Finding and Using Data

Finding Data

Without logging in to Dataverse, users can browse Dataverse, search for dataverses, datasets, and files, view dataset descriptions and files for published datasets. To view an unpublished dataverse, dataset, or file, a user will need to be given permission from that dataverse’s administrator to access it.

A user can search within a specific dataverse for the dataverses, datasets, and files it contains by using the search bar and facets displayed on that dataverse’s page.

Basic Search

You can search the entire contents of the Dataverse installation, including dataverses, datasets, and files. You can access the search through the search bar on the homepage, or by clicking “Search” in the header menu of every page. The search bar accepts search terms, queries, or exact phrases (in quotations).

Sorting and Viewing Search Results

Facets: to the left of the search results, there are several facets a user can click on to narrow the number of results displayed.

• Choosing a facet: to choose a facet to narrow your results by, click on that facet.

• Removing a facet: A chosen facet can be removed by clicking on the X on it, either in the facets panel to the left, or above the results.

• Viewing more or fewer facets: Each category in the facets panel lists the top 5 most common facets from that category. To view more, click on “More…” in the bottom right of that category. Once you’ve chosen to see more, an option to view less will appear in the bottom left of the facet.

Result cards: after entering a search term or query, result cards that match your term or query appear underneath the search bar and to the right of the facets.

• Relevancy of results: each result card shows which metadata fields match the search query or term you entered into the search bar, with the matching term or query bolded. If the search term or query was found in the title or name of the dataverse, dataset, or file, the search term or query will be bolded within it.

Other basic search features:

• Sorting results: search results can be sorted by name (A-Z or Z-A), by date (newest or oldest), or by relevancy of results. The sort button can be found above the search results, in the top right.

• Bookmarkable URLs: search URLs can be copied and sent to a fellow researcher, or can be bookmarked for future sessions.

Advanced Search

To perform an advanced search, click the “Advanced Search” link next to the search bar. There you will have the ability to enter search terms for dataverses, dataset metadata (citation and domain-specific), and file-level metadata. If you are searching for tabular data files you can also search at the variable level for name and label. To find out more about what each field searches, hover over the field name for a detailed description of the field.

Browsing Dataverse

In Dataverse, browsing is the default view when a user hasn’t begun a search on the homepage or on a specific dataverse’s page. When browsing, only dataverses and datasets appear in the results list and the results can be sorted by Name (A-Z or Z-A) and by Newest or Oldest.

Saved Search

Saved Search is currently an experimental feature only available to superusers. Please see the Native API section of the API Guide for more information.

Using Data

View Dataverses + Datasets

After performing a search and finding the dataverse or dataset you are looking for, click on the name of the dataverse or dataset or on the thumbnail image to be taken to the page for that dataverse or dataset. Once on a dataverse page, you can view the dataverses, datasets, and files within that dataverse.

Once on a dataset page, you will see the title, citation, description, and several other fields, as well as a button to email the dataset contact and a button to share the dataset on social media. Below that information, the files, metadata, terms of use, and version information for the dataset are available.

View Files

Files in Dataverse each have their own page that can be reached through the search results or through the Files table on their parent dataset’s page. The dataset page and file page offer much the same functionality in terms of viewing and editing files, with a few small exceptions. The file page includes the file’s persistent identifier (DOI or handle), which can be found under the Metadata tab. Also, the file page’s Versions tab gives you a version history that is more focused on the individual file rather than the dataset as a whole.

Cite Data

You can find the citation for the dataset at the top of the dataset page in a blue box. Additionally, there is a Cite Data button that offers the option to download the citation as EndNote XML, RIS Format, or BibTeX Format.

Download Files

Within the Files tab on a dataset page, you can download the files in that dataset. To download more than one file at a time, select the files you would like to download and then click the Download button above the files. The selected files will download in zip format.

You may also download a file from its file page by clicking the Download button in the upper right corner of the page, or by Downloading via URL under the Metadata tab on the lower half of the page.

Tabular data files offer additional options: You can explore using any data exploration or visualization External Tools (if they have been enabled) by clicking the Explore button, or choose from a number of tabular-data-specific download options available as a dropdown under the Download button.

Tabular Data

Ingested files can be downloaded in several different ways.

• The default option is to download a tab-separated-value file which is an easy and free standard to use,

• The original file, which may be in a proprietary format which requires special software,

• Rdata format if the installation has configured this,

• The variable metadata for the file in DDI format,

• A subset of the columns of the data.

Downloading via URL

Dataverse displays a plaintext URL for the location of the file under the Metadata tab on the dataset page. This Download URL can be used to directly access the file via API (or in a web browser, if needed). When downloading larger files, in order to ensure a reliable, resumable download, we recommend using GNU Wget in a command line terminal or using a download manager software of your choice.