Historical Resource

Location

The Historical resource is located in the UK Data Archive at the University of Essex, administered by the Economic and Social Data Service (ESDS). Active guidance on the availability and use of these data is provided by the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS), under the management of Mr Jon Johnson.

Click here for further information about the NCDS data available through ESDS.

Oversight

Although the Access Committee for CLS Cohorts (ACCC) has formal responsibility for overseeing access to the Historical resource, access is currently supervised by CLS.  The Historical resource is available for controlled public access via the ESRC Data Archive.  Only those requests that are not straightforward that will be referred on to the ACCC to discuss and adjudicate.

Application

The Historical resource data can be accessed by registering with the UK Data Archive administered by the Economic and Social Data Service (ESDS). Registered users are able to download data upon agreement to the conditions specified in an End User Licence (EUL) and upon registration of usage details.  Registration involves the Athens Authentication System. If users are attached to an academic institution in the UK, they will already have an Athens User Account, and their ID and password for that can be used to register with the UK Data Archive. Some data, which are particularly sensitive or disclosive - such as fine level geography - are only available under a Special Licence. This imposes certain restrictions on the handling and usage of the data, and enables identification, oversight and audit of those using the data. It also enables confirmation that potential users are bona fide scientific researchers. Versions of the datasets that require such a clearance are marked as 'Special Licence' datasets. The Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) manages access to data via Special Licence and provides advice on obtaining and completing the required Access Forms which are provided by ESDS. If you have any enquiries please contact CLS at feedback@cls.ioe.ac.uk.

Please visit the ESDS site to register for data access to the Historical resource.

Access

Once an application for access to the historical resource has been awarded, access to data of low sensitivity involves implied acceptance of the conditions outlined in an End User Licence which institutions sign to enable general access to the ESRC Data Archive and that individual researchers in a registered institution can activate via email or through the national Athens system.