How to Deposit

Materials appropriate for deposit

Eligibility guidelines

Not all materials can be deposited in the Digital Conservancy or DRUM. All deposits must meet the following eligibility requirements:

Contributors must be U of M affiliates with a valid Internet ID.
The Digital Conservancy must be granted permission (via our Deposit Agreement) to distribute and preserve all works placed in the repository. The author/original copyright owner retains copyright on all works.
Deposits generally may not include coursework. If you believe your coursework might belong in the Digital Conservancy, contact us.
Works must be free from any restrictions and be appropriate for open access by all users of the Digital Conservancy (read on for more information about these considerations).
Make sure your submission meets the requirements listed on our Policies page

Working with collaborators

Only one University-affiliated author is needed to deposit into the Digital Conservancy and DRUM. However, co-authors, supervisors, collaborators, research subjects, and advisors may have interests in your works.

If your work was authored jointly with other collaborators, it is good practice to make sure that all interested parties agree on sharing publicly via the Digital Conservancy.
If you are not the primary investigator or inventor, please ensure you have the permission of the primary investigator or inventor before uploading to the Digital Conservancy.
If your work was produced under the supervision of someone else (e.g. UROP and Honors students) or if there are other interested parties (e.g. funders), you should consult with your supervisor or advisor or administrator before uploading.

Withdrawal Policy

Content submission to the University Digital Conservancy is permanent. Under certain circumstances an item in the Digital Conservancy may be removed from view (e.g. due to a violation of University Digital Conservancy deposit agreement).

Considerations before you deposit

Before you deposit your files in the Digital Conservancy or DRUM, there are some important factors to consider. Issues like publication, private information, human participant research, and copyright concerns all need to be addressed before your deposit can go online. We have separate guidelines for Digital Conservancy and DRUM submitters:

University Digital Conservancy: Upload to the University Digital Conservancy
DRUM: DRUM Deposit Guide
Make sure your submission meets the requirements listed on our Policies page

Prepare your files

Choosing a file format

Deposits can be in any digital file format, but not all formats are created equal. Some formats are easier to share and preserve, and will receive additional preservation support after they are deposited. We recommend using PDF whenever possible, such as for textual documents, presentation slides, and conference posters. For spreadsheets, we recommend CSV. For more information on choosing a file format, see our preferred file format guidance or contact us using the email provided elsewhere on this page.

Naming your file

File names should be brief and descriptive, giving researchers a reminder of what they are looking at or downloading; many depositors choose to use a shortened version of the item’s title. Some items, like annual reports or newsletters, benefit from adding a date. Remove any spaces and special characters. Substitute underscores, dashes, or CamelCase to separate words.

File sizes

No single file submitted to the Digital Conservancy can exceed 5GB in size. If your deposit is larger than 5 GB, contact us using the email provided elsewhere on this page. Note that the larger the file, the longer it will take for you to upload and for future researchers to download. If your file is quite large, consider compressing it to improve accessibility.

Making your files accessible

You can make your deposit easier to find and more accessible to a wide variety of audiences by ensuring your files meet accessibility guidelines. Rich media (video and audio content) particularly benefit from having a textual transcript and/or caption files added to the deposit. For more information on transcribing audio or captioning video, check out Accessible U.

Ready to upload?

We have handy step-by-step instructions to walk you through every step of the process.

University Digital Conservancy: Getting ready to deposit
Data Repository for University of Minnesota (DRUM): Before you deposit

Contact Us

Need Help? Contact us with your questions via email or our simple contact form. You can contact us in several ways:

For general questions about the UDC, theses and dissertations contact udc@umn.edu
For questions about the Data Repository contact datarepo@umn.edu
For data management consultations and Data Management and Sharing plans, contact Research Data Services at data@umn.edu

If you are not sure who you need to talk to, use our contact form and we will get you to the right person.