[tdwg-content] Darwin Core Proposal - environment terms

[Steve Baskauf]

For clarification, each example shows one string value that is free text 
and another that is an ENVO IRI.  Does this mean that if a user wants to 
indicate the ENVO class for flooded grassland biome that they can chose 
to provide either the text label for the class or the IRI?  Or is the 
example showing free text intended to show how a user might provide a 
value if they aren't following the  recommended best practice (i.e. 
using some system other than ENVO that doesn't have IRIs)?  It seems to 
me counterproductive to provide two choices.  I would rather see the 
recommendation be to provide an IRI unless one isn't available.  
Otherwise, consumers will be stuck with having to try to interpret what 
free text means. 

Alternatively, provide two terms: one intended for use with literal 
names (i.e. free text) and one intended for use with IRIs.  That 
precedent has been set in Audubon Core (e.g. ac:provider and 
ac:providerLiteral).  In DwC we have the dwc: and dwciri: solution in 
the RDF guide (which appears once again to be stuck in Executive 
Committee limbo).  In the Audubon Core case, this isn't really an RDF 
issue since AC doesn't assume any particular representation and I think 
you could have a spreadsheet with an IRI value for ac:provider.  I 
suppose it would be kosher to have dwciri:biome expressed as an IRI in 
string form in a spreadsheet for people who don't care about RDF.  I 
don't think this has actually been discussed.

Steve

John Wieczorek wrote:
>
>
> Term Name: biome
> Identifier: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/biome
> Namespace: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/
> Label: Biome
> Definition: An environmental system to which resident ecological 
> communities have evolved adaptations.
> Comment: Recommended best practice is to use a controlled vocabulary 
> such as defined by the biome class of the Environment Ontology (ENVO). 
> Examples: "flooded grassland biome",
> "http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ENVO_01000195".
> Type of Term: http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#Property
> Refines:
> Status: proposed
> Date Issued: 2013-09-26
> Date Modified: 2015-03-26
> Has Domain:
> Has Range:
> Refines:
> Version: biome-2015-03-26
> Replaces:
> IsReplaceBy:
> Class: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/Event
> ABCD 2.0.6: not in ABCD
>
> Term Name: environmentalFeature
> Identifier: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/environmentalFeature
> Namespace: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/
> Label: Environmental Feature
> Definition: A material entity which determines an environmental system.
> Comment: Recommended best practice is to use a controlled vocabulary 
> such as defined by the environmental feature class of the Environment 
> Ontology (ENVO). Examples: "meadow",
> "http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ENVO_00000108".
> Type of Term: http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#Property
> Refines:
> Status: proposed
> Date Issued: 2013-09-26
> Date Modified: 2015-03-26
> Has Domain:
> Has Range:
> Refines:
> Version: environmentalFeature-2015-03-26
> Replaces:
> IsReplaceBy:
> Class: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/Event
> ABCD 2.0.6: not in ABCD
>
> Term Name: environmentalMaterial
> Identifier: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/environmentalMaterial
> Namespace: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/
> Label: Environmental Material
> Definition: A portion of environmental material is a fiat object which 
> forms the medium or part of the medium of an environmental system.
> Comment: Recommended best practice is to use a controlled vocabulary 
> such as defined by the environmental feature class of the Environment 
> Ontology (ENVO). Examples: "scum",
> "http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ENVO_00003930".
> Type of Term: http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#Property
> Refines:
> Status: proposed
> Date Issued: 2013-09-26
> Date Modified: 2015-03-26
> Has Domain:
> Has Range:
> Refines:
> Version: environmentalMaterial-2015-03-26
> Replaces:
> IsReplaceBy:
> Class: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/Event
> ABCD 2.0.6: not in ABCD

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

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