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< center > < h1 > Simple Darwin Core< / h1 > < center >
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< tbody >
< tr >
< th > Title:< / th >
< td > Simple Darwin Core< / td >
< / tr >
< tr >
< th > Date Issued:< / th >
< td > 2009-04-21< / td >
< / tr >
< tr >
< th > Date Modified:< / th >
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< td > 2015-06-02< / td >
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< / tr >
< tr >
< th > Abstract:< / th >
< td > This document is a reference for the Simple Darwin Core
standard.< / td >
< / tr >
< tr >
< th > Contributors:< / th >
< td > John Wieczorek (MVZ), Markus Döring (GBIF), Renato De
Giovanni (CRIA), Tim Robertson (GBIF), Dave Vieglais
(KUNHM)< / td >
< / tr >
< tr >
< th > Legal:< / th >
< td > This document is governed by the standard legal, copyright,
licensing provisions and disclaimers issued by the Taxonomic
Databases Working Group.< / td >
< / tr >
< tr >
< th > Part of TDWG Standard:< / th >
< td >
< a href =
"http://www.tdwg.org/standards/450/">http://www.tdwg.org/standards/450/< / a >
< / td >
< / tr >
< tr >
< th > Creator:< / th >
< td > Darwin Core Task Group< / td >
< / tr >
< tr >
< th > Identifier:< / th >
< td > http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/2014-11-08/terms/simple/< / td >
< / tr >
< tr >
< th > Latest Version:< / th >
< td >
< a href =
"http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/simple/index.htm">http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/simple/< / a >
< / td >
< / tr >
< tr >
< th > Replaces:< / th >
< td >
< a href =
"http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/2013-10-22/terms/simple/index.htm">http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/2013-10-22/terms/simple/< / a >
< / td >
< / tr >
< tr >
< th > Document Status:< / th >
< td > Current Standard< / td >
< / tr >
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< p > < a id = "introduction" name = "introduction" > < / a > < / p >
< h2 > 1. Introduction< / h2 >
< p > < b > Audience< / b > : This document is targeted toward those who want to share
biodiversity information using the simplest methods and structure - the
< i > Simple Darwin Core< / i > . It explains the uses and limitations of this
structure and how to expand upon it.< / p >
< p > < a id = "whatis" name = "whatis" > < / a > < / p >
< h3 > 1.1 What is Simple Darwin Core?< / h3 > The < i > Simple Darwin Core< / i > is a
predefined subset of the terms that have common use across a wide variety of
biodiversity applications. The terms used in the < i > Simple Darwin< / i > Core
are those that are found at the cross-section of taxonomic names, places, and
events that document biological occurrences on the planet. The two driving
principles are simplicity and flexibility. < a id = "whysimple" name =
"whysimple">< / a >
< h3 > 1.2 What makes it simple?< / h3 > The < i > Simple Darwin Core< / i > is simple in
that it assumes (and allows) no structure beyond the concept of rows and
columns, which might be thought of as attributes and their values, or fields
and records. The words field and record will be used throughout the rest of
the document to refer to the two dimensions of the < i > Simple Darwin Core< / i >
structure. Think of the term names as the field names. In other words, a
< i > Simple Darwin Core< / i > record could be captured in a spreadsheet or in a
single database table. < a id = "whyflexible" name = "whyflexible" > < / a >
< h3 > 1.3 What makes it flexible?< / h3 > The < i > Simple Darwin Core< / i > has minimal
restrictions on which fields are required (none). You might argue that there
should be more required fields, that there isn't anything useful you can do
without them. That is partially true. A record with no fields in it wouldn't
be very interesting, but there is a difference between requiring that there
be a field in a record and requiring that a particular field be in all
records. By having no required field restriction, the < i > Simple Darwin
Core< / i > can be used to share any meaningful combination of fields - for
example, to share "just names", or "just places", or observations of
individuals detected in the wild at a given place and time following a method
(an occurrence). This flexibility promotes the reuse of the terms and sharing
mechanisms for a wide variety of services.
< p > < a id = "rules" name = "rules" > < / a > < / p >
< h3 > 1.4 Are there any rules?< / h3 > There are just a few general guiding
principles on how to make the best use of the < i > Simple Darwin Core< / i > :
< ol >
< li > Any Darwin Core term name can be used as a field name.< / li >
< li > No field name may be repeated in a record.< / li >
< li > Do not use a < i > Class< / i > (< a href =
"../index.htm#Occurrence">Occurrence< / a > , < a href =
"../index.htm#Event">Organism< / a > , < a href =
"../index.htm#MaterialSample">MaterialSample< / a > , < a href =
"../index.htm#LivingSpecimen">LivingSpecimen< / a > , < a href =
"../index.htm#PreservedSpecimen">PreservedSpecimen< / a > , < a href =
"../index.htm#FossilSpecimen">FossilSpecimen< / a > , < a href =
"../index.htm#Event">Event< / a > , < a href =
"../index.htm#HumanObservation">HumanObservation< / a > , < a href =
"../index.htm#MachineObservation">MachineObservation< / a > , < a href =
"../index.htm#dcterms:Location">Location< / a > , < a href =
"../index.htm#GeologicalContext">GeologicalContext< / a > , < a href =
"../index.htm#Identification">Identification< / a > , < a href =
"../index.htm#Taxon">Taxon< / a > ) as a field.
< / li >
< li > Provide data in as many fields as you can.< / li >
< li > Use the < a href = "../index.htm#dcterms:type" > dcterms:type< / a > field to
provide the name of the what Dublin Core type class(PhysicalObject,
StillImage, MovingImage, Sound, Text) the record represents.
< / li >
< li > Use the < a href = "../index.htm#basisOfRecord" > basisOfRecord< / a > field to
provide the name of the most specific Darwin Core class (LivingSpecimen,
PreservedSpecimen, FossilSpecimen, MaterialSample, HumanObservation,
MachineObservation, Event, Occurrence, Taxon, Identification, Organism,
Location, GeologicalContext, MeasurementOrFact, ResourceRelationship) the
record represents.
< / li >
< li > Populate fields with data that match the definition of the field.< / li >
< li > Use the controlled vocabulary for the values of fields that recommend
them.< / li >
< li > If data are withheld, use < a href =
"../index.htm#informationWithheld">informationWithheld< / a > to say so.
< / li >
< li > If data are shared in lower quality than the original, use < a href =
"../index.htm#dataGeneralizations">dataGeneralizations< / a > to say so.
< / li >
< / ol > Every field in the < i > Simple Darwin Core< / i > may appear either once or
not at all in a single record - otherwise how could you distinguish one
< a href = "../index.htm#scientificName" > scientificName< / a > field from another
one? Think of a database table. It will not allow you to have the same name
for two different fields. Because of this design restriction (lack of
flexibility for the sake of simplicity), the auxiliary fields from the
< a href = "../index.htm#MeasurementOrFact" > MeasurementOrFact< / a > and < a href =
"../index.htm#ResourceRelationship">ResourceRelationship< / a > classes are of
somewhat limited utility here - you could only share one MeasurementOrFact
and one ResourceRelationship per record. You might argue then that there is
no way to share information that requires related structures, such as a
history of identifications of a specimen. That is mostly true. The only
recourse within the < i > Simple Darwin Core< / i > is to force the data into one
of the catch all "list" terms such as < a href =
"../index.htm#recordedBy">recordedBy< / a > , < a href =
"../index.htm#preparations">preparations< / a > , < a href =
"../index.htm#otherCatalogNumbers">otherCatalogNumbers< / a > , < a href =
"../index.htm#associatedMedia">associatedMedia< / a > , < a href =
"../index.htm#associatedReferences">associatedReferences< / a > , < a href =
"../index.htm#associatedSequences">associatedSequences< / a > , < a href =
"../index.htm#associatedTaxa">associatedTaxa< / a > , < a href =
"../index.htm#associatedOccurrences">associatedOccurrences< / a > , < a href =
"../index.htm#associatedOrganisms">associatedOrganisms< / a > , < a href =
"../index.htm#previousIdentifications">previousIdentifications< / a > , < a href =
"../index.htm#higherGeography">higherGeography< / a > , < a href =
"../index.htm#georeferencedBy">georeferencedBy< / a > , < a href =
"../index.htm#georeferenceSources">georeferenceSources< / a > , < a href =
"../index.htm#identifiedBy">identifiedBy< / a > , < a href =
"../index.htm#identificationReferences">identificationReferences< / a > , and
< a href = "../index.htm#higherClassification" > higherClassification< / a > .
< p > There is a difference between having data in a field and requiring that
field to have a value from among a legal set of values. The Darwin Core is
simple in that it has minimal restrictions on the contents of fields. The
term comments give recommendations about the use of controlled vocabularies
and how to structure content wherever appropriate. Data contributors are
encouraged to follow these recommendations as well as possible. You might
argue that having no restrictions will promote "dirty" data (data of low
quality or dubious value). Consider the simple axiom "It's not what you have,
but what you do with it that matters." If data restrictions were in place at
the fundamental level, then a record having any non-compliant data in any of
its fields could not be shared via the standard. Not only would there be a
dearth of shared data in that case (or an unused standard), but also there
would be no way to use the standard to build shared data cleaning tools to
actually improve the situation, nor to use data services to look up
alternative representations (language translations, for example) to serve a
broader audience. The rest is up to how the records will be used - in other
words, it is up to applications to enforce further restrictions if
appropriate, and it is up to the stakeholders of those applications to decide
what the restrictions will be for the purpose the application is trying to
serve. < a id = "howtouse" name = "howtouse" > < / a > < / p >
< h3 > 1.5 How do I use Simple Darwin Core?< / h3 > The Darwin Core is simple in
that data "complying with" the < i > Simple Darwin Core< / i > can be easily shared
in a variety of ways, including, but not limited to, text files and xml
documents. Equivalent ways of sharing the same data are described in the
sections < a href = "#simpledwcastext" > Simple Darwin Core as Text< / a > and
< a href = "#simpledwcasxml" > Simple Darwin Core as XML< / a > .
< p > What you need to do as a contributor of data via the < i > Simple Darwin
Core< / i > depends on the requirements of the ones who are going to consume
those data. For example, if you have a collaborator who wants to share data
via the < i > Simple Darwin Core< / i > , then it may be sufficient to create a
spreadsheet that contains column headers matching as many of the Darwin Core
term names as you are both interested in sharing - just to be sure you both
understand the meaning of the fields you share, and therefore hopefully
something about their content. You might create a table in a database using
the < i > Simple Darwin Core< / i > as a model (if it met all of your needs), and
then connect that database with services for sharing via the web. You might
use that same database (or spreadsheet) to export a comma-separated value
(CSV) file for upload into a hosted service that could serve the data on your
behalf. Or you might use that same file to upload into a service that would
allow you to add value (such as a georeference) or quality (with a data
cleaning tool), or to see your data in the context of other shared data.
< a id = "simpledwcastext" name = "simpledwcastext" > < / a > < / p >
< h4 > 1.5.1 Simple Darwin Core as Text< / h4 > The < i > Text Guide< / i > [< a href =
"../guides/text/index.htm">TEXTGUIDE< / a > ] describes how to construct and
format a text file using a simplified subset of the < i > Fielded Text< / i >
[< a href = "http://www.fieldedtext.org/" > FIELDEDTEXT< / a > ] specification, which
allows the contributor to describe the contents of a text file, or set of
text files (related or not) through a separate configuration file (called a
metafile). The metafile allows the contributor to communicate the structure
of the content of the file or files and any relationships between them.
Though it is good practice to describe a < i > Simple Darwin Core< / i > file with
such a metafile, it isn't strictly necessary if the file follows the CSV file
specification and the first line of the file contains the field names. A
< i > Fielded Text< / i > metafile for any text file based on the < i > Simple Darwin
Core< / i > can be created by customizing the example metafile [< a href =
"../../examples/text/example_text_simpledwc_complete.xml">SIMPLEMETAFILE< / a > ]
(if this link shows a blank page in your browser, use the View Source option
to see the XML document), which includes references to all Darwin Core terms.
Refer to the comments in the file itself as well as the metafile
specification in the < i > Text Guide< / i > [< a href =
"../guides/text/index.htm">TEXTGUIDE< / a > ] for more information. < a id =
"simpledwcasxml" name="simpledwcasxml">< / a >
< h4 > 1.5.2 Simple Darwin Core as XML< / h4 > The < i > XML Guide< / i > [< a href =
"../guides/xml/index.htm">XMLGUIDE< / a > ] describes how to construct XML
schemas to share data based on Darwin Core terms. Looking at the < i > Simple
Darwin Core XML Schema< / i > [< a href =
"../../xsd/tdwg_dwc_simple.xsd">SIMPLEXMLSCHEMA< / a > ] using the < i > XML
Guide< / i > as a reference you will be able to see that the schema supports the
notion of a < i > SimpleDarwinRecord< / i > , which is just a grouping of up to one
of each of the Darwin Core terms that are < i > Properties< / i > (not
< i > Classes< / i > ). The following example shows a < i > SimpleDarwinRecordSet< / i >
containing one < i > SimpleDarwinRecord< / i > for a < i > Taxon< / i > :
< pre class = "example" >
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< ?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
< SimpleDarwinRecordSet
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xmlns="http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/xsd/simpledarwincore/"
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xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/terms/"
xmlns:dwc="http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
2014-11-13 11:28:57 +00:00
xsi:schemaLocation="http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/xsd/simpledarwincore/ http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/xsd/tdwg_dwc_simple.xsd">
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< SimpleDarwinRecord>
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< dc:modified> 2006-05-04T18:13:51.0Z< /dc:modified>
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< dc:language> en< /dc:language>
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< dwc:basisOfRecord> Taxon< /dwc:basisOfRecord>
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< dwc:scientificNameID> http://research.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/fishcatget.asp?spid=53548< /dwc:scientificNameID>
< dwc:acceptedNameUsageID> http://research.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/fishcatget.asp?spid=22010< /dwc:acceptedNameUsageID>
< dwc:originalNameUsageID> http://research.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/fishcatget.asp?spid=53548< /dwc:originalNameUsageID>
< dwc:nameAccordingToID> http://research.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/getref.asp?id=22764< /dwc:nameAccordingToID>
< dwc:namePublishedInID> http://research.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/getref.asp?id=671< /dwc:namePublishedInID>
< dwc:scientificName> Centropyge flavicauda Fraser-Brunner 1933< /dwc:scientificName>
< dwc:acceptedNameUsage> Centropyge fisheri (Snyder 1904)< /dwc:acceptedNameUsage>
< dwc:parentNameUsage> Centropyge Kaup, 1860< /dwc:parentNameUsage>
< dwc:originalNameUsage> Centropyge flavicauda Fraser-Brunner 1933< /dwc:originalNameUsage>
< dwc:nameAccordingTo> Allen, G.R. 1980. Butterfly and angelfishes of the world. Volume II. Mergus Publishers. Pp. 149-352.< /dwc:nameAccordingTo>
< dwc:namePublishedIn> Fraser-Brunner, A. 1933. A revision of the chaetodont fishes of the subfamily Pomacanthinae. Proceedings of the General
Meetings for Scientific Business of the Zoological Society of London 1933 (pt 3, no.30): 543-599, Pl. 1.< /dwc:namePublishedIn>
< dwc:higherClassification> Animalia;Chordata;Vertebrata;Osteichthyes;Actinopterygii;Neopterygii;Teleostei;Acanthopterygii;Perciformes;
Percoidei;Pomacanthidae;Centropyge< /dwc:higherClassification>
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< dwc:kingdom> Animalia< /dwc:kingdom>
< dwc:phylum> Chordata< /dwc:phylum>
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< dwc:class> Osteichthyes< /dwc:class>
< dwc:order> Perciformes< /dwc:order>
< dwc:family> Pomacanthidae< /dwc:family>
< dwc:genus> Centropyge< /dwc:genus>
< dwc:specificEpithet> flavicauda< /dwc:specificEpithet>
< dwc:scientificNameAuthorship> Fraser-Brunner 1933< /dwc:scientificNameAuthorship>
< dwc:taxonRank> species< /dwc:taxonRank>
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< dwc:nomenclaturalCode> ICZN< /dwc:nomenclaturalCode>
< dwc:taxonomicStatus> accepted< /dwc:taxonomicStatus>
< /SimpleDarwinRecord>
< /SimpleDarwinRecordSet>
< / pre >
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< p > The < i > SimpleDarwinRecord< / i > acts as a < i > Class< / i > in implementation,
because all of the terms are properties of it. The < i > Simple Darwin Core< / i >
schema has just one other level of structure, the
< i > SimpleDarwinRecordSet< / i > , which is a grouping of one or more
< i > SimpleDarwinRecords< / i > . The < i > SimpleDarwinRecordSet< / i > acts as a
< i > Class< / i > to define a data set during implementation. < a id = "domore" name =
"domore">< / a > < / p >
< h3 > 1.6 Doing More with Simple Darwin Core< / h3 > Sooner or later you may want
to share more information than the < i > Simple Darwin Core< / i > seems to allow.
For example, you and your colleagues might decide that it would be useful to
have a standard way to exchange additional information relevant to questions
in Conservation. How would you do it?
< p > One way would be to try to "overload" existing terms by using them to hold
information other than what was intended based on the definition of the
terms. Please don't do this. If an existing term has close to the same
meaning as one you want to use, but just doesn't quite fit because of the way
the definition is worded, it would be better to request an amendment to the
term definition so that it will be clear for your community how to use it.
You can request such a change by submitting an issue in the < i > Darwin Core
Project< / i > [< a href = "https://github.com/tdwg/dwc" > DWC-PROJECT< / a > ].< / p >
< p > Another way to get more out of the Darwin Core without adding a term is to
"payload" the < a href = "../index.htm#dynamicProperties" > dynamicProperties< / a >
term with structured content, as shown in the example below, using Javascript
Open Notatation (JSON). This is perfectly legal, since it doesn't compromise
the meaning of the term. One of the weaknesses of payloading data in this way
is that it is subject to a lack of stable or well-defined semantics. Also, it
is highly recommended to flatten the content into a single string with no
non-printing characters (such as line feeds) to facilitate use in the widest
variety of data sharing contexts. Still, this might be a reasonable way to at
least allow you to share all of your data, even if there might be problems
with people using it reliably.< / p >
< pre class = "example" >
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< ?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
< SimpleDarwinRecordSet
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xmlns="http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/xsd/simpledarwincore/"
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xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/terms/"
xmlns:dwc="http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
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xsi:schemaLocation="http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/xsd/simpledarwincore/ http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/xsd/tdwg_dwc_simple.xsd">
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< SimpleDarwinRecord>
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< dc:modified> 2009-02-12T12:43:31< /dc:modified>
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< dc:language> en< /dc:language>
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< dwc:basisOfRecord> Taxon< /dwc:basisOfRecord>
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< dwc:scientificName> Ctenomys sociabilis< /dwc:scientificName>
< dwc:acceptedNameUsage> Ctenomys sociabilis Pearson and Christie, 1985< /dwc:acceptedNameUsage>
< dwc:parentNameUsage> Ctenomys Blainville, 1826< /dwc:parentNameUsage>
< dwc:higherClassification> Animalia; Chordata; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Theria; Eutheria; Rodentia; Hystricognatha; Hystricognathi; Ctenomyidae; Ctenomyini; Ctenomys< /dwc:higherClassification>
< dwc:kingdom> Animalia< /dwc:kingdom>
< dwc:phylum> Chordata< /dwc:phylum>
< dwc:class> Mammalia< /dwc:class>
< dwc:order> Rodentia< /dwc:order>
< dwc:family> Ctenomyidae< /dwc:family>
< dwc:genus> Ctenomys< /dwc:genus>
< dwc:specificEpithet> sociabilis< /dwc:specificEpithet>
< dwc:taxonRank> species< /dwc:taxonRank>
< dwc:scientificNameAuthorship> Pearson and Christie, 1985< /dwc:scientificNameAuthorship>
< dwc:nomenclaturalCode> ICZN< /dwc:nomenclaturalCode>
< dwc:namePublishedIn> Pearson O. P., and M. I. Christie. 1985. Historia Natural, 5(37):388< /dwc:namePublishedIn>
< dwc:taxonomicStatus> valid< /dwc:taxonomicStatus>
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< b > < dwc:dynamicProperties> {"iucnStatus":"vulnerable", "distribution":"Neuquén, Argentina"}< /dwc:dynamicProperties> < / b >
2014-11-13 10:54:11 +00:00
< /SimpleDarwinRecord>
< /SimpleDarwinRecordSet>
< / pre >
2014-11-13 11:34:33 +00:00
< p > If you were using just CSV text files to exchange information, then you
might be tempted to just add the new fields to the files. This approach
suffers most of the same problems as payloading - no one aside from those
with whom you communicated would know what those new fields were or how to
use them. Sharing in this way via XML would be an even bigger problem,
because the < i > Simple Darwin Core XML Schema< / i > [< a href =
"../../xsd/tdwg_dwc_simple.xsd">SIMPLEXMLSCHEMA< / a > ] defines the terms that
it supports and the new fields would not correspond with any terms understood
by the schema. In other words, the XML with your fields in it would not be a
valid < i > Simple Darwin Core< / i > XML document.< / p >
< p > So, if you really need to extend the capabilities of Darwin Core, the best
first step is to follow the standards process to add the terms you need. The
mechanisms for pursuing this are explained in the < i > Darwin Core Namespace
Policy< / i > [< a href = "../namespace/index.htm" > NAMESPACEPOLICY< / a > ]. The
process will help to assure that the new terms are well conceived, that they
don't conflict with existing terms, and that they are properly defined in the
broader context of biological diversity information. < a id = "morethan" name =
"morethan">< / a > < / p >
< h3 > 1.7 Going Beyond Simple Darwin Core< / h3 >
< p > For cases where rich data require rich (non-simple) structure, the
< i > Simple Darwin Core< / i > alone is not suitable. When sharing information via
fielded text [< a href = "http://www.fieldedtext.org/" > FIELDEDTEXT< / a > ], the
solution is to use the < i > Simple Darwin Core< / i > as a core record with one or
more associated extensions for the additional information. See the < i > Darwin
Core Text Guide< / i > [< a href = "./terms/guides/text/index.htm" > TEXTGUIDE< / a > ]
for an explanation and examples.< / p >
< p > When sharing information via XML [< a href =
"http://www.w3.org/XML/">XML< / a > ], a richer structure such as the < i > Access
to Biological Collections Data< / i > schema [< a href =
"http://www.tdwg.org/schemas/abcd/2.06">ABCD< / a > ], or the < i > Generic Darwin
Core< / i > [< a href = "../../xsd/tdwg_dwcterms.xsd" > GENERICXMLSCHEMA< / a > ], or
another schema built from the Darwin Core terms to suit the use of the data
in a particular context. See the < i > Darwin Core XML Guide< / i > [< a href =
"../guides/xml/index.htm">XMLGUIDE< / a > ] for examples and references to model
schemas.< / p >
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