Information Manager Quickstart

A quick start guide for Information Managers new to the EDI Data Repository.

New LTER Information Managers should also check out the LTER Information Manager's Manual.

Sign-up for an EDI Account

An EDI account enables direct upload to the EDI Data Repository and access to advanced features. To get an account, email the EDI Data Curation Team with the subject line "New EDI account request" and brief answers these questions:

  • What data formats do you plan to publish? (e.g. tabular, spatial, other)
  • What is the total approximate volume of data you would like to publish now? (e.g. megabytes, gigabytes, terabytes)
  • What is the expected approximate volume of data you'd like to publish annually? (e.g. megabytes, gigabytes, terabytes)
  • Do you currently document your data with a metadata standard? If so, what standard?​ (e.g. EML, ISO-19115)
  • Briefly describe why you choose EDI and any data management/publishing goals we may be able to help with.

You should receive a response within 24 hours.

Join the communications

Communication channels broadcast noteworthy events and facilitate conversation.

  • Newsletter - Delivered every other month providing updates to EDI services, community discussions, data stories, and opportunities. Subscribe to the newsletter.
  • Twitter - Highlights and engages with posts from the EDI community and beyond. Newsletter articles are rebroadcast here. Visit the EDI Twitter Page.
  • Slack - Great for quick questions and dialogue (contact EDI for an invitation).
  • Office hours - We have canceled our regular Wednesday office hours, but are generally available to meet anytime. Please email us to schedule an appointment.
  • Email - Contact us via email at info@edirepository.org

Resources

The resources for information managers pages provide support to information management tasks occurring throughout the research life cycle and emphasize data curation best practices.

Technologies and sub-projects of EDI are managed within two GitHub organizations. These are open source and community driven projects. Open new issues to report bugs and request features. Contributions are always welcome.

  • PASTAplus - Data repository code and micro services
  • EDIorg - Data curation tools, thematic harmonization projects, best practices, etc.

We recommend checking out the LTER, and NCEAS GitHub organizations for EDI use cases and general inspiration.

  • lter - Projects in this organization support ecological research, coordination, and communication by and related to the LTER Network.
  • NCEAS - National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis

Additionally, see the DataONE GitHub organization for more data management resources and tools. EDI is a member of the DataONE Network so many of the resources provided there pertain to data published in the EDI Data Repository.

  • DataONE - Projects serving the DataONE Network.

Ask questions

Please contact us with your questions, often it's the fastest route to an answer.