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Dataerai can pull crystal structures from the Crystallography Open Database (COD) — the open, public-domain collection of crystal structures of organic, inorganic, metal-organic compounds and minerals — into one of your projects as metadata-first assets. The structure’s metadata — title, chemical formula, type, publication year, DOI — is copied into Dataerai so it’s searchable and shareable alongside your own data. The file is not copied: clicking Download on an imported asset streams the structure’s CIF (Crystallographic Information File) directly from COD’s host.
Imported assets are metadata-first: they describe and link to data that lives on COD. Nothing is stored in your Dataerai allocation, so importing doesn’t consume your quota.
One COD structure (a numeric COD id, e.g. 1009000) imports as one asset with exactly one file — its CIF. All COD structures are placed in the public domain by their contributors.

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Search the Crystallography Open Database

Open the Import from Crystallography Open Database page and enter a search term, then Search.
  • The search is free text — a mineral name, chemical formula, element, or author. Try quartz, calcite, or TiO2.
  • Results show Title, Type, and Files, with the COD id and publication year under each title. The title is the structure’s mineral or common name when COD has one, otherwise its chemical formula.
  • Use Per page (25, 100, 500, or 1000) to trade clicks for a longer page. The page count reflects the full result set, so you can page to the last page directly.

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Select and import

1

Select structures

Tick the structures you want — click a row, or press Space or Enter on it, to toggle its checkbox. The header checkbox selects or clears everything on the current page; your selection is kept as you page through results.
2

Choose the destination project

Paste the UUID of the project that should own the new assets into the Import into project field.
3

Import

Click Import. Large selections are sent in batches automatically, and a single Import result panel summarizes how many structures were imported (and how many new assets were created), plus any that failed and why.
Because imported assets point at COD rather than your own storage, their CIFs are only available while the COD structure is. If you need a durable copy under your control, download the CIF and upload it as a regular asset instead.

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Next steps

Metadata-first assets

How assets that describe data elsewhere work in Dataerai.

Import from Zenodo

Pull public records from Zenodo the same metadata-first way.

Organize into collections

Group imported structures alongside your own data.

Search & discover

Find imported structures by title, type, and metadata.