Getting Started
Here's what new organizations need to know before sharing data on the Regional Data Center's open data portal.
Eligibility
- Government, Academic, and Nonprofit organizations are eligible to share data on the Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center's open data portal.
- The service is provided at no cost to eligible organizations.
- Once an organization becomes a publisher with the Data Center, the organization will have their own "organization" page created on the Data Center Website.
Checklist
- Before a new publisher can share information through the Regional Data Center, the following steps must be completed.
- Return an executed Data Deposit Agreement
- Complete New Publisher Training
- Share a copy of the organization's logo and description for use on the Website
- (Optional) Develop a department listing for use with metadata documentation.
Data Deposit Agreement
- In order to share data with the Data Center, a Data Deposit Agreement will need to be completed and returned. A copy of the agreement can be found on the Regional Data Center Website.
- Electronic submissions of the agreement are encouraged. A scanned version of the document can be emailed to the Data Center <mailto: www.wprdc.org>. The completed agreement can be included as an email attachment.
- The person signing the Data Deposit Agreement must have the authority to commit the publishing organization into an agreement with the University of Pittsburgh.
New Publisher Training Class
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The Regional Data Center will train publishers as they're added.
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Organizations interested in publishing data should contact the Regional Data Center.
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Organizations will need to complete the training program before publishing, and work with Regional Data Center project staff to create accounts and configure the Website.
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In training, new organizations will learn how to:
- determine publishing priorities
- protect sensitive information, ensuring it is not shared through the open data portal
- prepare data for publication
- load data to the Regional Data Center Website
- create metadata documentation
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Training will be held in-person or virtually, and typically are 1 on 1 sessions. Please contact us for more information
Organization Logo and Description
- The Regional Data Center will include a logo from all publishing organizations on each publisher's "organization" page on the Website.
- Publishers should share a 189x189 pixel logo with the Regional Data Center for use on the Website. Most common graphic file formats (e.g., GIF, JPG, etc.) are acceptable.
- A brief description of each organization should also be provided for inclusion on the Website. Two to three sentences should be sufficient. For examples, please see the Regional Data Center Website.
- Show how to add to the site directly.