Datasets in BIL are uniquely referred to by a combination of a 16 digit unique identifier and the dataset name separated by a period:
<16-digit-unique-identifier>.<Dataset-Name>
The file path to BIL entries will be:
/bil/data/<c1c2>/<c3c4>/<16-digit-unique-identifier>/<Dataset-Name>
where <c1c2> are replaced by the first and second characters of the unique identifier and <c3c4> are replaced by the third and fourth characters of the unique identifier.
For example, the dataset: abcded0123456789.example_dataset_01 would be found down the following path:
/bil/data/ab/cd/abcdef0123456789/example_dataset_01/
To access the files, enter the following URL in your web browser:
https://download.brainimagelibrary.org/
The URL to access the example dataset mentioned above would be:
https://download.brainimagelibrary.org/ab/cd/abcdef0123456789/example_dataset_01/
To download the files, use wget with the -r option and the URL to the desired dataset without the /bil/data path.
For example, to retreive the example dataset mentioned above with wget, enter:
wget -r ftp://download.brainimagelibrary.org:8811/ab/cd/abcdef0123456789/example_dataset_01/
Due to the variety of FTP clients produced, we can only offer the following general advice:
Login to the Globus transfer web service at www.globus.org. Select an Endpoint field and select 'Brain Image Library Download' (a shortcut is available as bil#download). Upon successful connection to the Brain Image Library Download server, you will land in the /bil/data directory, which lists the first layer of the 00..ff directory hierarchy. Navigate (or type the path in the Path field) to the directory containing the dataset(s) that you wish to download.
In the other Endpoint field, select (and if needed, authenticate to) your destination server. This may be a remote GridFTP server or your Globus Connect Personal endpoint. In the Transfer Settings section at the bottom, select the settings that apply to your download needs, e.g., "preserve source file modification times", "verify file integrity after transfer", etc.
Select the dataset(s) and/or files that you wish to download by highlighting their directory and/or file names.
Click the arrow button in the direction of the transfer from the Brain Image Library Download side toward your target Endpoint. This will schedule your transfer to begin. At this point you may log out of the Globus user interface and let the transfer proceed.
To check on the progress of your transfer, select the Activity tab in the globus.org interface, and then select the job corresponding to your transfer.
Upon successful completion of your transfer, the status page for your transfer will show 'Condition SUCCEEDED' - you will also receive an e-mail to notify you if your Globus account settings are configured to do so.
Image files and Metadata files can be downloaded in the format as submitted to the library. Additional download file formats are expected to be added in 2018.
If you need assistance with anything, please email: bil-support@psc.edu.
If you are having networking issues related to data transfer (including slow transfer speeds), email us at at bil-support@psc.edu and one of our networking experts will get in contact with you.
BIL Data is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Data submitted to the library, by default, will be released as soon as possible once data has been validated. Optionally, data submitters can select a limited embargo period for their submitted data. Entries deposited with NIH BRAIN Initiative funding may request an embargo period not exceeding the limits outlined in the Notice of Data Sharing Policy for the BRAIN Initiative. All other deposited entries may request an embargo period of up to one year. Data subjected to embargo can not be downloaded.
Please see this page for suggested acknowledgement text for entries from the Brain Image Library.
Use of Non-embargoed Pre-publication Data.
The library encourages researchers using datasets from the Brain Image Library for which there is no peer-reviewed publication identified, to contact the data producers to discuss possible coordinated publications and collaborations.