Access to scientific data and resources across the materials community is limited and fragmented. Local resource providers are frequently populated with new resources but the larger community is often unaware that these potentially interesting resources are available. The NIST Materials Resource Registry (MRR) bridges the gap between existing resources and the end users by registering the resources and their metadata for search and discovery.

Resource providers would use the MRR software to register their resources' descriptive metadata, access, and communication protocol for search and retrieval. The MRR software, functioning as a comprehensively located service, would then make the registered information available for lookup to the materials community.

The MRR software was developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

To install and run the Registry on your machine:

• Pick the instruction notes for your operating system, inside the docs folder,
• Follow the installation instructions,
• Make sure that the python packages and software that you are installing, match the versions listed in the document Required Python Packages and Required Software,
• Recommended Internet Browser: Google Chrome/Safari.

To deploy the Registry, please refer to the following documents:

• https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.7/howto/deployment/
• https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.7/howto/deployment/checklist/

The XML-based schemas provided with the Materials Resource Registry are examples of schemas that may be written to represent different aspects of materials data and to demonstrate some of the features that may be used within an XML schema. The schemas do not represent “standard” metadata representations and are specifically release as “as is,” and as such the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) makes no warrant of any kind on the correctness or accuracy of the content of the schemas, nor the fitness of the schemas for any purpose and accepts any liability or responsibility for the consequences of the schemas use or misuse by anyone.

Automatic installers for Windows and Mac OS are available upon request.

The use of Mozilla Firefox is discouraged for the current release.