Topic: Data upload guidance - Darwin Core
I have just seen the most recent NBN Newtwork News arrive in my inbox which includes an article and links to the "Darwin Core" data upload templates. I have had a look through and my first impression is that it is very complex, saying that "We would prefer datasets to be sent as Darwin Core Archives, and the metadata as an EML document, however, we appreciate that not all of our data partners have the technical resource to be able to create these documents" is probably a bit of a significant understatement.
I have a couple of queries / requests regarding the data required in the dataset.
I notice there is only one date field for the record, we no longer have the "start date - end date - date type" fields available. Is the Atlas limited to only one date per record now? What happens to records with a range of dates?
With the NBN Exchange Format files we had the option to run the dataset through the NBN Exchange Format Validator, which was very useful for a final check of the datafile and helpful in catching the odds and ends which would prevent the file from a complete upload. Is there a similar checking system available for the Darwin Core format files?
Looking at the headers, I notice that one of the columns is headed "identificationVerificationStatus". Looking at the list of example terms for this field I see the options are : "Correct, Considered correct, Not accepted, Unable to verify, Incorrect, Unconfirmed, Plausible, Not reviewed". Again, give the recent series of discussions about unverified data being displayed on the Atlas, surely the Atlas should by default not map or display any records where the status is not one of "Correct" or "Considered Correct".
The spreadsheet "guides to the template and metadata are not the easiest things to look through and see what is what. With the Gateway we had the "Guide to the NBN Exchange Format" provided as a Word document with the term "required" against certain column headers so we could see at a glance what was needed as a minimum when creating a datafile. It would be very useful and probably more user friendly if this document could be updated in light of the changes seen with Darwin Core. For each of the required fields needed for Darwin Core, if the old NBN document could be edited to highlighted the minimum required Darwin Core header equivalents, it would make using the new format more understandable and make the transition to the new format more understandable - eg "[Required] NBN Format 'TaxonVersionKey' = Darwin Core 'taxonID'.