GUIDELINES FOR DEPOSITORS: Downloads
Version 4.1 April 2021
Guideline quick links
Navigate to a section of the guidelines using the links below:
Downloads and Quick Links
ADS Deposit Checklist PDF, Microsoft Word
File Formats and Metadata
File-level metadata is the information required for ADS to archive and disseminate files within a larger dataset, this will commonly include notes on the software used, lists of file names, and contextual information. Required file-level metadata will differ dependent on data type and for each data type, only certain types of file formats are accepted.
Preferred file formats are open stable formats suitable for preservation (may be converted to a more accessible web format for dissemination). Whereas acceptable file formats may be sufficient for dissemination, but need work to convert into a preservation-suitable format and may need more extensive curation in the future.
Data Type Requirements
| Data Type |
Preferred File Format |
Accepted File Format |
Metadata Template Download Type |
Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collection-level Metadata |
None |
None |
Microsoft Word Open Office Document |
None |
| HS2 Collection-level Metadata (for HS2 collections only) |
None |
None |
Microsoft Word Open Office Document |
None |
| 3D Models, Visualisation, and Virtual Reality |
Virtual Reality Modelling Language .vrml Wavefront OBJ File .obj (+ .mtl + jpg textures) 3D models from laser scanning or photogrammetry should be archived along with the original scan or image datasets (see sections below). |
Adobe Portable Document Format (3D) This is accepted for dissemination purposes only, it is not suitable for preservation of 3D data. STL .stl |
Microsoft Excel Open Office Spreadsheet |
None |
| Audio |
Broadcast Wave Format .bwf Waveform Audio .wav |
Advanced Audio Coding .aac Audio Interchange File .aif Flac .flac MPEG3 .mp3 Speex .ogg |
Microsoft Excel Open Office Spreadsheet csv |
None |
| Binary and Plain Text (Documents) |
Microsoft Word .doc/.docx OpenDocument Text .odt |
Plain text .txt Portable Document Format Rich Text Format .rtf Text encoding, DTD or schema .xml, .sgml, .html, .xhtml |
Microsoft Excel Open Office Spreadsheet csv |
Text PDF |
| CAD and Vector graphics |
AutoCAD Drawing (2018 or later) .dwg Drawing Interchange Format (2018 or later) .dxf Scalable Vector Graphics .svg |
AutoCAD Drawing (2017 or earlier) .dwg Drawing Interchange Format (2017 or earlier) .dxf |
Microsoft Excel Open Office Spreadsheet csv |
Vector PDF |
| Databases |
Comma-separated values .csv |
Dbase .dbf Delimited text .txt Exchange formats .json/.xml/.rdf Microsoft Access .mdb/.accdb Microsoft Excel .xls/.xlsx Structured Query Language Data .sql |
Microsoft Excel Open Office Spreadsheet csv |
Database PDF |
| Geophysics |
Geophysical survey datasets should include: (1) Raw data in text/XYZ format .txt, .csv, SEG-Y(.segy) (2) Processed data in its native format (optional) (3) Raster plots .tif + .tfw world file or GeoTIFF Raw data files should be clearly described (structure, values, etc.) in accompanying documentation. |
Raw contour data .dat/.rep Rendered images .png + .pgw world file |
Microsoft Excel Open Office Spreadsheet csv |
Geophysics PDF |
| GIS (General) |
ESRI Shapefile .shp (+ .shx + .dbf and other associated files) Geography Markup Language .gml |
ArcInfo Interchange .e00 MapInfo Interchange Format .mif + .mid |
Microsoft Excel Open Office Spreadsheet csv |
GIS PDF |
| GIS (Geodatabases) |
None |
Delimited text and ESRI Shapefile .csv + .shp GeoJSON .geojson |
Microsoft Excel Open Office Spreadsheet csv |
GIS PDF |
| GIS (Raster) |
Geo-referenced TIF Image .tif + .tfw world file, or GeoTIFF |
ERDAS Imagine files .img (+ .rrd, aux.xml, img.xml) ESRI GRID ascii .asc/.grd ESRI GRID binary .adf JPG World .jpg + .jpw (.rrd, .aux, .xml) Keyhole Markup Language .kml PNG World .png + .pgw (.rrd,.aux,.xml) |
Microsoft Excel Open Office Spreadsheet csv |
GIS PDF |
| Harris Matrices |
BASP, Stratify, and ArchEd exports .lst Delimited Text .txt Comma Separated Values .csv |
Microsoft Excel .xls or .xlsx |
Microsoft Excel Open Office Spreadsheet csv |
None |
| Digital photography and Raster Images |
Joint Photographic Expert Group .jpeg/.jpg Baseline TIFF v.6 (uncompressed, single-page) .tiff/.tif |
Adobe Digital Negative
.dng Adobe Portable Document Format Bit-Mapped Graphics Format .bmp Graphics Interchange Format .gif Portable Network Graphics .png JPEG2000 .jp2/.jpx |
Microsoft Excel Open Office Spreadsheet csv |
Raster Image PDF |
|
Laser Scanning |
ASCII Text File .txt E57 Point Cloud Format .e57 Laser scanning datasets should ideally include both raw scans and registered datasets. |
Cyclone ASCII Export .pts |
Microsoft Excel Open Office Spreadsheet |
None |
|
LIDAR and Satellite Imagery |
ASPRS Lidar Data Exchange Format .las ASCII Text File .txt GeoTIFF .tif |
None |
Depositors wishing to deposit LIDAR must contact us for information on appropriate formats and metadata. |
|
| Linked Data formats |
Depositors wishing to deposit Linked Data formats must contact us for information on appropriate formats and metadata. |
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| Markup Language |
Depositors wishing to deposit Markup Language must contact us for information on appropriate formats and metadata. |
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| Medical Imaging |
DICOM files .dcm, off-line media Joint Photographic Expert Group .jpeg/.jpg Uncompressed Baseline TIFF v.6 .tiff/.tif |
Depositors wishing to deposit Medical Imaging must contact us for information on appropriate formats and metadata. | ||
|
Photogrammetry |
Virtual Reality Modelling Language .vrml Wavefront OBJ File .obj (+ .mtl + jpg textures) 3D models from photogrammetry should be deposited with their source images. Raster images .jpg, .tif or .dng |
Adobe Portable Document Format (3D) This is accepted as an additional dissemination format, it is not suitable for preservation of 3D data. |
Microsoft Excel Open Office Spreadsheet Where possible, software-generated processing reports should be deposited alongside the data. |
|
| Polynomial Texture Mapping (PTM) and Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) |
Raster Images .jpg, .tif, or .dng Reflectance Transformation Imaging .RTI/.PTM (+ XML + XMP + LP files) |
None |
Depositors wishing to deposit PTM and RTI must contact us for further advice on appropriate metadata. |
|
| Scientific Data |
Depositors wishing to deposit Scientific Data must contact us for information on appropriate formats and metadata. |
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| Spreadsheets |
Comma Separated Values .csv Microsoft Excel .xls/.xlsx OpenOffice Calc 2.0 .ods |
Delimited text .txt |
Microsoft Excel Open Office Spreadsheet csv |
Spreadsheet PDF |
| Video and Moving Images |
Matroska (FFV1 + LPCM/FLAC codecs) .mkv MPEG1 .mpeg/.mpg MPEG2 .mpeg/.mpg MPEG4 .mp4 |
Microsoft Excel Open Office Spreadsheet csv |
None |
|
If the data type you require is not listed above, please contact us for information on appropriate formats and metadata.
