APIs and machine-readable metadata records
FSD provides several APIs through which metadata on datasets are available for different purposes. The documentation required for using the public APIs has been compiled at https://gitlab.tuni.fi/fsd/documentation-for-public-apis (Opens in a new tab) . The key APIs offered are briefly described below.
FSD metadata records in DDI-C 2.5
FSD's data descriptions are available online as DDI-C 2.5 XML files (Opens in a new tab) . The XML files are machine readable. Please see our data catalogue for human readable HTML versions and PDF codebooks. You will find a link to the DDI-C 2.5 XML file at the end of each study record.
Links to the XML data descriptions in Finnish and English follow the pattern shown in a table below. <STUDYNUMBER> is an identification identifier given by the data archive, for example FSD2653.
| language | link pattern |
|---|---|
| Finnish | https://services.fsd.tuni.fi/catalogue/<STUDYNUMBER>/DDI/<STUDYNUMBER>_fin.xml |
| English | https://services.fsd.tuni.fi/catalogue/<STUDYNUMBER>/DDI/<STUDYNUMBER>_eng.xml |
For easy download, the descriptions are also available as zip packages.
- metadata records in Finnish (Opens in a new tab) ZIP
- metadata records in English (Opens in a new tab) ZIP
The packages contain all information available in that language. Note that there is no one-to-one correspondence between language versions. English metadata may lack variable-level information. A few datasets that have been described only in Swedish can be found in the Finnish catalogue.
The packages are updated whenever our web catalogue is updated. The catalogue does not in general change very often so dowloading the zip packages once a week should keep your records sufficiently up-to-date.
List of direct URIs to individual DDI records are available as text files:
- list of DDI records in Finnish (Opens in a new tab) TXT
- list of DDI records in English (Opens in a new tab) TXT
OAI-PMH Server Kuha
Kuha2
FSD's study descriptions are harvestable in DDI Codebook, OAI Dublin Core, and EAD3 formats through Kuha2, OAI-PMH metadata server (Opens in a new tab) . Kuha2 server provides access to variable level metadata and language translations. It generates EAD and DC formats from FSD's DDI metadata. The development of the server software was initiated by CESSDA SaW project and has continued as an open source project led by FSD.
More infomation available in Kuha2's documentation (Opens in a new tab) .
Kuha1 is closed (October 28, 2021). Switch your harvesting services to use Kuha2.
CESSDA Data Catalogue OAI-PHM API
CESSDA Data Catalogue also has an OAI-PMH compliant endpoint for data aggregators to harvest the entire contents of the data catalogue. Record identifiers are unified with those used in the User Interface. The API is located at https://datacatalogue.cessda.eu/oai-pmh/v0/oai (Opens in a new tab) .
FSD SKG-IF API
The FSD SKG-IF API is a public interface of FSD that follows the Scientific Knowledge Graph Interoperability Framework (SKG-IF). It provides standardised OpenAPI-based access to metadata describing FSD's archived research datasets and aims to harmonise research information descriptions across disciplines. The interface is primarily designed for machine‑to‑machine data exchange but can also be used by humans.
More infomation: https://api.fsd.tuni.fi/skg-if (Opens in a new tab) .
Conditions of Use
Metadata records in DDI-C 2.5 and other formats
To the extent possible under law Finnish Social Science Data Archive has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to FSD:n aineistokuvailut (FSD metadata records).
Metadata descriptions produced by FSD may therefore be used freely, and there is no need to notify the us of their use or to seek permission, even for commercial purposes. When using the descriptions in research, theses, or online services, it is good scholarly practice to cite the original author and source and to indicate the CC0 licence.