Workflows in the RDMS

In addition to archiving data and sharing it with others via a Home Drive or a Team Drive, you can also freeze a dataset (for example, one used in a publication) and, if desired, publish its metadata. To achieve this, the RDMS offers specific, clearly defined workflows. The available workflows used in the RDMS are:

  • Project Participation Request: Use this workflow to request participation in an existing project.
  • Archiving: Use this workflow once a project is complete and you wish to freeze a dataset by creating a data package. In the RDMS, this is referred to as an Archive.
  • Publication: This workflow follows Archiving and allows the publication of metadata describing your dataset. It is currently under development and not available to users.

Note: Creating a RDMS Project is the first step if you need to generate a data package (archive) from your dataset. Projects are intended for storing datasets that are planned for publication. Datasets associated with outputs such as articles, posters, book chapters, theses, conference proceedings, or software should be stored here.

The figure below shows the default overview of the workflows page as well where to find the workflows in the web interface. In the default view, the workflow page will show all projects to which you have access.

Under the “Projects” drop-down menu in the side menu, you can see all the projects that you are member of. Click on a project name to open its workflow pages. Currently two tabs available (see next two screenshots):

  • The first tab lists the status of the archiving workflows that were initiated for the selected project.
  • The second tab displays the status of project participation request for the selected project.

The cogwheel button in the top-right corner allows you to perform workflow-specific actions, provided you have the appropriate permissions. More details on these actions can be found on the corresponding workflow documentation pages.

Note: Instead of selecting a RDMS Project and then switching between the workflow tabs, you can also click on “Archiving” or “Requests” in the left side menu. This will provide you with an overview about all available archiving and project participation workflows, independently of a specific project.