Quick Start to RDMO for MPG

This guide aims at Max Planck scientists willing to create a (research) data management plan. It is irrelevant whether you want to do this as part of an application or for other reasons.
Beside this quick start, there are also a virtual tutorial with live demonstration (only within the MPG IP Range) and presentation slides (only within the MPG IP Range) available.

What is RDMO for MPG?

RDMO for MPG is a free service of the Max Planck Digital Library for all Max Planck staff. The Research Data Management Organiser software, RDMO for short, is used for this purpose. The web-based software is open source (https://rdmorganiser.github.io).

Logging in

The RDMO for MPG service is accessible to all Max Planck staff via the central single sign-on service. The login can be found on the homepage on the right-hand side.

Overview: The start page

After successfully logging in, you will land on your start page, which gives you an overview of all options.
  • If you have the adequate rights, you can change questionnaires and their underlying domain through the management menu, but this is not necessary to create a data management plan.
  • Under "My Projects" you will find all data management plans which you have created yourself as well as those you have been added to. It also shows the date of creation of the project. This overview will be empty at the beginning. You can edit or delete the plans with the help of the symbols on the right in the respective line. However, the deletion process cannot be undone!
  • Under "My data" your full name is displayed. Furthermore, your groups are displayed there and under "Options" you can create a new project.
  • On the top right, you can select the language (German and English). In addition, your name is displayed and clicking on the small arrow opens a menu with various sub-items.

Create a new plan

After your log-in, you will find on the start page below"Options" the action "Create new project". This will create a new data management plan.
Please enter the following information into the entry mask:
  • Title: Give the new plan a descriptive name.
  • Description: If necessary, provide a description of your plan to explain its purpose.
  • Catalogue: Select the appropriate questionnaire. You can also change the assigned catalogue later.

Answer questions

After you have created a new project (or plan), you get an overview:
  • Title
  • Description
  • Views: Overview of all existing views mapping your answered questions to templates from funders, etc.
  • Snapshots: The overview of your created snapshots (= intermediate copies of your given answers), to be able to revert to an older version.
  • Members: List of members who can access the project, defined by "role", i.e. restricted rights if applicable.
On the right side you will find an overview of your options ("Options"): There you can change project information such as title and description. You can also delete the project irrevocably. Click on "Answer questions" and you will be automatically directed to the first questions of the questionnaire. Several questions are to be answered in free text format. For detailed answers, please enlarge the text field by clicking the dot triangle in the bottom right corner and dragging the field accordingly. In the picture above, for example, the question asks for keywords. By clicking "Add keyword", an additional answer can be entered. Below the options are the export options.

View and export answers

You have the option of clicking on "Show answers" or "Back to project" in the menu on the right at any time. If you click on "View answers", you have the option to export your answers with the associated questions in common formats: PDF, Rich Text Format, Open Office, Microsoft Office, HTML, Markdown, MediaWiki and LaTeX.

Create snapshot

If you want to go back to an earlier version after making numerous changes, it is only possible to revert to a snapshot you have had created earlier. However, your answers will be saved each time you click on "save" or on "save and continue", but revertible versions are solely created by snapshots: Click "Create snapshot" in the menu bar of your project overview on the right and give the snapshot a title and optionally a description. The snapshot is listed with the title in the project overview afterwards.

Add member

If you want to make your data management plan available for others, you can add them as a member: Go to the menu of your project overview on the right, click "Add member" and enter the username or the e-mail address of the corresponding person. You also specify the role respectively grants of the person.

Role concept

  • Owner: If you create a new project, you are automatically the owner of that project. However, you can also appoint other members as owners. Owners have all rights, including deleting a project.
  • Managers: Cannot delete projects, but have all other rights such as creating snapshots or making changes.
  • Author: has read and write permissions.
  • Guest: has read-only rights.
The members of your projects are listed at the very bottom of the project overview and can also be removed. The particular members should not work on the plan at the same time so that no entries are overwritten.

Note: This quick start is based on RDMO, RDMO Schnellstartanleitung für Nutzer*innen, Version 4, 14.04.2020, https://rdmorganiser.github.io/docs/Schnellstartanleitung_v2020.pdf, CC0.