Export to Zenodo contains too much metadata

Data Management
1

Dear community,

I find the ‘Export to Zenodo’ option of OpenBIS very helpful to directly transfer stored data to Zenodo for a direct publication of data.

However, it seems to me that the exported ZIP-file does not only contain the data of interest, but it also provides the whole tree structure of OpenBIS, which is stored in *.docx, *.html, *.json, *.txt files. I was wondering what the purpose of these additional files is?

I tried one example in which I wanted to transfer only one MATLAB script to Zenodo, but I ended up with 24 other files that describe the tree structure. I understand that storing such a structural information can be helpful. But I have doubts that people who are not familiar with OpenBIS profit from this overhead of exported metadata.

Is it possible to circumvent or avoid the export of such files and metadata? For instance as an option?

Best,
Ngoc

2

Dear Ngoc.

We appreciate your comments and understand your concerns.
The additional files included in the export from OpenBIS serve several purposes related to maintaining the integrity and organization of the data within the system. While they may add some overhead when exporting data for publication or sharing, they are essential for maintaining data quality, facilitating collaboration, and supporting scientific reproducibility.

We are planning to make changes to address this in future releases of OpenBIS. However, I need to inform you that these changes won’t be included in the upcoming release 20.10.8. We’re focusing on other improvements and fixes.

Regards.
Rostyslav
openBIS Team

3

Dear Rostyslav,

thank you for your answer, it is much appreciated.

Best,
Ngoc