To share data, all providers must agree upon a data standard

Data standard allows all results returns to be in a common format

Natural History Community Has Developed DarwinCore. And it is awesome

Defines terms/fields that should be in all taxonomic (eg. museum, observation) databases

Darwin core is divided into classes and terms: Class is an abstract concept that describes a collection or subset (example: marbles might be “class”)

Terms (or attributes or properties) describe features of classes. (e.g. marbles have a size, color, density, material composition, etc)

Darwin Core Classes and Terms

WHY IS DARWIN CORE IMPORTANT TO YOU?

DATA WE USE IN THIS WORKSHOP IS IN DARWIN CORE FORMAT

DARWIN CORE TERMS ARE COLUMN HEADERS IN YOUR DOWNLOADED SPREADSHEETS

Or you can think of DwC terms as keys/properties that have a particular value (e.g. scientific name=Gorilla gorilla)

Some darwin Core terms and classes are re-used from other standards (particularly Dublin Core) (represented in DwC documentation as dc:terms)

Darwin Core --- An Immaculate Conception? HARDLY! multiple versions of DwC leading to “ratified DwC” (an offical standard of TDWG) versions included “extensions” that were folded into the ratified DwC Darwin Core terms have grown with each version New terms can be still added to DwC

Darwin Core Governance: -Anyone can recommend a new term -They need to provide a justification for the term posted to -If consensus is reached, change requests to the DwC project site is made

Darwin Core Best Practices: Controlled vocabularies for some terms Example: basis of record term 1 Encodes best practices Example: radius uncertainty for georef

Dataset Data Publisher:University of Kansas Biodiversity Research Center Dataset:Fish Collection Institution code: KU Collection code: KUI Catalogue number: Basis of record:Unknown Collector name: Wiley, Martin L Field number: MLW 34 Date collected: Taxonomy Scientific name: Mola mola GBIF classification: Class: ActinopterygiiOrder: TetraodontiformesFamily: MolidaeGenus: MolaSpecies: Mola mola Class: Actinopterygii Order: Tetraodontiformes Family: Molidae Genus: Mola Species: mola Identifier name: Wiley, Martin Geospatial Continent: Atlantic Ocean (interpreted as North America) Country:United States State/Province: North Carolina Locality: Atlantic Ocean, about 100 mi. E of Carolina Beach, North Carolina Latitude: Longitude: Coordinate precision: Depth: minimum 31, maximum 31 (interpreted as 31.0 metres) A DARWIN CORE RECORD FOR A MOLA MOLA (Sunfish) WHAT STORY _DOESN’T_ THIS RECORD TELL? Example from Thomer et al. (in review)

Darwin Core – Extensions and connections

Darwin Core (is fierce like a tiger) Most point occurrences in this format If not in DwC, BE CAUTIOUS If yes, STILL be cautious (but common formats V. useful) Not all fields in a DwC need be filled out! Different flavors: occurrence, taxon checklist, soon even genes

MORE CORE: Darwin Core Archives (a self-describing darwin core record set) Integrated Publishing Toolkit (a means to publish Darwin Core Archives) LOTS OF QUESTIONS!?