Module Documentation: eml-resource
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The eml-resource module contains general information that describes dataset resources, literature resources, collection resources, and software resources. It is intended to provide overview information about the resource, including title, abstract, keywords, contacts, and the links to associated metadata and data for the given resource.

Element Definitions:

alternateIdentifier
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Elements: Required?: How many:
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
An additional, secondary identifier for this entity. The primary identifier belongs in the "id" attribute, but additional identifiers that are used to label this entity, possibly from different data management systems, can be listed here.
Example:
VCR3465
shortName
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Type: xs:string
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
The 'shortName' field provides a concise name that describes the resource that is being documented. It is the appropriate place to store a filename associated with other storage systems.
Example:
vernal-data-1999
title
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Type: xs:string
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
The 'title' field provides a description of the resource that is being documented that is long enough to differentiate it from other similar resources. Multiple titles may be provided, particularly when trying to express the title in more than one language (use the "xml:lang" attribute to indicate the language if not English/en).
Example:
Vernal pool amphibian density data, Isla Vista, 1990-1996.
creator
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Type: rp:ResponsibleParty
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
The 'creator' element provides the full name of the person, organization, or position who created the resource. The list of creators for a resource represent the people and organizations who should be cited for the resource.
Example:
For a book, the creators are its authors.
metadataProvider
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Type: rp:ResponsibleParty
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
The 'metadataProvider' element provides the full name of the person, organization, or position who created documentation for the resource.
Example:
The scientist who collected the data, sometimes a data technician, or other individual.
associatedParty
Content of this field: Description of this field:

Derived from: rp:ResponsibleParty (by xs:extension)

Elements: Required?: How many:
A sequence of (
roleOptionalMultiple Times
)
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
The 'associatedParty' element provides the full name of other people, organizations, or positions who should be associated with the resource. These parties might play various roles in the creation or maintenance of the resource, and these roles should be indicated in the "role" element.
Example:
The technician who collected the data.
role
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Type: rp:RoleType
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
Use this field to describe the role the party played with respect to the resource. Some potential roles include technician, reviewer, principal investigator, and many others.
Example:
principalInvestigator
pubDate
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Type: yearDate
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
The 'pubDate' field represents the date that the resource was published. The format should be represented as: CCYY, which represents a 4 digit year, or as CCYY-MM-DD, which denotes the full year, month, and day. Note that month and day are optional components. Formats must conform to ISO 8601.
Example:
1999-10-26
language
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Type: xs:string
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
The language in which the resource is written. This can be a well-known language name, or one of the ISO language codes to be more precise.
Example:
English
series
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Type: xs:string
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
This field describes the series of resources that include the resource being described. For example, a volume of a journal may be part of a series of the journal for a particular year.
Example:
Volume 20
abstract
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Type: txt:TextType
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
A brief overview of the resource that is being documented. The abstract should include basic information that summarizes the resource.
keywordSet
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Elements: Required?: How many:
A sequence of (
keywordOptionalMultiple Times
keywordThesaurusOptionalMultiple Times
)
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
The 'keywordSet' element is a container for the 'keyword' and 'keywordThesaurus' fields. Each keywordSet field can contain one or more keywords and a name of a thesaurus for the set of keywords. Each keyword field should contain one and only one keyword (i.e., keywords should not be separated by commas or other delimiters).
Example:
Please see the examples for the subfields contained within this field.
keyword
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Elements: Required?: How many:
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
This field names a keyword or keyphrase that concisely describes the resource or is related to the resource. Each keyword field should contain one and only one keyword (i.e., keywords should not be separated by commas or other delimiters).
Example:
biodiversity
keywordThesaurus
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Type: xs:string
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
This field provides the name of the official keyword thesaurus from which keyword was derived. The keyword thesauri are usually discipline specific.
Example:
IRIS keyword thesaurus
additionalInfo
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Type: txt:TextType
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
This field provides any information that is not characterized by the other resource metadata fields.
Example:
Copyright 2001, Robert Warner
intellectualRights
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Type: txt:TextType
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
Typically, an intellectual Rights element will contain a rights management statement for the resource, or reference a service providing such information. Rights information encompasses Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), Copyright, and various Property Rights. In the case of a data set, rights might incude requirements for use, requirements for attribution, or other requirements the owner would like to impose.
Example:
Copyright 2001 Regents of the University of California Santa Barbara. Free for use by all individuals provided that the owners are acknowledged in any use or publication.
distribution
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Type: DistributionType
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
This element provides information on how the resource is distributed online and offline. Connections to online systems can be described as URLs and as a list of relevant connection parameters.
Example:
coverage
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Type: cov:Coverage
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
This element describes the extent of the coverage of the resource in terms of its spatial extent, temporal extent, and taxonomic extent. For data sets, this is useful to specify the entire extent to which all of the data might apply.
Example:
See the coverage module for examples.
online
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Elements: Required?: How many:
A sequence of (
A choice of (
urlOptionalMultiple Times
OR
connectionOptionalMultiple Times
OR
connectionDefinitionOptionalMultiple Times
)
)
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
Distribution information for accessing the resource online, represented either as a URL or as a series of named parameters that are needed in order to connect. The URL field is provided for the simple cases where a file is available for download directly from a web server or other similar server and a complex connection protocol is not needed. The connection field provides an alternative where a complex protocol needs to be named and described, along with the necessary parameters needed for the connection.
url
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Elements: Required?: How many:
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) from which this resource can be downloaded or additional information can be obtained. If accessing the URL would directly return the data stream, then the "function" attribute should be set to "download". If the URL provides further information about downloading the object but does not directly return the data stream, then the "function" attribute should be set to "information". If the "function" attribute is omitted, then "download" is implied for the URL function. In more complex cases where a non-standard connection must be established that complies with application specific procedures beyond what can be described in the simple URL, then the "connection" element should be used instead of the URL element.
Example:
http://data.org/getdata?id=98332
connection
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Elements: Required?: How many:
A choice of (
A sequence of (
connectionDefinitionOptionalMultiple Times
parameterOptionalMultiple Times
)
OR
referencesOptionalMultiple Times
)
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:
idoptional
systemoptional
scopeoptional

Description:
A description of the information needed to make an application connection to a data service. The connection starts with a connectionDefinition which lists all of the parameters needed for the connection and possible default values for each. It then includes a list of parameter values, one for each parameter, that override the defaults for this particular connection. One parameter element should exist for every parameterDefinition that is present in the connectionDefinition, except that parameters that were defined with a defaultValue in their parameterDefinition can be ommitted from the connection and the default will be used. All information about how to use the parameters to establish a session and extract data is present in the connectionDefinition, possibly implicitly by naming a connection schemeName that is well-known.
connectionDefinition
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Type: ConnectionDefinitionType
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
Definition of the connection protocol to be used for this connection. The definition has a "scheme" which identifies the protocol by name, and a detailed description of the scheme and its required parameters.
parameter
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Elements: Required?: How many:
A sequence of (
nameOptionalMultiple Times
valueOptionalMultiple Times
)
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
A parameter to be used to make this connection. This value overrides any default value that may have been provided in the connection definition.
name
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Type: xs:string
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
The name of the parameter to be used to make this connection.
Example:
hostname
value
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Type: xs:string
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
The value of the parameter to be used to make this connection. This value overrides any default value that may have been provided in the connection definition.
Example:
nceas.ucsb.edu
references
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Type: xs:string
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
The id of another connection in this EML document to be used to provide the connection information. This is used instead of duplicating connection information when an identical connection needs to be used multiple times in an EML document.
connectionDefinition
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Type: ConnectionDefinitionType
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
The definition of a type of connection that will be used in another location in the EML document. This only provides the definition of the protocol and its parameters, but not the actual values to be used to make the connection (instead, see the connection element).
offline
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Elements: Required?: How many:
A sequence of (
mediumNameOptionalMultiple Times
mediumDensityOptionalMultiple Times
mediumDensityUnitsOptionalMultiple Times
mediumVolumeOptionalMultiple Times
mediumFormatOptionalMultiple Times
mediumNoteOptionalMultiple Times
)
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
the medium on which this resource is distributed digitally, such as 3.5" floppy disk, or various tape media types, or 'hardcopy'
Example:
CD-ROM, 3.5 in. floppy disk, Zip disk
mediumName
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Type: xs:string
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
Name of the medium on which this resource is distributed. Can be various digital media such as tapes and disks, or printed media which can collectively be termed 'hardcopy'.
Example:
Tape, 3.5 inch Floppy Disk, hardcopy
mediumDensity
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Type: xs:string
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
the density of the digital medium if this is relevant. Used mainly for floppy disks or tape.
Example:
High Density (HD), Double Density (DD)
mediumDensityUnits
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Type: xs:string
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
if a density is given numerically, the units should be given here.
Example:
B/cm
mediumVolume
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Type: xs:string
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
the total volume of the storage medium on which this resource is shipped.
Example:
650 MB
mediumFormat
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Type: xs:string
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
the file system format of the medium on which the resource is shipped
Example:
NTFS, FAT32, EXT2, QIK80
mediumNote
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Type: xs:string
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
any additional pertinent information about the media
Example:
inline
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Type: xs:anyType
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:
references
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Type: xs:string
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:
schemeName
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Elements: Required?: How many:
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
The name of the scheme used to identify this connection. The scheme name is qualified by its system attribute. The scheme name implies a particular protocol for accessing information from the connection. Applications must have a knowledge of the scheme or be able to deduce the protocol from the scheme description in order to effectively access data over the connection. Many schemes will be unknown to client applications. At some later point in time a registry for connection schemes may be established in order to promote application interoperability, and we may expand this portion of EML to adopt a more comprehensive standard such as WSDL, but for now this simpler description is provided.
Example:
metacat
description
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Type: txt:TextType
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
The description of the scheme used to identify this connection. The scheme name implies a particular protocol for accessing information from the connection. Applications must have a knowledge of the scheme or be able to deduce the protocol from the scheme description in order to effectively access data over the connection.
Example:
The metacat application protocol. Applications must first log into metacat by sending an HTTP POST request in http-url-encoded format with the parameters action, username, and password. Action must be set to "login". If authentication is successful, the metacat server will respond with a session cookie. All future requests should include the session cookie in the HTTP header. To retrieve an object, the client then would send an HTTP POST in http-url-encoded format, with an action parameter set to "get" and the docid paramter set to the identifier for the desired object. The response will either be an XML document or a multipart-form-encoded response containing data.
parameterDefinition
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Elements: Required?: How many:
A sequence of (
nameOptionalMultiple Times
definitionOptionalMultiple Times
defaultValueOptionalMultiple Times
)
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
The definition of a parameter that is needed to properly use this connection scheme. Each parameter has a name and a definition that are used by applications to assess the type of information needed for the request. Parameters may also set default values that are used if a connection does not provide a value for a parameter.
name
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Type: xs:string
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
The name of a parameter that is needed to properly use this connection scheme.
Example:
hostname
definition
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Type: xs:string
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
The definition of a parameter that is needed to properly use this connection scheme. The definition is used by applications to assess the type of information needed for the request.
Example:
The fully qualified name of the internet host that is providing the metacat service, as would be returned by a Domain Name System (DNS) query.
defaultValue
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Type: xs:string
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
The default value for a parameter that is needed to properly use this connection scheme. If a default value is set, then it should be used for connections that do not override the default with a connection-specific value. This allows a definition to be established that declares common information that might be shared by several connections as default values. Parameter values provided in the connection always override any default values provided in the conneciton definition.
Example:
metacat.nceas.ucsb.edu
references
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Type: xs:string
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:

Description:
A reference to a connection definition that is provided elsewhere in EML. This is useful to provide a single, shared connection definition for a scheme that is used by multiple connections.

Attribute Definitions:

system

Type: xs:string

Use: optional


Description:
The computing system within which this identifier has relevance. Generally, the identifier would be unique within the "system" and would be sufficient to retrieve the entity from the system. The system is often a URL or URI that identifies the main entry point for the data management system.
Example:
http://knb.ecoinformatics.org/knb/
keywordType

Type: KeyTypCode

Use: optional


Description:
This field classifies the keyword that has been provided from a list of pre-determined categories. The possible types are listed in the example.
Example:
"discipline","place","stratum","temporal","thematic", or "taxonomic"
function

Type: FunctionType

Use: optional

id

Type: xs:string

Use: optional

system

Type: xs:string

Use: optional

scope

Type: ScopeType

Use: optional

id

Type: xs:string

Use: optional

system

Type: xs:string

Use: optional

scope

Type: ScopeType

Use: optional

system

Type: xs:string

Use: optional


Description:
The computing system within which this scheme name has relevance. This attribute qualifies the scheme name in order to decrease the likelihood of scheme name collisions when more that one EML user defines a scheme name with the same name but different semantics.
Example:
http://knb.ecoinformatics.org/knb/
id

Type: xs:string

Use: optional

system

Type: xs:string

Use: optional

scope

Type: ScopeType

Use: optional

Complex Type Definitions:

DistributionType
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Elements: Required?: How many:
A choice of (
A choice of (
onlineOptionalMultiple Times
OR
offlineOptionalMultiple Times
OR
inlineOptionalMultiple Times
)
referencesOptionalMultiple Times
)
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:
idoptional
systemoptional
scopeoptional
ConnectionDefinitionType
Content of this field: Description of this field:
Elements: Required?: How many:
A choice of (
A sequence of (
schemeNameOptionalMultiple Times
descriptionOptionalMultiple Times
parameterDefinitionOptionalMultiple Times
)
OR
referencesOptionalMultiple Times
)
Attributes: Required?: Default Value:
idoptional
systemoptional
scopeoptional

Description:
The definition of a type of connection that will be used in another location in the EML document. This only provides the definition of the protocol and its parameters, but not the actual values to be used to make the connection (instead, see the connection element). The same connection definition may be used by multiple connections (e.g., to download different files from the same database), but each connection must provide or reference a valid connection definition.

Simple Type Definitions:

KeyTypCode

Derived from: xs:string (by xs:restriction)

Allowed values:

  • place
  • stratum
  • temporal
  • theme
  • taxonomic


Description:
This field provides a restricted list of categories that a keyword may fall under.
Example:
place

yearDate


Description:
This type is the union of the built-in types for year and date.
Example:
1999, or 2001-03-15

ScopeType

Derived from: xs:string (by xs:restriction)

Allowed values:

  • system
  • document

FunctionType

Derived from: xs:string (by xs:restriction)

Allowed values:

  • download
  • information

Web Contact: jones@nceas.ucsb.edu