def validate_dataset_string(self, dataset):
        """ determine if a dataset string is valid, meaning it is in the format
            of {username}/{dataset-slug}.
             Parameters
            ==========
            dataset: the dataset name to validate
        """
        if dataset:
            if '/' not in dataset:
                raise ValueError('Dataset must be specified in the form of '
                                 '\'{username}/{dataset-slug}\'')

            split = dataset.split('/')
            if not split[0] or not split[1]:
                raise ValueError('Invalid dataset specification ' + dataset)