dwc/docs/list/changes.md

Changes made in the 2023-08-21 version of DwC

NOTE: dates given in the documents will be updated to the actual ratification date once it is complete.

1. New terms added (change process and Executive approval required)

Note: The IRI analogs of new terms (in the dwciri: namespace) are not shown. Their definitions are identical to the dwc: analogs.

Term Name dwc:MaterialEntity
Term IRI	http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/MaterialEntity
Modified	2023-08-18
Term version IRI	http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/version/MaterialEntity-2023-08-18
Label	Material Entity
Definition	An entity that can be identified, exists for some period of time, and consists in whole or in part of physical matter while it exists.
Notes	The term is defined at the most general level to admit descriptions of any subtype of material entity within the scope of Darwin Core. In particular, any kind of material sample, preserved specimen, fossil, or exemplar from living collections is intended to be subsumed under this term.
Examples	an instance of a fossil an instance of a herbarium sheet with its attached plant specimen a particular part of the plant-derived material affixed to a herbarium sheet an instance of a frozen tissue sample a specific water sample an instance of a meteorite fragment a particular wolf in a zoo a particular pack of wolves in the wild an isolated molecule of DNA a specific deep-frozen DNA sample a particular field notebook a particular paper page from a field notebook an instance of a printed photograph
ABCD equivalence	None (Specimen Unit, when used to denote a class of things, appears to be a broadly construed subclass.)
Type	Class

Term Name dwc:materialEntityID
Term IRI	http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/materialEntityID
Modified	2023-08-18
Term version IRI	http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/version/materialEntityID-2023-08-18
Label	Material Entity ID
Definition	An identifier for a particular instance of a MaterialEntity.
Notes	Values of dwc:materialEntityID are intended to uniquely and persistently identify a particular dwc:MaterialEntity within some context. Examples of context include a particular sample collection, an organization, or the worldwide scale. Recommended best practice is to use a persistent, globally unique identifier. The identifier is bound to a physical object (the dwc:MaterialEntity) as opposed to a particular digital record (representation) of that physical object.
Examples	06809dc5-f143-459a-be1a-6f03e63fc083
ABCD equivalence	Unit/UnitGUID or Unit/UnitID
Type	Property

Term Name dwc:materialEntityRemarks
Term IRI	http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/materialEntityRemarks
Modified	2023-08-18
Term version IRI	http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/version/materialEntityRemarks-2023-08-18
Label	Material Entity Remarks
Definition	Comments or notes about the MaterialEntity instance.
Examples	found in association with charred remains some original fragments missing
ABCD equivalence	DataSets/DataSet/Units/Unit/Notes
Type	Property

2. Term changes (Not all involved changes to normative content that required a public review, but all were included in the review anyway)

These changes included situations where:

• dwc:MaterialEntity replaced dwc:MaterialSample, dwc:Occurrence or "cataloged item" in the term metadata,
• where dwc:MaterialEntity was added to the list of possible classes,
• or where an example that was previously described as a dwc:MaterialSample is now described as dwc:MaterialEntity.

Terms involved: dwc:basisOfRecord, dcterms:references, dwc:associatedSequences, dwc:disposition, dwc:preparations, dwc:verbatimLabel, dwc:vitality, dwc:ResourceRelationship, dwc:MeasurementOrFact, and many of the geochronological and stratigraphic terms, see https://github.com/tdwg/dwc/milestone/18 for the full list.

Several terms are now organized under the new dwc:MaterialEntity class rather than the dwc:Occurrence class: dwc:disposition, dwc:preparations, and dwc:verbatimLabel.

Here's an example of a change from "cataloged item" to "dwc:MaterialEntity" in a term definition:

Before

Term Name dwc:lithostratigraphicTerms
Term IRI	http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/lithostratigraphicTerms
Modified	2017-10-06
Term version IRI	http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/version/lithostratigraphicTerms-2017-10-06
Label	Lithostratigraphic Terms
Definition	The combination of all litho-stratigraphic names for the rock from which the cataloged item was collected.
Examples	Pleistocene-Weichselien
ABCD equivalence	DataSets/DataSet/Units/Unit/Gathering/Stratigraphy/LithostratigraphicTerms
Type	Property

After

Term Name dwc:lithostratigraphicTerms
Term IRI	http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/lithostratigraphicTerms
Modified	2023-08-18
Term version IRI	http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/version/lithostratigraphicTerms-2023-08-18
Label	Lithostratigraphic Terms
Definition	The combination of all litho-stratigraphic names for the rock from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
Examples	Pleistocene-Weichselien
ABCD equivalence	not in ABCD
Type	Property

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