Adding datasets to SD Apply

Access to data that are stored at CSC and published under controlled access are managed by the data controller or their representatives in the SD Apply service. To enable reuse of datasets stored in Finnish Federated EGA (FEGA) you need to add the datasets your organisation offers to the catalogue in SD Apply. Please note, when you use SD Apply to manage access to datasets stored in FEGA, your organization needs to have a service agreement with CSC in place. Read more about FEGA legal agreements.

Before you start adding information in SD Apply, we recommend discussing inside your organization about the possibility of forming a general Data Access Committee (DAC) that manages access to all datasets your organization is the data controller of.

As a data controller in SD Apply, you are responsible for:

Adding your datasets to catalogue in SD Apply together with an application form and policies
Designating representatives (a data access committee) who manage the data access requests to your organization’s datasets.

Adding datasets to SD Apply for the first time is made in close collaboration with CSC Service Desk as the process can be a bit complex. Please reserve time for the process and prepare to discuss with your legal team about the agreements needed for data reuse. Below are general instructions to guide you through the process.

How to add a dataset to catalogue in SD Apply

Before you can add information to SD Apply, CSC service desk needs to create an organization profile and set you as the organization administrator. Request profile creation by sending an email to servicedesk@csc.fi with the subject heading SD services.

Log in to SD Apply service.
Inform the service desk that you have logged in. Service desk will add you to right organization.
The service desk will inform you when you can start adding datasets to SD Apply.

Note

Always use the same identity provider when you log in to SD Apply because your role and datasets you manage are connected to your login identity. (i.e. always use only Haka/Virtu login or the CSC login).

When you add a dataset to catalogue in SD Apply, you have to create:

Form: Define the information applicants need to provide when they apply for access to your data in SD Apply.
Licences: Set terms of use, agreements and policies for the data use that the applicants need to accept when they fill in the application form. Licenses are shown as part of the application form.
Workflow: Designate a Data Access Committee who will manage the data access requests in SD Apply. DAC works as a representative for the Data Controller.
Resource: a technical identifier for the data set, for example DOI.

And combine these items together by creating a catalogue item.

When you have created these items once, you can reuse them and form new catalogue items by combining different items.

Note

You have to create all the other items before creating a catalogue item.

1. Create an application form

In the application form, the data controller specifies the information that the applicant needs to provide to get access to the data.

Log in to SD Apply and navigate to Administration > Forms.
Select Create form.
Give the form a descriptive name. The name will show in the form list view to help you find it but it is not shown to the applicant.
Give the form a title. This is shown to the applicant.
Add the fields you want to have in the application. The preview on the right side shows how an applicant would see the application form. The form field options are explained in more detail below.
Select Save when you are finished with the form.

Note

You can only edit the form as long as it has not been connected to a catalogue item.

It's recommended to include the parts of the agreements that need to be filled in, directly in the application form in SD Apply. The rest of the agreement content can be provided as a PDF attachment and added as license in SD Apply, allowing applicants to review and accept the terms electronically when requesting access to the dataset. This way, applicants can complete the necessary sections within SD Apply and accept the terms of use without needing to manually sign documents. Please discuss with your organization's legal team about this possibility.

Form fields explained

Application title: Use this field if you want the applicants to provide a name for their application.
Option list: Use option list if you want the applicant to choose one of the given options. ID-code is the identifier for the option. It is shown, for example in the reports, but the applicant will only see the label fields. For example: You can put “Y” as an ID-code for Yes-option and “N” for No-option.
Multi-select list: Use a multi-select list if you want the applicant to choose one or more of the given options.
Table: Provide a set of columns for the table. The applicant can add as many rows as they wish. All columns are required for each row. You can require the applicant to fill in at least one row.
Email address: Email address field will validate the email the applicant has provided.
Attachment: Applicant can add one or multiple attachments.
Label: Use labels as descriptive texts if you want to give the applicant additional information, such as instructions, regarding some field.
Header: Consider using headers if you want to divide the application form into sections.
Phone number: A phone number in an international format (E.164), e.g. +14155552671.
IP address: IP address field will validate the IP address the applicant has provided in IPv4 or IPv6 forms. IP address must not be within the known private range.

Creating conditional fields

If needed, you can create fields that are hidden or shown to the applicant depending on their answers.

For example, you can create an option list “Do you want to add attachments?” Yes - No. If the applicant chooses “Yes” the attachment field is shown to the applicant. If they choose “No” they will not see the attachment field.

Note

Conditional fields only work with Option list and Multiselect fields.

Create an Option list and fill in the options
Create another field of any field type.
In the field you just created, select Additional settings>Visible>Only if
Field: Locate the Option list you created earlier from the drop-down list
Has one of the values: Select when you want the list to be shown. In this example, Field 2 "Add one or multiple attachments" is shown if the applicant chooses the "Yes" option in Field 1, "Do you want to add attachments?".

You can test how the fields work in the Preview section on the right of the page.

2. Create a license

Licenses define the agreements and terms of use that the applicant has to accept to be able to use the data. Licenses are shown as part of the application form and every research group member who applies for access has to accept the licenses before they are able to access the data.

You can create three types of licenses:

External link: Provide a link to an external page with terms of use. Use links, for example, when you want to license your resources using standardised licenses, such as Creative Commons.
Inline text: Write the terms of use in the application form. The applicant will see it as normal text in the application form.
Attachment: Upload a file that the applicant can download and accept when they fill in the application form. We recommend using PDF-format. We recommend drafting the license attachments in the way that allows the applicant to agree to them by accepting the terms of use electronically in SD Apply.

Licences are optional. You cannot edit the license after you have created and saved it.

Create a workflow (DAC)

By creating a workflow, you designate a Data Access Committee (DAC) as application handlers. DAC approves and rejects the data access requests for your organization's datasets. The DAC members receive email notifications of new applications.

You can choose between two different workflows: A dynamic workflow and a decider workflow. Choose the one which suits your organisation best. Remember to give your workflow a descriptive name so it will be easier for you to find it later.

A dynamic workflow is the default. In dynamic workflow the DAC members are in full charge of approving or rejecting applications. In addition, there can be reviewers and deciders. Only one DAC member has to approve the application.
A decider workflow is a restricted version of the dynamic workflow. The DAC members do not have the authority to approve or reject applications. They have to request a separate decider user to approve or reject the application.

Assign DAC members

Add DAC members as application handlers by searching the user by their username or locating them from the drop-down list. We recommend assigning more than one handler to a workflow to make sure there are enough handlers to process all the applications.

Note

You can only find handlers that have previously logged in to SD Apply. If you cannot find the handler you were looking for, please ask them to log in and try again.

If you want to hide the names of the application handlers (DAC, reviewers, deciders) from the applicant, select the checkbox Anonymized handling.

DAC members do not get notified when they have been assigned as a handler, but they receive emails about new applications.

Add a form to a workflow

If you know all the datasets your organization manages in SD Apply will use the same application form, you can connect the form you created to a workflow by selecting the form from the dropdown menu.

If you want to ask dataset specific questions from the applicant, you can create two application forms and connect the form with general questions to the workflow, and another form with dataset specific questions to the catalogue item. In this case, the applicant will see the application forms two parts and will fill in both forms.

Add a license to a workflow

If you know all the datasets your organization manages in SD Apply will have the same terms of use and agreements, you can connect the licenses you created to a workflow by selecting them from the dropdown menu.

Unfortunately, we currently have a technical limitation of 1MB for PDF attachments. Please optimise your PDF file before adding it to SD Apply.

This way these licenses will be added automatically to all catalogue items that use the same workflow. You can also add dataset specific terms of use by connecting a license to a resource.

4. Create a resource

When a researcher submits data to Federated EGA, they receive a unique identifier for their dataset, for example EGAD12345. To make the dataset available for reuse through SD Apply, the FEGA Submitter should send this identifier to the data controller so that it can be added to SD Apply.

Add the identifier the FEGA submitter provided to you in the resource identifier field.
Select the policies you want to connect to your resource by choosing the licenses you have created from the drop-down list. Licenses are optional.

Note

You cannot edit the resource after you have created and saved it. If you want to change something after you have created a resource, you should create a new resource and archive the old one.

5. Create a catalogue item

Catalogue item connects the items you have created into a single dataset to which the applicant can apply for access.

In the title field, provide a descriptive name for the dataset. It will make it easier for the applicants to recognise which dataset they want to apply access to.
If there is more information about the dataset on another website, you can add a link to the More info field.
Select the DAC you have created from the workflow drop-down.
Select the resource (dataset identifier) for the dataset you want to add to SD Apply from resource drop-down.
If you didn't connect the form to the workflow, select the application form you have created from the drop-down list.
Select FEGA as category.
Enable the catalogue item to show it to applicants. The catalogue item is disabled at first so no one will be able to apply access to it before it is enabled. After you enable the catalogue item, it will show as a dataset on the Catalogue page.

Editing catalogue items

You can edit the catalogue item’s name, organization and links to additional information by selecting edit.

Note

After saving, you cannot edit form, workflow or resource connected to the catalogue item. Editing is also not possible when some part of the catalogue item is disabled.

If you want to change the application form and/or the workflow of one or multiple catalogue items, select the catalogue items you want to edit by clicking the checkbox and then Update catalogue item.

This will disable and archive the old catalogue item and create a new updated catalogue item. This means that the applicants cannot see or apply for access to the old catalogue item anymore.

Adding more datasets under your organisation

When you have created a form, necessary licenses, and a workflow once, you can reuse these items for future dataset submissions, if the datasets have the same DAC.

Add a new dataset to SD Apply catalogue with the same DAC:

Create a new resource. The FEGA submitter should provide you the unique identifier for their dataset.
Create a catalogue item by combining the items you previously created (resource, form, workflow)
Enable the catalogue item so it shows for the applicants.

Make sure that necessary agreements are either combined with the workflow you use or every new resource you add to SD Apply.

Disabling, and archiving items

You can disable and archive all the items. Deleting is not possible because we want to offer a full history of events for information security reasons.

Disabling items

When you disable an item, for example a form, it cannot be used in any new catalogue items anymore. Disabled items will be hidden from the drop-down lists.

If you disable a catalogue item, the applicant will not be able to apply for access to it anymore. However, if they have applied for access to the catalogue item before disabling, the handler can still complete the application process and approve or reject the application.

You can re-enable disabled items.

Archiving

Archiving hides the item from the administration view and from the applicants. If you want to view archived items select Display archived. We recommend archiving old items that are not in use anymore.

You can unarchive archived items.

Handlers are warned if the catalogue item the applicant has applied for access, has been disabled or archived.

Support

If you have questions about using SD Apply, please contact CSC Service Desk (subject: SD Apply).