The new SoDaNet data catalogue: configuration, optimisation and extension of Dataverse functions for the needs of Sodanet repositories.

The data catalog that the SoDaNet research infrastructure used until recently to maintain and disseminate research data was the commercial software Nesstar. Nesstar managed datasets with variables, as well as questions from which the variables originated, and supported online variable analyses and geographic visualizations. Despite the effective management of variables, Nesstar faced significant issues with user management, file management, survey search functionality, multilingual support, and the assignment of permanent identifiers, which made key functions of a repository problematic.

The concerns regarding the functionality of Nesstar, as well as the fact that the NSD (Norwegian Data Archive) stopped supporting the software, led SoDaNet to search for reliable alternatives. The solution it chose was Dataverse, an open-source software developed by the Institute for Quantitative Social Science at Harvard University and global collaborators. Strong features of Dataverse include effective user and file management, areas where Nesstar had shortcomings. On the other hand, Dataverse lacks features that were strong points of Nesstar. It can "understand" objects such as the Dataset and File, which correspond to the "Study Description" and "Other Study Material" of DDI, but it does not "understand" entities such as variables and questions.