A simple and effective way to share your research materials is to publish them in a repository. A repository is a storage facility (often also a preservation and curation facility) where users can upload and download their data, make it accessible and discoverable, all in an effort to fulfill grant requirements and/or support the free sharing of scholarly knowledge. Materials that are deposited into a repository should be:
- Publication-ready, or data not likely to be modified
- Searchable and browesable
- Retrieved or downloaded easily
- Citeable
- Well-documented, to facilitate understanding and re-use
A wide variety of institution-based and discipline-specific repositories exist for researchers to choose from. The repository itself should be:
- Appropriate for the type of data you generate
- Appropriate for the audience of the repository (so they will make use of your data!)
- Open access
The Libraries also has information on finding data in repositories for re-use and how to properly cite data in your work. If you have questions about publishing in a public repository, contact the data management librarian.