A new USC Dataverse will help USC researchers share, preserve, and discover data across a wide range of disciplines. Thanks to a collaboration between the USC Libraries and the USC Center for Advanced Research Computing (CARC), the USC Dataverse will advance open data initiatives and support the full research lifecycle from data creation and analysis to publication and preservation.
The USC Libraries’ Research Data Services team of Andy Rutkowski and Eimmy Solis worked closely with Cesar Sul and other data infrastructure specialists at CARC to launch the USC Dataverse, which provides a secure, standards-based platform for storing datasets, assigning persistent identifiers (Digital Object Identifiers, or DOIs), and facilitating data citation and reuse.
The USC Dataverse is open to all USC-affiliated researchers, faculty, and graduate students. Individual and group datasets can be deposited; shared publicly or restricted to collaborators; and linked to publications, grants, and ORCID profiles. The USC Dataverse gives research groups and departments a dedicated space where they can feature their research and helps in collaborations and project work.
The resource helps USC researchers meet stringent data management requirements outlined by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the 2023 Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Policy. The policy requires NIH-funded researchers to develop robust data management plans that will make their data findable and accessible for analysis and reuse by other researchers.
To help researchers understand these requirements and get started with Dataverse, USC librarians Rutkowski and Solis will offer a workshop titled USC Dataverse: A Guide to Data Curation, Sharing, and Discoverability on Thursday, November 6, from 10 to 11 a.m.
Librarian Hector Escobar of the University of Dayton created a companion USC Dataverse Research Guide in collaboration with Rutkowski, Solis, and Sul as part of a capstone project hosted at USC for the Data Services Continuing Professional Education program. The research guide offers detailed guidance on dataset submission, metadata creation, and compliance with government agency and publisher data-sharing policies. The guide includes best practices for data documentation, file organization, and linking publications to underlying datasets.
The USC Dataverse—and the expertise offered by USC librarians—strengthens the university’s research infrastructure by providing scholars with a sustainable and discoverable home for their research data.
Among the datasets currently available through the USC Dataverse is the Los Angeles County Union Census Tract Data Series created by historian Philip Ethington of USC Dornsife with collaborators AnneMarie Kooistra and Edward DeYoung. Remarkably, this important dataset has never—until now—been made freely accessible through a data portal for researchers to access and use. Another addition is the Official Aviation Guide Dataset acquired through a USC Libraries Dean’s Challenge Grant to help facilitate research at USC using datasets.
The team responsible for launching the USC Dataverse expects to add many more datasets to support the work of USC researchers in the coming academic year. They are planning additional workshops and educational activities to help USC researchers get the most from the new USC Dataverse. Updates will be added to the USC Dataverse Research Guide.
The USC Dataverse is complemented by related resources and expertise at the USC Libraries—including the USC Digital Repository, which offers secure, long-term preservation of data and digital collections, and the USC Digital Library, which is home to university cultural heritage collections. In addition, USC health sciences research and data librarian Dr. Jennifer Dinalo offers in-depth consultations and workshops on many facets of research data management.
