This is *exactly* what I'm talking about. What is dwc:ResourceRelationship for, if not exactly what Kevin is discussing below?
Rich
-----Original Message----- From: tdwg-content-bounces@lists.tdwg.org [mailto:tdwg-content- bounces@lists.tdwg.org] On Behalf Of Kevin Richards Sent: Thursday, September 08, 2011 11:20 AM To: tuco@berkeley.edu; TDWG Content Mailing List Subject: Re: [tdwg-content] Occurrences, Organisms, and CollectionObjects: a review
Great job John.
1 comment - I feel a little uncomfortable about the unstructured nature of the associatedOrganisms term. If I was writing some software to read and import some DwC data, I would be interested in capturing the associations that have been defined (in some structured way).
There is possibly a few ways to improve this:
- define a structured way of filling this field, eg "[relationship type
(from
controlled vocabulary), eg host]:[related Organism ID]"
- add another field for just associatedOrganismIDs, that just has the IDs
and
not free form text - not sure how this will help though
- add another class for AssociatedOrganism, that has fromOrganismID,
toOrganismID and relationshipType
I also notice with a few of the DwC terms that it is recommended to use a controlled vocabulary for setting the value of the term, but the
controlled
vocabulary itself is not provided. Is it not the place for the DwC
vocabulary to
provide these? Or has the work just not been done to define them?
Kevin
-----Original Message----- From: tdwg-content-bounces@lists.tdwg.org [mailto:tdwg-content- bounces@lists.tdwg.org] On Behalf Of John Wieczorek Sent: Thursday, 8 September 2011 1:05 p.m. To: TDWG Content Mailing List Subject: [tdwg-content] Occurrences, Organisms, and CollectionObjects: a review
Dear all,
Prepare yourself mentally. After more than a year of discussions,
prototypes,
scholarly papers, bar room brawls, etc., we are very near having a path forward for two new, related classes for Darwin Core that attempt to
remove
ambiguity inherent in the Occurrence class as it currently stands. Adding classes is quite a bit more complicated than adding properties (as you'll
see if
you manage to get through this message), and so it is important to be as thorough as possible to make sure we get it right. I'll try here to
synthesize
the rough consensus and the remaining issues.
Basically, the idea is to pull two distinct concepts out of Occurrence and
give
them their own classes. Maybe not surprisingly, one of the hardest things to agree upon has been the names for these classes. The class that was proposed first as
"Individual"
has seen no less than 12 alternate names, none of them satisfying to everyone. The closest thing to an acceptable name was "Organism", with caveats that the definition should make it abundantly clear what is to be included in the class and what is not. I'll use "Organism" here to refer
to the
class in the hopes of offending the fewest people.
The rough consensus on "Organism" is that is should include viruses, symbionts, individuals, colonies, groups of individuals, and even
populations,
but that there should be taxonomic homogeneity to an instance of an "Organism". There has been some concern about how and where to draw the line on homogeneity. No attempt has yet been made to write a
definitive
description of the class, though many examples of representatives of the class have been given.
What we need to move forward on the "Organism" class are an official definition and an official comment, the combination of which should be sufficient for someone previously unfamiliar with the term and the arguments leading to its existence to understand. Some existing terms (individualCount, sex, lifeStage, reproductiveCondition, behavior, previousIdentifications, associatedTaxa) will have to be reorganized to be under this new class. These terms may require updated definitions for consistency. New terms (organismID, associatedOrganisms, organismRemarks) and an Organism Darwin Core Type vocabulary term will have to be added. Following is an updated proposal for changes related to the adoption of a new "Organism" class:
Term Name: Organism Identifier: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/Organism Namespace: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/ Label: Organism Definition: The category of information pertaining to a specific instance of an organism (virus, symbiont, individual, colony, group of individuals, population) reliably be known to taxonomically homogeneous. Comment: For discussion see http://code.google.com/p/darwincore/wiki/Organism Type of Term: http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#Class Refines: Status: recommended Date Issued: 2011-09-09 Date Modified: 2011-09-09 Has Domain: Has Range: Version: Organism-2011-09-09 Replaces: Is Replaced By: Class: ABCD 2.06: {DataSets/DataSet/Units/Unit/CultureCollectionUnit or DataSets/DataSet/Units/Unit/MycologicalUnit or DataSets/DataSet/Units/Unit/HerbariumUnit or DataSets/DataSet/Units/Unit/BotanicalGardenUnit or DataSets/DataSet/Units/Unit/PlantGeneticResourceUnit or DataSets/DataSet/Units/Unit/ZoologicalUnit or DataSets/DataSet/Units/Unit/PalaeontologicalUnit or DataSets/DataSet/Units/Unit/MultimediaObjects/MultimediaObject}
Term Name: Organism Identifier: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/dwctype/Organism Namespace: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/dwctype/ Label: Organism Definition: A resource describing an instance of the Organism class. Comment: For discussion see http://code.google.com/p/darwincore/wiki/DwCTypeVocabulary Type of Term: http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#Class Refines: Status: recommended Date Issued: 2011-09-09 Date Modified: 2011-09-00 Member Of: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/DwCType Has Domain: Has Range: Version: Organism-2011-09-09 Replaces: Is Replaced By: Class: ABCD 2.06: not in ABCD
Term Name: organismID Identifier: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/organismID Namespace: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/ Label: organismID Definition: An identifier for the set of information associated with an Organism. May be a global unique identifier or an identifier specific
to the
data set. Comment: For discussion see http://code.google.com/p/darwincore/wiki/BiologicalEntity Type of Term: http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#Property Refines: http://purl.org/dc/terms/identifier Status: recommended Date Issued: 2011-09-09 Date Modified: 2011-09-09 Has Domain: Has Range: Version: organismID-2011-09-09 Replaces: individualID-2009-09-24 Is Replaced By: Class: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/Organism ABCD 2.06: DataSets/DataSet/Units/Unit/UnitID
Term Name: organismRemarks Identifier: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/organismRemarks Namespace: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/ Label: organismRemarks Definition: Comments or notes about the Organism. Comment: Example: "seen several times in Tilden Park before
capture".
For discussion see http://code.google.com/p/darwincore/wiki/CollectionObject Type of Term: http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#Property Refines: Status: recommended Date Issued: 2011-09-09 Date Modified: 2009-09-09 Has Domain: Has Range: Version: organismRemarks-2011-09-09 Replaces: Is Replaced By: Class: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/Organism ABCD 2.06: DataSets/DataSet/Units/Unit/Notes
Term Name: associatedOrganisms Identifier: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/associatedOrganisms Namespace: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/ Label: associatedOrganisms Definition: A list (concatenated and separated) of identifiers of other Organism records and their associations to this Organism. Comment: Example: "sibling of MXA-231; sibling of MXA-232". For discussion see http://code.google.com/p/darwincore/wiki/Organism Type of Term: http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#Property Refines: Status: recommended Date Issued: 2011-09-09 Date Modified: 2011-09-09 Has Domain: Has Range: Version: associatedOrganisms-2011-09-09 Replaces: associatedOccurrences-2009-04-24 Is Replaced By: Class: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/Organism ABCD 2.06: DataSets/DataSet/Units/Unit/Associations/UnitAssociation/AssociatedUnitS ourceInstitutionCode
- DataSets/DataSet/Units/Unit/Associations/UnitAssociation/AssociatedUni
- tSourceName
- DataSets/DataSet/Units/Unit/Associations/UnitAssociation/AssociatedUni
- tID
The class proposed as "CollectionObject" has seen fewer alternate name proposals than "Organism", but the same call for clarity on inclusion and exclusion has been voiced. The basic idea is to use this class to cover information that could be considered "persistent evidence" that an
organism
occurred, and that the concept is distinct from both "Organism" and Occurrence. Evidence might include collection-based materials, digital
media,
written materials, and literature.
"Evidence" may be a bit vague as a name for the class, providing no real indication that the "Evidence" should apply to an "Organism" rather than to an Occurrence, Taxon, Identification, or any other class.
Nor
does it convey the idea that the evidence should be persistent. "PersistentEvidenceThatAnOrganismExisted" gets the idea across pretty well, but it is a bit lengthy (and no one actually proposed this name).
ABCD
isn't shy about vague term names - it uses "Unit" for roughly this
concept.
The long-standing term "CollectionObject" is less vague than the proposed alternatives, but it might lead people to assume that the object must be physical, and that it must be housed within a collection, neither of which
is
strictly required. No one objected to this name for the term, however, so
I
will continue to use it here to illustrate the proposed changes and
additions
to accommodate this concept.
Some existing terms (institutionID, institutionCode, collectionID, collectionCode, ownerInstitutionCode, catalogNumber, preparations, disposition, otherCatalogNumbers, associatedSequences) will have to be organized under this new class. These terms may require updated
definitions
for consistency. Note that with the addition of the "CollectionObject"
class,
the institutionCode, collectionCode, catalogNumber triplet would no longer apply to an Occurrence.
New terms (collectionObjectID and collectionObjectRemarks) and an CollectionObject Darwin Core Type vocabulary term will have to be added. Following is an updated proposal for changes related to the adoption of a new "CollectionObject" class:
Term Name: CollectionObject Identifier: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/CollectionObject Namespace: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/ Label: CollectionObject Definition: The category of information pertaining to persistent evidence that an organism existed (specimen, sample, image, sound, drawing, field notes, publication), including digital forms. Comment: For discussion see http://code.google.com/p/darwincore/wiki/CollectionObject Type of Term: http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#Class Refines: Status: recommended Date Issued: 2011-09-09 Date Modified: 2011-09-09 Has Domain: Has Range: Version: CollectionObject-2011-09-09 Replaces: Is Replaced By: Class: ABCD 2.06: {DataSets/DataSet/Units/Unit/CultureCollectionUnit or DataSets/DataSet/Units/Unit/MycologicalUnit or DataSets/DataSet/Units/Unit/HerbariumUnit or DataSets/DataSet/Units/Unit/BotanicalGardenUnit or DataSets/DataSet/Units/Unit/PlantGeneticResourceUnit or DataSets/DataSet/Units/Unit/ZoologicalUnit or DataSets/DataSet/Units/Unit/PalaeontologicalUnit or DataSets/DataSet/Units/Unit/MultimediaObjects/MultimediaObject}
Term Name: CollectionObject Identifier: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/dwctype/CollectionObject Namespace: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/dwctype/ Label: CollectionObject Definition: A resource describing an instance of the CollectionObject
class.
Comment: For discussion see http://code.google.com/p/darwincore/wiki/DwCTypeVocabulary Type of Term: http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#Class Refines: Status: recommended Date Issued: 2011-09-09 Date Modified: 2011-09-09 Member Of: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/DwCType Has Domain: Has Range: Version: CollectionObject-2011-09-09 Replaces: Is Replaced By: Class: ABCD 2.06: not in ABCD
Term Name: collectionObjectID Identifier: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/collectionObjectID Namespace: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/ Label: collectionObjectID Definition: An identifier for the CollectionObject. In the absence of a persistent global unique identifier, construct one from a combination of identifiers in the record that will most closely make the
collectionObjectID
globally unique. Comment: For a specimen in the absence of a bona fide global unique identifier, for example, use the form: "urn:catalog:[institutionCode]:[collectionCode]:[catalogNumber]. Examples: "urn:lsid:nhm.ku.edu:Herps:32", "urn:catalog:FMNH:Mammal:145732". For discussion see http://code.google.com/p/darwincore/wiki/CollectionObject Type of Term: http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#Property Refines: http://purl.org/dc/terms/identifier Status: recommended Date Issued: 2011-09-09 Date Modified: 2011-09-09 Has Domain: Has Range: Version: collectionObjectID-2011-09-09 Replaces: Is Replaced By: Class: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/CollectionObject ABCD 2.06: DataSets/DataSet/Units/Unit/UnitGUID
Term Name: collectionObjectRemarks Identifier: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/collectionObjectRemarks Namespace: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/ Label: collectionObjectRemarks Definition: Comments or notes about the CollectionObject. Comment: Example: "custody transferred in 1995 from National Park Service". For discussion see http://code.google.com/p/darwincore/wiki/CollectionObject Type of Term: http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#Property Refines: Status: recommended Date Issued: 2011-09-09 Date Modified: 2009-09-09 Has Domain: Has Range: Version: collectionObjectRemarks-2011-09-09 Replaces: SampleRemarks-2009-01-18 Is Replaced By: Class: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/CollectionObject ABCD 2.06: DataSets/DataSet/Units/Unit/Notes
Because of these changes for "Organism" and "CollectionObject", the definition of the Occurrence class will have to change and quite a
different
set of terms organized under it, namely:
occurrenceID, occurrenceRemarks, recordNumber, recordedBy, establishmentMeans, and occurrenceStatus
The Occurrence definition will change from "The category of information pertaining to evidence of an occurrence in nature, in a collection, or in
a
dataset (specimen, observation, etc.)." to something more akin to "The category of information pertaining to evidence of an occurrence of an Organism in nature."
The term occurrenceDetails will be deprecated in favor of the Dublin Core term dcterms:references at the record level. Also, associatedMedia, which was organized under Occurrence, would become a record level term, as it could apply as easily to Occurrences, "Organisms", and
"CollectionObjects".
If you made it this far, I congratulate you on your dedication to the
cause.
Please let's clear up the remaining issues as a community and put these
new
terms to good use.
Cheers,
John _______________________________________________ tdwg-content mailing list tdwg-content@lists.tdwg.org http://lists.tdwg.org/mailman/listinfo/tdwg-content
Please consider the environment before printing this email Warning: This electronic message together with any attachments is confidential. If you receive it in error: (i) you must not read, use,
disclose,
copy or retain it; (ii) please contact the sender immediately by reply
and then delete the emails. The views expressed in this email may not be those of Landcare Research New Zealand Limited. http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz _______________________________________________ tdwg-content mailing list tdwg-content@lists.tdwg.org http://lists.tdwg.org/mailman/listinfo/tdwg-content