What are Data Collections? #

Data Collections in the NIAID Data Ecosystem are groupings of data records that share common metadata. While many resources can be represented using the Discovery Portal’s existing data classes, some valuable data and research resources do not fit cleanly within the Dataset schema. To improve the discoverability of these resources, the NIAID Data Ecosystem organizes related records into Data Collections. By making these additional data resources searchable, researchers can find relevant information that otherwise would be difficult to discover.

How are Data Collections created? #

Records are grouped using metadata fields important for discovery, such as host species, pathogen species, health condition, or topic category. Data Collections are generally created at the most practical granular level rather than combining multiple groups into a broader collection.

For example, if a repository contains antibody records related to influenza and SARS-CoV-2, these would be grouped into separate Data Collections based on the most granular searchable metadata field: 'Influenza A virus antibodies,' 'Influenza B virus antibodies,' and 'SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.' Other metadata, such as host species, may be aggregated within each collection.

Whenever possible, a Data Collection includes a direct link to the source repository’s display of the records contained in the collection. If the source repository provides a URL that retrieves the records represented by the Data Collection, that URL is included in the Data Collection record.

If a direct URL is not available, the Data Collection includes information describing how the collection can be recreated or located within the source repository. This information is provided through the Based On field and describes the search criteria or process required to generate the Data Collection from the source.

What can I do with Data Collections? #

Data Collections can help you:

• Explore data organized by common metadata characteristics
• Filter collections by data type, health condition, species, and other fields
• Compare collections using customizable table columns
• Download Data Collection metadata for further analyses

How do I find Data Collections in the NIAID Data Ecosystem? #

Searching for Data Collections #

You can search for Data Collections in the same way that you would search for Datasets, Samples, or other data types. To start, enter your search terms into the search bar from the Home page or Search page, click “Type” and select “Data Collection”. You will find your results in the Data Collection tab.

Browsing the Data Collections tab #

If you would rather browse Data Collections, you do not have to start with a search. Navigate to the Search page and select the Data Collections tab. You can use “View mode” to toggle between a card or table display of the available Data Collections.

Filtering Data Collections #

You can narrow your results using filters found in the left navigation panel. Available filters are located under both “Shared/Dataset”.

To change the columns that are displayed on the table, click the button “Customize Columns.” In the box that pops up, use the checkboxes to select the columns you want to include. You can search within the pop up to find specific columns. The table automatically updates when you click the checkboxes, so you can click the “X” to close the pop up when you’re done customizing your columns.

The Data Collections table can display the following metadata fields:

• Name: The title of the Data Collection
• Source: The repository that provides the Data Collection
• Content Type: The type of data included in the collection, such as protein, genome, image, or other data types
• Conditions of Access: The restrictions for accessing data within the collection
• Date: A date associated with the Data Collection, such as creation or publication date
• Description: A summary describing the contents of the Data Collection
• Health Condition: Diseases or other conditions represented in the Data Collection
• Pathogen Species: Pathogens or other infectious agents associated with the Data Collection
• Host Species: The species from which the data were collected
• Topic Category: Standardized scientific topics or subject categories associated with the Data Collection
• Based On: How the Data Collection was created from the source’s resources
• Collection Size: The number of resources included in the Data Collection

You can sort the Data Collections table by any available column. Click the up arrow next to the column name to sort by ascending values or the down arrow to sort by descending values.

To download metadata from the Data Collections table, apply any desired searches or filters and click the button “Download Metadata”. Then select whether you want to download the metadata as a JSON or CSV file.

Click here to read about searching for Datasets or other resource types.

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