diff --git a/src/backend/csv.js b/src/backend/csv.js
index a680ef17..436c9f3d 100644
--- a/src/backend/csv.js
+++ b/src/backend/csv.js
@@ -40,7 +40,10 @@ this.recline.Backend.CSV = this.recline.Backend.CSV || {};
       });
       return _doc;
     });
-    var dataset = recline.Backend.Memory.createDataset(data, fields);
+    var dataset = new recline.Model.Dataset({
+      records: data,
+      fields: fields
+    });
     return dataset;
   };
 
diff --git a/src/backend/memory.js b/src/backend/memory.js
index 2692c9e3..64df2dc5 100644
--- a/src/backend/memory.js
+++ b/src/backend/memory.js
@@ -5,24 +5,6 @@ this.recline.Backend.Memory = this.recline.Backend.Memory || {};
 (function($, my) {
   my.__type__ = 'memory';
 
-  // ## createDataset
-  //
-  // Convenience function to create a simple 'in-memory' dataset in one step.
-  //
-  // @param data: list of hashes for each record/row in the data ({key:
-  // value, key: value})
-  // @param fields: (optional) list of field hashes (each hash defining a hash
-  // as per recline.Model.Field). If fields not specified they will be taken
-  // from the data.
-  // @param metadata: (optional) dataset metadata - see recline.Model.Dataset.
-  // If not defined (or id not provided) id will be autogenerated.
-  my.createDataset = function(data, fields, metadata) {
-    var dataset = new recline.Model.Dataset(
-      _.extend({}, metadata, {records: data, fields: fields})
-    );
-    return dataset;
-  };
-
   // ## Data Wrapper
   //
   // Turn a simple array of JS objects into a mini data-store with
diff --git a/src/model.js b/src/model.js
index 72b57040..765c14c1 100644
--- a/src/model.js
+++ b/src/model.js
@@ -245,20 +245,18 @@ my.Dataset.restore = function(state) {
   var dataset = null;
   // hack-y - restoring a memory dataset does not mean much ...
   if (state.backend === 'memory') {
-    dataset = recline.Backend.Memory.createDataset(
-      [{stub: 'this is a stub dataset because we do not restore memory datasets'}],
-      [],
-      state.dataset // metadata
-    );
+    var datasetInfo = {
+      records: [{stub: 'this is a stub dataset because we do not restore memory datasets'}]
+    };
   } else {
     var datasetInfo = {
       url: state.url
     };
-    dataset = new recline.Model.Dataset(
-      datasetInfo,
-      state.backend
-    );
   }
+  dataset = new recline.Model.Dataset(
+    datasetInfo,
+    state.backend
+  );
   return dataset;
 };
 
diff --git a/test/view.map.test.js b/test/view.map.test.js
index 638ff2c9..158c3749 100644
--- a/test/view.map.test.js
+++ b/test/view.map.test.js
@@ -16,7 +16,10 @@ var GeoJSONFixture = {
       {id: 1, x: 2, y: 4, z: 6, geom: {type:"Point",coordinates:[13.40,52.35]}},
       {id: 2, x: 3, y: 6, z: 9, geom: {type:"LineString",coordinates:[[100.0, 0.0],[101.0, 1.0]]}}
     ];
-    var dataset = recline.Backend.Memory.createDataset(records, fields);
+    var dataset = new recline.Model.Dataset({
+      records: records,
+      fields: fields
+    });
     return dataset;
   }
 };
@@ -114,7 +117,9 @@ test('_getGeometryFromRecord non-GeoJSON', function () {
     [[53.3,47.32], [53.3, 47.32]]
   ];
   var view = new recline.View.Map({
-    model: recline.Backend.Memory.createDataset([{a: 1}]),
+    model: new recline.Model.Dataset({
+      records: [{a: 1}]
+    }),
     state: {
       geomField: 'location'
     }
diff --git a/test/view.timeline.test.js b/test/view.timeline.test.js
index eef8b759..2545340b 100644
--- a/test/view.timeline.test.js
+++ b/test/view.timeline.test.js
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 module("View - Timeline");
 
 test('extract dates and timelineJSON', function () {
-  var dataset = recline.Backend.Memory.createDataset([
-    {'Date': '2012-03-20', 'title': '1'},
-    {'Date': '2012-03-25', 'title': '2'},
-  ]);
+  var dataset = new recline.Model.Dataset({
+    records: [
+      {'Date': '2012-03-20', 'title': '1'},
+      {'Date': '2012-03-25', 'title': '2'}
+    ]
+  });
   var view = new recline.View.Timeline({
     model: dataset
   });