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Open science practices at Centria University of Applied Sciences

Storing descriptive information about materials (Metadata)

Descriptive information, or metadata

  • is information that describes, for example, the subject, characteristics, and quantity of the collected material, as well as ownership and usage rights

  • tells where, when, why, and how the material was collected, processed, and stored

  • is an essential part of material reliability and quality control

  • is stored so that it is known what kind of material has been collected in Centria's projects and where it is located.

  • is comparable to a research summary, without which it is difficult for the user to get an overall picture of the content of the research and assess the significance of the information.

  • also helps when referring to the material.

What kind of material is described?

As a rule, all material collected in projects is described, for example

  • survey and interview material
  • material from various workshops and living labs
  • text material
  • various measurement, test, and modeling material
  • image and sound recordings (demos, videos, animations)
  • feedback materials

Where is the descriptive information stored?

The project manager ensures that the descriptive information collected during the project is stored appropriately.

  • If you want to give the material wider visibility, you can use the Qvain service, for example. Materials described using the Qvain service can be searched for in Etsin, which is a search service for research materials. Qvain and Etsin are included in the Fairdata service package produced by CSC. This also gives the material a permanent identifier. 
    • Go to the Qvain presentation page.
    • Go to Etsin
  • From the perspective of openness, it is important that the descriptive information about the data is publicly available, even if the data itself is not freely downloadable. The descriptive information should also have a permanent identifier.

Saving description data in Qvain

The following format and instructions for using Qvain should be followed when describing materials.

To start a new material, click "Create material" on the Qvain material listing page.

Entering Qvain description data

Name of material     Give the material a name that describes it as accurately as possible. You can enter the name in either Finnish or English, but at least one of the two must be entered.
Description of the material Describe the content of the material as informatively as possible. The description should explain what material has been collected, how it was collected, and how much there is. The aim is to give the reader a good idea of what kind of material is involved.
Other identifiers    

If the material has a permanent identifier (e.g., DOI), enter it here. It will appear as a link in the Search. Note Qvain automatically generates a permanent identifier for your material. Only enter the identifier here if your material already has an identifier that was generated elsewhere. 
Method of data collection     Select the method of data collection from the available options. If you select "Other," please specify your answer.
Keywords Describe the content of your material using keywords (3–5).  
Select keywords from the General Finnish Thesaurus https://finto.fi/ysa/fi/
If necessary, you can also use other words if you cannot find a suitable one in the thesaurus.
Language    Select the language of the material
Start date of data collection     Enter the date when data collection began.
End date of data collection     Enter the date on which data collection ended.

Location of the material
 		 Select the archive where your material is stored. If you selected Other, please specify your answer. Provide the name of the archive or use, for example, the phrase "In the possession of the researcher."
Owner     Who owns the data? The owner is the person or organization that decides how the data is used. If the data has been collected in a publicly funded project, the owner is often an organization. In joint projects, ownership is usually specified in the cooperation agreement.
License    

The recommended license for open data is Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0). This means that the data can be freely used and further processed without compensation. The only requirement is that the source of the data is mentioned. If you wish, you can also choose another license. Instructions for choosing a license can be found on the Creative Commons website: https://creativecommons.fi/
More information about usage rights     Select whether the material is freely available or requires permission to use.
Citation guidelines  Citation guidelines define how subsequent users of the material should cite your material. Citations should be made according to the following basic template: Author, A. (organization). (Date). Name of material [Type of material]. Availability information. Example: Viitasaari, J. (Arene ry) & Päällysaho, S. (Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences) (2016) RDI environments and infrastructures at universities of applied sciences [electronic data]. Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences [distributor].
Fields of science     Select the field of science for your data (Statistics Finland Field of Science 2010 classification)
Publish on the Internet  You can save incomplete description data as a draft, allowing you to continue saving data later or publish the material by pressing the "Publish Material" button.
Permanent identifier    Your material will be assigned a permanent identifier when you save its descriptive data in the national Qvaim service maintained by CSC. Publishing descriptive data in Qvain does not require opening the actual data. A permanent identifier can also be obtained by storing the data in a data archive, such as Tietoarkisto or Zenodo.
People involved in the data From the drop-down menu, select the people who were directly involved in collecting, analyzing, publishing, etc. the data. After making your selection, click the "Add" button.
Material projects Select the projects related to the material from the drop-down menu. After making your selection, click the "Add" button.

EDITING DESCRIPTIONS
You can edit published metadata.

IMPORTANT! Be careful when editing FILES in already published material. If you add, delete, or edit files, you will create a new version of your description. The new version will receive a new permanent identifier.

If you have published material without files, you can add IDA files to it once. After this, each change to the files will create a new version of the material.