The Minority Data Resource Center (MDRC) is an initiative of
the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR).
ICPSR Direct is a service providing direct access to the ICPSR data holdings for all students, faculty, and staff at ICPSR member institutions. With ICPSR Direct, any user with a MyData account and an authorized IP address from a member institution may download data from ICPSR, without going through a local campus representative.
All ICPSR member institutions are eligible to participate in the ICPSR Direct program. To determine if you are at an ICPSR member school, please consult our list of members.
The role of the OR in providing local consulting and expertise becomes even more important as ICPSR data are accessible to a broader community of users. ICPSR Direct means that ORs will no longer need to be involved in the routine transmission of data but instead will be free to concentrate on assisting their users with substantive and technical issues relating to data use.
With direct access, capturing detailed information about data downloads on member campuses becomes more complicated. To address this issue, ICPSR has prepared a short survey that elicits relevant information from users on ICPSR Direct campuses to track usage.
ORs can also help by spreading the word about ICPSR Direct on their campuses. Contact ICPSR at netmail@icpsr.umich.edu for promotional pieces to assist in that effort.
To implement direct access on a campus, ORs must complete and submit the ICPSR Direct--Information Form. It asks for the following information:
The range of IP addresses in place on campus networks to identify those users with authenticated addresses who are eligible for the service
The name of a technical contact person at each institution who can help with network problems (keeping the set of IP addresses up-to-date, dealing with other campus authentication systems)
A local support contact (not necessarily the OR) to whom ICPSR can refer users for technical support and questions about the data
Text for a Web page to present to local users regarding how ICPSR Direct works on their campus
If you have questions about ICPSR Direct or need additional information, please send email to netmail@icpsr.umich.edu.
The Minority Data Resource Center (MDRC) is an initiative of
the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR).