[tdwg-content] New terms need resolution: "Evidence"

[Steven J. Baskauf]

I am very much in support of the creation of this class.  In the 
discussion that took place over the last year, it seems that there is a 
consensus that an Occurrence is something different than the evidence 
that supports it.  The class proposed here would clarify the distinction 
between those two things.  This conceptual clarity will be important in 
moving forward efforts to model the biodiversity domain.

I think that the definitions given below are adequate and I guess the 
name CollectionObject would be OK with the examples given in the term 
definition.  I agree with Gregor that the organism itself could serve as 
evidence for its own existence, but I think that the organism would need 
to be more than just geolocated.  If it were to actually serve as 
evidence, some agency must be able to assert that the organism is 
available for examination (i.e. it should be a LivingSpecimen, not just 
located once in the wild).  I don't think that CollectionObject 
necessarily implies that it must be a physical object, but since some 
people might think that it does, I would recommend that the term 
definition make it clear that the evidence could be electronic as well 
as physical.  I think that for many people, the term "voucher" carries 
the connotation of a physical specimen so I think CollectionObject would 
probably mislead fewer people.

So the bottom line is that I would recommend that the example list in 
the definition be expanded from "(specimen, sample, image, sound,
drawing, etc.)" to "(preserved or living specimen, sample, image, sound, 
drawing, etc. including digital representations)" or something like that.

Steve



On 7/4/2011 4:44 PM, John Wieczorek wrote:
> None of this was entered as an issue in the Darwin Core Issue tracker.
> Rather, it arose from the discussion on DigitalStillImage (Issue 68).
> The Darwin Core simplifies the representation of concepts related to
> the occurrence of life in nature. Specifically, there is a Darwin Core
> Occurrence class, but no separate class to explicitly represent the
> physical evidence for the Occurrence. This is problematic when trying
> to be explicit about the attributes of physical or digital objects in
> the semantic world. Various names have been given to this concept,
> including "PhysicalObject", "Evidence", "PhysicalEvidence", "Sample",
> "Specimen", "CollectionObject" in the ASC model,
> "DataSets/DataSet/Units/Unit/..." in ABCD, "Representation" (Baskauf
> 2010) and "Token" as a preferred alternative to "Representation" in
> tdwg-content (http://lists.tdwg.org/pipermail/tdwg-content/2010-October/001742.html).
>
> Open Issues:
> Determine if there is a general consensus on the need for new class
> for this concept.
>
> Decide the best name for this class.
>
> Create a new Type Vocabulary term referring to this new class.
>
> Change the Darwin Core Type Vocabulary terms that refine Occurrence
> (FossilSpecimen, PreservedSpecimen, LivingSpecimen) to refine the new
> Type Vocabulary term referring to this new class.
>
> Decide which properties currently organized under Occurrence should
> instead be organized under this new class.
>
> As a seed for further discussion, here is a complete proposal.
> ==============
> 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 of a biological entity (specimen, sample, image, sound,
> drawing, etc.).
> 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:	2011-07-04
> Date Modified:	2011-07-04
> Has Domain:	
> Has Range:	
> Version:	CollectionObject-2011-07-04
> 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:	2011-07-04
> Date Modified:	2011-07-04
> Member Of:	http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/DwCType
> Has Domain:	
> Has Range:	
> Version:	CollectionObject-2011-07-04
> 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:	2011-07-04
> Date Modified:	2011-07-04
> Has Domain:	
> Has Range:	
> Version:	collectionObjectID-2011-07-04
> 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 Collection Object.
> 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:	2011-07-04
> Date Modified:	2009-07-04
> Has Domain:	
> Has Range:	
> Version:	collectionObjectRemarks-2011-07-04
> Replaces:	SampleRemarks-2009-01-18
> Is Replaced By:
> Class:	http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/CollectionObject
> ABCD 2.06:	DataSets/DataSet/Units/Unit/Notes
>
> Note that with the addition of CollectionObject, the InstitutionCode,
> CollectionCode, CatalogNumber triplet would no longer apply to an
> Occurrence. This is a big, non-backward compatible change.
>
> Terms to be organized under CollectionObject rather than Occurrence:
> catalogNumber
> preparations
> disposition
> otherCatalogNumbers
>
> Terms that might have to be added to under CollectionObject to retain
> capabilities currently achieved under Occurrence:
> associatedCollectionObjectMedia
> associatedCollectionObjectReferences
> associatedCollectionObjects
> associateSequences
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>
> .
>

-- 
Steven J. Baskauf, Ph.D., Senior Lecturer
Vanderbilt University Dept. of Biological Sciences

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