Compilation of Recommendations

Details

Short Title

R 8: Document and share the whole process

Source Documnent

Guidelines for publishing structured metadata on the Web V3.0

Source Document Link

https://doi.org/10.15497/RDA00066

Publishing Organisation

RDA Research Metadata Schemas WG

Date of Publication

2021-06-15

Topic

Capacity building/ incentivisation

Addressed Stakeholders

data service providers

Keywords

policy, documentation

Text

Documenting the Schema.org implementation process, reasoning, and considerations will help existing and new repository staff understand the implementation in a way that allows for future improvements to be implemented effectively and efficiently. Additionally, the documentation will allow easier identification of potential problem areas and future discussions on community best practice. Metadata schemas are reviewed regularly to ensure that the purpose is meeting expectations, and so this will not only improve processes for one particular research community, but also potentially the larger research community. It is recommended that documentation: Specifies each step as discussed in the Recommendation 1 to 8 wherever applicable, including the supporting schemas and crosswalks implemented (i.e., the use different categories, such as mandatory, recommended, optional) so it is clear what the minimum is and how to go beyond; Provides enough examples (both mapping and implementation), covering common scenarios within the community of use; Includes information such as which repositories are harvesting your data, and if semantic markup was used by those harvesters. These two things will help new implementers in the same community see what a successful implementation looks like from both the home repository, and the harvesting repository, which can be very useful in the grand scheme of technical implementation. Include who a list of adopters of the recommended process especially if the publication process is community-led; Considers publishing and making the documentation findable and accessible to wider communities via the web, so other repository owners can learn, follow or adapt their own approach.