A readme file can be used to provide information and context about data, code, or software and is intended to help ensure that the files can be correctly interpreted and used, by yourself at a later date or by others when data is shared or published. Our general guide to writing “readme” style metadata and the accompanying readme template for data has been one of the most highly visited and dowloaded resources on the CDS website, and we are excited to introduce a new guide: Writing READMEs for research code & software, with an accompanying readme template for software to adapt and use to document your code and software.
Got questions about how to use these templates and organize your data and code for sharing? Contact us and we can work with you to make your data and code as well described and accessible as possible.