. Please contact lib-research-data@umd.edu if you experience issues when uploading files.
3. DRUM will only accept individual files as submissions. You may add multiple files, but if you wish to preserve file hierarchies or directory structures, you should create a zip or tar archive file.
4. Submit data and publications as separate records. This ensures that your data can be cited and discovered appropriately.
5. DRUM cannot accept confidential or sensitive materials (e.g. PII, endangered species, ITAR, etc.). De-identified or otherwise redacted materials are acceptable.
6. Data should be accompanied by a plain text 'readme' file, data dictionary, codebook, or similar metadata document.

Recommendations

1. Submit delimited or fixed-width files for tabular or plain text data (e.g. txt, csv, tab, tsv) when appropriate. Proprietary formats are acceptable, but use your best judgement and follow the practices of your field. If submitting a proprietary format, include a copy of the data in an open format when possible.
2. Use similar titles for both publications and data.
3. When submitting code, include a description of the computing environment in the readme (e.g. language and version, dependencies, operating system, etc.).
4. When submitting supplemental materials associated with an article (including data), please include a citation to the article with your submission. There is a field in the submission form for this information. In the event that you are depositing data prior to submission, you may request to have your submission metadata edited or updated after publication.

Readme Guidelines

Data submissions to DRUM should be accompanied by a readme file that contains, where applicable:

• A file manifest describing file names and contents
• State of the data (raw, cleaned, processed, subset, summary)
• Instruments and software used to create the data
• Processing steps
• Explanation of variables, column headers, value codes, flags, etc.
• Software required to view or use the data
• Licensing and any terms or conditions of use
• Funding source and grant number
• Contact information

Refer to this readme template to get started (adapted from Cornell University's RDM Service Group):

author_dataset_readmetemplate.txt