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Open data has become the modern science meme, and major funding bodies and publishers support open data. On a daily basis, however, the open data mandate frequently encounters technical obstacles, such as a lack of a suitable data format for data sharing and long-term data preservation. Such issue is often community-specific and best addressed through community-tailored solutions. In Quaternary sciences, luminescence dating is widely used for constraining the timing of event-based processes (e.g., sediment transport). Every luminescence-dating study produces a vast body of primary data that usually remains inaccessible and incompatible with future studies or adjacent scientific disciplines. To facilitate data exchange, long-term data preservation, in short, open data, in luminescence dating studies, we propose a new XML -based structured data format called XLUM. The format applies a hierarchical data storage concept consisting of a root node (node 0), a sample (node 1), a sequence (node 2), a record (node 3) and a curve (node 4). The curve level holds information on the technical component (e.g., photomultiplier, thermocouple). A finite number of curves represent a record (e.g., an optically stimulated luminescence curve). Records are part of a sequence measured for a particular sample. This design concept allows the user to retain information on a technical component level from the measurement process. The additional storage of related metadata fosters future data mining projects on large datasets. The XML -based format is less memory efficient than binary formats, however, in focus is data exchange, preservation and hence XLUM long-term format stability by design. XLUM is inherently stable to future updates and backwards compatible. We support XLUM through a new R package, 'xlum', facilitating the conversion of different formats into the new XLUM format. XLUM is licensed under the MIT licence and hence available for free to be used in open and closed-source commercial and non-commercial software and research projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Luminescence-dating studies produce vast bodies of primary data that usually remain inaccessible or incompatible with future studies or adjacent scientific disciplines. To facilitate open data exchange and long-term data preservation in luminescence dating studies, we propose a new XML-based structured data format called XLUM [1]. The design applies a hierarchical data storage concept consisting of a root node (node 0), a sample (node 1), a sequence (node 2), a record (node 3) and a curve (node 4). The curve level holds information on the technical component (e.g., photomultiplier, thermocouple). A finite number of curves represent a record (e.g., an optically stimulated luminescence curve). Records are part of a sequence measured for a particular sample. Our format proposal allows the user to retain information from the measurement process on a technical component level. The additional storage of related metadata fosters future data mining projects on large datasets. The XML-based format is less memory efficient than binary formats; however, in focus is data exchange, preservation and hence XLUM long-term format stability. XLUM is inherently stable to future updates and backwards compatible. We support XLUM through two new software packages for R and Python, each called 'xlum' [2, 3]. Both packages facilitate the import of XLUM files into the respective environment. The R package 'xlum' converts existing luminescence-data file formats (e.g., *.bin/binx, *.psl, *.xsyg) into the new XLUM format. XLUM is licensed under the MIT license and hence available for free to be used in open and closed-source commercial and non-commercial software and research projects. Our presentation will outline the basic concept of XLUM, discuss advantages and disadvantages and sketch possible future format progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]