Getting Started With the fMRIDC

The purpose of this document is to provide answers to some common questions that first-time visitors of the fMRI Data Center's website may have. A more detailed FAQ is also available. If you cannot find the answers you are looking for, please do not hesitate to contact us.

1. You are an fMRI Data Center. Exactly what fMRI data do you store?
   We serve as a repository for data which completely underlies peer-reviewed, published fMRI studies. In other words, we store all data (e.g. pre-processed images) and necessary technical descriptions of the data so that someone other than the study's authors may accurately replicate and interpret the original results. Further information regarding data and file formats may be found here.

2. How many datasets are at the Data Center? How far back do your holdings go?
   Right now, the fMRI Data Center's holdings are modest. Formally established in the Autumn of 1999 by grants from the NSF and Keck Foundation, the fMRI Data Center is still a relatively new venture. Most of the Data Center's life has been spent simply building the infrastructure required to serve as a repository. The datasets underlying the thirteen fMRI studies published in the special supplement to the November 2000 issue of the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience served to inaugurate the fMRI Data Center.

3. How do I search your holdings? How do I request data?
   Users may search the Data Center's holdings by entering a query-string in either the text box located at the top of the Data Center's homepage or by using the Data Center's Database Query page. Currently, searches are conducted over titles, author's names, abstracts and keywords. In the near future, this will be expanded to include things such as experimental protocols.

   Once you have found the dataset(s) you are looking for, to request them first make sure the small box to the left of the authors' names is selected. Then simply choose the "Request Datasets" option located in the drop-down "Select Action" menu. If one does not already exist, you will then be automatically led through the painless "User Profile" creation process. Your profile will contain items such as your email and shipping addresses, i.e. information necessary to get the data to you. (You may also create a "User Profile", before doing any searches, by going here.)

   Note that even though a dataset may not be listed as available for immediate shipment, you may still request it. We will ship it to you as soon as possible.

4. I found a dataset that interests me. Why can't I download the associated paper, in its entirety, from your website?
   Due to copyright restrictions, the Data Center cannot provide the complete text of papers. However, many journals are now available online where the full text article may be simply downloaded. For example, if your institution subscribes to MIT Cognet, you may obtain the article directly from MIT Press.

5. I would like to submit fMRI data to the fMRI Data Center. Can I? If so, how?

   fMRIDC is currently not accepting new submissions.