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< META name = "DC.title" content = "Simple Darwin Core" / >
< META name = "DC.description" content = "A reference to the Simple Darwin Core standard." / >
< META name = "DC.subject" content = "biodiversity, standards" / >
< META name = "DC.creator" content = "Darwin Core Task Group" / >
< META name = "DC.contributor" content = "John Wieczorek (MVZ)" / >
< META name = "DC.contributor" content = "Markus Döring (GBIF)" / >
< META name = "DC.contributor" content = "Renato De Giovanni (CRIA)" / >
< META name = "DC.contributor" content = "Tim Robertson (GBIF)" / >
< META name = "DC.contributor" content = "Dave Vieglais (KUNHM)" / >
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< META name = "DC.modified" content = "2009-12-07" / >
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< center > < H1 > Simple Darwin Core< / H1 > < / center >
< TABLE cellspacing = "0" class = "docinfo" >
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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 > 2009-12-07< / 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 >
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< TD > < a href = "http://www.tdwg.org/standards/450/" > http://www.tdwg.org/standards/450/< / a > < / TD >
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< / TR >
< TR >
< TH > Creator:< / TH >
< TD > Darwin Core Task Group< / TD >
< / TR >
< TR >
< TH > Identifier:< / TH >
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< TD > http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/2009-12-07/terms/simple/< / TD >
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< / 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 >
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< TD > < A href = "http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/2009-09-23/terms/simple/index.htm" > http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/2009-09-23/terms/simple/< / A > < / TD >
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< / TR >
< TR >
< TH > Document Status:< / TH >
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< TD > Current Standard< / TD >
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< / TR >
< / TBODY >
< / TABLE >
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< / TD >
< / TR >
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< P >
< A name = "introduction" id = "introduction" > < / A >
< H2 > 1. Introduction< / H2 >
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< 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.
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< P >
< A name = "whatis" id = "whatis" > < / A >
< 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
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applications. The terms used in the < i > Simple Darwin< / i > Core are those that are found at the cross-section of taxonomic names,
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places, and events that document biological occurrences on the planet. The two driving principles are simplicity and
flexibility.
< A name = "whysimple" id = "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
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used throughout the rest of the document to refer to the two dimensions of the < i > Simple Darwin Core< / i > structure. Think
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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 name = "whyflexible" id = "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 name = "rules" id = "rules" > < / A >
< H3 > 1.4 Are there any rules?< / h3 >
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There are just a few general guiding principles on how to make the best use of the < i > Simple Darwin Core< / i > :
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< 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 >
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< li > Do not use a < i > Class< / i > (< a href = "../index.htm#Occurrence" > Occurrence< / a > ,
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< a href = "../index.htm#Event" > Event< / a > ,
< a href = "../index.htm#dcterms:Location" > Location< / a > ,
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< a href = "../index.htm#GeologicalContext" > GeologicalContext< / a > ,
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< a href = "../index.htm#Identification" > Identification< / a > ,
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< a href = "../index.htm#Taxon" > Taxon< / a > ) as a field.< / li >
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< 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 say what Dublin Core type
(PhysicalObject, StillImage, MovingImage, Sound) the record represents, if possible.< / li >
< li > Use the < a href = "../index.htm#basisOfRecord" > basisOfRecord< / a > field to say what Darwin Core type
(PreservedSpecimen, FossilSpecimen, LivingSpecimen, HumanObservation, MachineObservation, NomenclaturalChecklist, Taxon, Occurrence, Location, Event) the record represents.< / li >
< li > Populate fields with data that match the definition of the field.< / li >
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< li > Use the controlled vocabulary for the values of fields that recommend them.< / li >
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< li > If data are withheld, use < a href = "../index.htm#informationWithheld" > informationWithheld< / a > to say so.< / li >
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< li > If data are shared in lower quality than the original, use < a href = "../index.htm#dataGeneralizations" > dataGeneralizations< / a >
to say so.< / li >
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< / ol >
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Every field in the < i > Simple Darwin Core< / i > may appear either once or not at all in a single record -
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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#ResourceRelationship" > ResourceRelationship< / a > and
< a href = "../index.htm#MeasurementOrFact" > MeasurementOrFact< / 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.
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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
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"list" terms such as
< a href = "../index.htm#dynamicProperties" > dynamicProperties< / a > ,
< a href = "../index.htm#otherCatalogNumbers" > otherCatalogNumbers< / a > ,
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< a href = "../index.htm#previousIdentifications" > previousIdentifications< / a > ,
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< a href = "../index.htm#associatedMedia" > associatedMedia< / a > ,
< a href = "../index.htm#associatedReferences" > associatedReferences< / a > ,
< a href = "../index.htm#associatedOccurrences" > associatedOccurrences< / a > ,
< a href = "../index.htm#associatedSequences" > associatedSequences< / a > ,
< a href = "../index.htm#associatedTaxa" > associatedTaxa< / a > ,
< a href = "../index.htm#higherGeography" > higherGeography< / a > ,
and
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< a href = "../index.htm#higherClassification" > higherClassification< / a > .
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For cases where rich data require rich (non-simple) structure, the < i > Simple Darwin Core< / i > is not suitable. Instead, use
a more capable 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" > XMLSCHEMAGUIDE< / a > ] for examples and
references to model schemas.
< 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 descriptions give
recommendations about the use of controlled vocabularies 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 derth 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 name = "howtouse" id = "howtouse" > < / A >
< 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 >
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What you need to do as a contributor of data via the < i > Simple Darwin Core< / i > depends on the requirements of the ones
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who are going to consume those data. For example, if you have a collaborator who wants to share data via the
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< i > Simple Darwin Core< / i > , then it may be sufficient to create a spreadsheet that contains column headers matching
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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
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table in a database using the < i > Simple Darwin Core< / i > as
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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 name = "simpledwcastext" id = "simpledwcastext" > < / A >
< 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
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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 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 >
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[< A href = "../guides/text/index.htm" > TEXTGUIDE< / a > ] for more information.
< A name = "simpledwcasxml" id = "simpledwcasxml" > < / A >
< h4 > 1.5.2 Simple Darwin Core as XML< / h4 >
The < i > XML Guide< / i > [< A href = "../guides/xml/index.htm" > XMLSCHEMAGUIDE< / 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
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to one of each of the Darwin Core terms that are < i > Properties< / i > (not < i > Classes< / i > and not < i > Type Vocabulary< / i > terms). The following example
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shows a < i > SimpleDarwinRecordSet< / i > containing one < i > SimpleDarwinRecord< / i > for a < i > Taxon< / i > :
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< pre class = "example" >
< ?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
< SimpleDarwinRecordSet
xmlns="http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/dwcrecord/"
xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/terms/"
xmlns:dwc="http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:schemaLocation="http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/dwcrecord/ http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/xsd/tdwg_dwc_simple.xsd">
< SimpleDarwinRecord>
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< dc:modified> 2009-09-22T09:49Z< /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 >
< P >
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The < i > SimpleDarwinRecord< / i > acts as a < i > Class< / i > in
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implementation, because all of the terms belong to 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
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< i > SimpleDarwinRecordSet< / i > acts as a < i > Class< / i > to define a data set during implementation.
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< A name = "domore" id = "domore" > < / A >
< 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
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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?
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< 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 = "http://code.google.com/p/darwincore" > DWC-PROJECT< / a > ].
< 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 as shown in the example below, to contain a list
of key-value pairs. The keys in this case would act as new unofficial terms. This is perfectly legal, since it doesn't
compromise the meaning of the term. Some of the weaknesses of payloading are that it is prone to errors, inconsistencies,
and lack of stable or well-defined semantics. 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.
< pre class = "example" >
< ?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
< SimpleDarwinRecordSet
xmlns="http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/dwcrecord/"
xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/terms/"
xmlns:dwc="http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:schemaLocation="http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/dwcrecord/ http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/xsd/tdwg_dwc_simple.xsd">
< SimpleDarwinRecord>
< dc:modified> 2009-02-12T14:22Z< /dc:modified>
< 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>
< b > < dwc:dynamicProperties> iucnStatus=vulnerable; distribution=Neuquen, Argentina< /dwc:dynamicProperties> < / b >
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< /SimpleDarwinRecord>
< /SimpleDarwinRecordSet>
< / pre >
< P >
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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.
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< P >
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So, if you really need to extend the capabilities of the 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 >
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[< 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
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of biological diversity information.
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