Estimating Costs for Publishing with Open Context
Open Context is primarily suited for publishing datasets that come from spreadsheets and relational databases, as well as relating digital media files (images, video, etc.) to records in those datasets. Open Context's main emphasis is to support data dissemination relating to excavations and the analysis of collections (zooarchaeological, ceramic, lithic, osteological, paleoethnobotanical, etc.).
Although Open Context has geospatial search features, it does not have full-featured GIS capabilities. For the most part, Open Context would offer rich search and retrieval functions based on the descriptions (metadata) of GIS data. Open Context's current capabilities are useful for sharing GIS datasets, but Open Context would not act as an online analytical tool for GIS data. Similar limitations apply to CAD data, remote sensing data, 3D data, and other specialized datasets. For certain very specialized datasets (especially large datasets from highly specialized instrumentation), we may recommend alternatives to Open Context, since long-term curation of these data may require specialized expertise not currently available at the California Digital Library. Please contact Open Context editors to make inquiries about specialized datatypes. While Open Context does not support Web-based analysis of some more specialized forms of data, through support of the California Digital Library, Open Context can help researchers archive and preserve most common forms of documentation.
NSF Grant Seekers: The form provided below will help you prepare to meet your data sharing requirements. This form will help you budget appropriately for data sharing and it will generate text you can use for the "Data Management Plan" section of your NSF proposal. Once you successfully complete this form, you will receive an email with a budget estimate and language to add to your Data Management Plan. This language will include a description of interoperability, access, and archiving issues that help determine the scientific value of shared data. Please note, completing this form does not imply or constitute a binding agreement.
