Material Sample Task Group Member,

If you are not already aware, a proposal was made by one of our members in the main Darwin Core repository to add a top-level term for material resources https://github.com/tdwg/dwc/issues/421. I agreed to this proposal after our Group's Working Session in November and I still believe it is the right path to keep information about material moving forward.

However, some alternatives to the proposed value and definition have been raised and there is a very clear write up of them by another of our Task Group members here https://github.com/tdwg/material-sample/issues/31. We discussed this write up and the pros and cons of the alternative terms/definitions at the Task Group meetings yesterday and those in the meeting would like everyone in the Task Group to read through the summary and think about which path for creating this term would be best.

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importing dcterms:PhysicalResource to Darwin Core from Dublin Core -

importing bfo:MaterialEntity to Darwin Core from BFO -

creating dwc:MaterialEntity in Darwin Core

Our plan is to decide at the early January meeting (January 18, 2023 10AM Denver) which path the Task Group prefers and report back to the initial proposal with our preference.

Feel free to discuss the options in the TDWG_MS Github issue https://github.com/tdwg/material-sample/issues/31, but please try to keep discussions focused on this single question. Essentially, should we adopt a term from Dublin Core, adopt a term from BFO, or develop a separate term in Darwin Core.

I hope that everyone has time with family and friends as 2022 winds down and I look forward to getting some material things done in 2023!

Adios,

Teresa J. Mayfield-Meyer *Arctos https://arctosdb.org/ Community Coordinator* *ORCiD - 0000-0002-1970-7044 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1970-7044* It's not dead if it has data!