mirror of https://github.com/tdwg/dwc.git
222 lines
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HTML
222 lines
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HTML
<!DOCTYPE html>
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<html lang="en">
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<head>
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<meta charset="utf-8">
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<title>Darwin Core</title>
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<meta name="DC.title" content="Darwin Core">
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<meta name="DC.description" content="The cover page for the Darwin Core standard.">
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<meta name="DC.modified" content="2014-11-08">
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<meta name="DC.subject" content="biodiversity, standards">
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<meta name="DC.creator" content="Darwin Core Task Group">
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<meta name="DC.contributor" content="John Wieczorek (MVZ)">
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<meta name="DC.contributor" content="Markus Döring (GBIF)">
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<meta name="DC.contributor" content="Renato De Giovanni (CRIA)">
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<meta name="DC.contributor" content="Tim Robertson (GBIF)">
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<meta name="DC.contributor" content="Dave Vieglais (KUNHM)">
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<meta name="DC.contributor" content="Peter Desmet (INBO)">
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<meta name="DC.publisher" content="Biodiversity Information Standards TDWG">
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<meta name="DC.license" content="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode">
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<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="assets/default.css">
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</head>
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<body>
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<nav class="navbar navbar-default">
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<div class="container-fluid">
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<div class="navbar-header">
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<button type="button" class="navbar-toggle collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target=".navbar-collapse">
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<span class="sr-only">Toggle navigation</span>
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<a class="navbar-brand" href="http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc">Darwin Core</a>
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</div>
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<div class="collapse navbar-collapse">
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<ul class="nav navbar-nav">
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<li><a href="terms/index.html">Terms</a></li>
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<li class="disabled"><a href="examples/html">Examples</a></li>
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<li class="dropdown">
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<a href="#" class="dropdown-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown" role="button" aria-expanded="false">Reference <span class="caret"></span></a>
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<ul class="dropdown-menu" role="menu">
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<li><a href="change_policy.html">Change policy</a></li>
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<li class="divider"></li>
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<li><a href="simple_dwc.html">Simple Darwin Core</a></li>
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<li class="divider"></li>
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<li><a href="guides/text/index.html">Text guide</a></li>
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<li><a href="guides/xml/index.html">XML guide</a></li>
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<li class="disabled"><a href="guides/rdf/index.html">RDF guide</a></li>
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<li class="divider"></li>
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<li><a href="terms/history.html">Term history</a></li>
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<li><a href="terms/decisions.html">Term decision history</a></li>
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<li><a href="terms/mappings.html">Term mappings</a></li>
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</ul>
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</li>
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</ul>
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<ul class="nav navbar-nav navbar-right">
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<li><a href="downloads/index.html">Downloads</a></li>
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<li><a href="http://github.com/tdwg/dwc">Source</a></li>
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</ul>
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</div>
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</div>
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</nav>
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<div class="jumbotron">
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<div class="container">
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<h1>Darwin Core will rock your world</h1>
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<p>Disclaimer: Darwin Core might not actually rock your world</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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<p><a id="introduction" name="introduction"></a></p>
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<h2>1. Introduction</h2>
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<p><b>Audience</b>: This document is an introduction to the Darwin Core
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standard and is meant to provide the background, reasons, and basic
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information about sharing (either as a publisher or user of) biodiversity
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information. Further details on specific aspects of the standard and its use
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can be found in the pages shown in the Table of Contents in the upper left of
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every page or in the <a href="#references">References</a> section of this
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page.</p>
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<p style="font-weight: bold">What is the Darwin Core?</p>
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<p>The Darwin Core is body of standards. It includes a glossary of terms (in
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other contexts these might be called properties, elements, fields, columns,
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attributes, or concepts) intended to facilitate the sharing of information
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about biological diversity by providing reference definitions, examples, and
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commentaries. The Darwin Core is primarily based on taxa, their occurrence in
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nature as documented by observations, specimens, samples, and related
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information. Included are documents describing how these terms are managed,
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how the set of terms can be extended for new purposes, and how the terms can
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be used. The normative document for the terms [<a href=
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"./rdf/dwctermshistory.rdf">RDF-NORMATIVE</a>] is written in the Resource
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Description Framework (RDF) and is the definitive resource to understand the
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term definitions and their relationships to each other. The <i>Simple Darwin
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Core</i> [<a href="./terms/simple/index.htm">SIMPLEDWC</a>] is a
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specification for one particular way to use the terms - to share data about
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taxa and their occurrences in a simply structured way - and is probably what
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is meant if someone suggests to "format your data according to the Darwin
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Core".</p>
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<p><b>Motivation</b>: The Darwin Core standard was originally conceived to
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facilitate the discovery, retrieval, and integration of information about
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modern biological specimens, their spatiotemporal occurrence, and their
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supporting evidence housed in collections (physical or digital). The Darwin
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Core today is broader in scope and more versatile. It is meant to provide a
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stable standard reference for sharing information on biological diversity. As
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a glossary of terms, the Darwin Core is meant to provide stable semantic
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definitions with the goal of being maximally reusable in a variety of
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contexts.</p>
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<p><b>Rationale</b>: The Darwin Core is based on the standards developed by
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the <i>Dublin Core Metadata Initiative</i> [<a href=
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"http://dublincore.org/">DCMI</a>] and can be viewed as an extension of the
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Dublin Core for biodiversity information. The purpose of these terms is to
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facilitate data sharing by providing a well-defined standard core vocabulary
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in a flexible framework to minimize the barriers to adoption and to maximize
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reusability. The terms described in this standard are a part of a larger set
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of vocabularies and technical specifications under development [<a href=
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"http://wiki.tdwg.org/twiki/bin/view/">TDWG-DEV</a>] and maintained by
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<i>Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG)</i> [<a href=
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"http://www.tdwg.org/standards/">TDWG-STANDARDS</a>].</p>
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<p><b>Guiding principles</b>: Each term has a definition and commentaries
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that are meant to promote the consistent use of the terms across applications
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and disciplines. Evolving commentaries that discuss, refine, expand, or
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translate the definitions and examples are referred to through links in the
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<i>Comments</i> attribute of each term. This means of documentation allows
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the standard to adapt to new purposes without disrupting existing
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applications. There is meant to be a clear separation between the terms
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defined in this standard and the applications that make use of them. For
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example, though the data types and constraints are not provided in the term
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definitions, recommendations are made about how to restrict the values where
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appropriate.</p>
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<p><b>Content</b>: The standard consists of a vocabulary of terms
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(properties, elements, fields, concepts) [<a href=
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"./terms/index.htm">TERMS</a>], the policy governing the maintenance of these
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terms [<a href="./terms/namespace/index.htm">NAMESPACEPOLICY</a>], the
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decisions that resulted in changes to terms [<a href=
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"./terms/history/decisions/index.htm">DECISIONS</a>], the complete history of
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terms including detailed attributes [<a href=
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"./terms/history/index.htm">HISTORY</a>], a <i>Generic Darwin Core XML
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schema</i> [<a href="./xsd/tdwg_dwcterms.xsd">TERMSXMLSCHEMA</a>] from which
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other schemas can be constructed, a <i>Simple Darwin Core XML schema</i>
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[<a href="./xsd/tdwg_dwc_simple.xsd">SIMPLEXMLSCHEMA</a>] as a complete
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schema ready for use, a schema to allow Darwin Core data transfer in text
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files [<a href="./text/tdwg_dwc_text.xsd">TEXTSCHEMA</a>], and associated
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reference schemas for the construction of more structured content. These
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pages also describe mappings between the current standard and pre-standard
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historical versions <a href=
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"./terms/history/versions/index.htm">[VERSIONS]</a>, including mappings
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<a href="./terms/history/dwctoabcd/index.htm">[DWCTOABCD]</a> to concepts in
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the <i>Access to Biological Collections Data</i> standard <a href=
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"http://www.tdwg.org/schemas/abcd/2.06">[ABCD]</a>.</p>
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<p><b>Extension</b>: Though the Darwin Core is insufficient for the needs of
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all biological disciplines, it can be adapted to serve new purposes. Darwin
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Core can be extended by adding new terms to share additional information. To
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do so you should be familiar with the recommendations and procedures defined
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in the <i>Darwin Core Namespace Policy</i> [<a href=
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"./terms/namespace/index.htm">NAMESPACEPOLICY</a>]. Basically, before
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proposing a new term, consider the existing terms in this and other
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compatible standards to determine if the new concept can be accommodated by a
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simple revision of the description and comments for an existing term, without
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losing the existing meaning of that term.</p>
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<p><b>Participation</b>: To receive notification of activity or participate
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in discussions about Darwin Core, join the <i>tdwg-content</i> mailing list
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[<a href=
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"http://lists.tdwg.org/mailman/listinfo/tdwg-content">TDWG-CONTENT</a>] and
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watch the <i>Darwin Core Project</i> [<a href=
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"https://github.com/tdwg/dwc">DWC-PROJECT</a>]. For discussion or commentary
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on the definition of recommended terms, consult the link inside the
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<i>Comment</i> section in the listing for the term in the <i>Quick Reference
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Guide</i> [<a href="./terms/index.htm">TERMS</a>] or search for the relevant
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content in the auxiliary<i>Darwin Core Documentation</i> [<a href=
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"http://terms.tdwg.org/wiki/Darwin_Core">DWC-WIKI</a>].</p>
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<p>To make a formal request for a change to or addition of a term to the
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Darwin Core, read and follow the recommendations in the <i>Darwin Core
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Namespace Policy</i> [<a href=
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"./terms/namespace/index.htm">NAMESPACEPOLICY</a>]. For those who wish to
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construct and submit as a standard any application profile, such as an XML
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schema, that extends the capabilities of the Darwin Core, adding new terms to
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the Darwin Core vocabulary that don't already exist in a compatible
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vocabulary will be a prerequisite. Consult the appropriate guideline, such as
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the <i>XML Guide</i> [<a href="./terms/guides/xml/index.htm">XMLGUIDE</a>],
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for information about the construction of a new application profile. The
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rules of submission of proposed standards can be found in the <i>Biodiversity
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Information Standards (TDWG)</i> process document [<a href=
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"http://www.tdwg.org/about-tdwg/process/">PROCESS</a>]. <a id="references"
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name="references"></a></p>
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<p>Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" rel="license">Creative
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Commons Attribution 4.0 International License</a>.</p>
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