CG Core Metadata Reference Guide

This page provides a list of the metadata elements that are used in the CG Core metadata schema. The CG Core metadata schema is an application profile and is built from existing standards as much as possible. It is an effort led by the Big Data Platform Metadata Working Group of the CGIAR.

The CG Core aims to describe all types of information products that are published by the different CGIAR centres. There are many benefits of having a clear and harmonised way to describe information products:

  • better interoperability
  • better transparency
  • easy monitoring

This document provides guidelines on how to use the CG Core metadata schema and provides examples on how to use it. An RDF version of the application profile will be available soon.

Metadata Properties

identifier title description type language license rightsHolder accessRights subject issued embargoDate creator contributor coverage relation hasMetadata

identifier
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/dc/terms/identifier
Definition An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context.
Comments Recommended best practice is to identify the resource by using a DOI or an handle
Examples
title
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/dc/terms/title
Definition A name given to the resource
Comments Follow standard title formatting for capitalization and punctuation.
Examples
  • Managing for timber and biodiversity in the Congo basin
  • A 2007 Social Accounting Matrix for China
  • 2012 Global Hunger Index Data
description
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/dc/terms/description
Definition Description may include but is not limited to: an abstract, a table of contents, a graphical representation, or a free-text account of the resource.
Comments Descriptive details significantly improve discoverability via search engines such as Google and Bing, and will aid interlink between related resources at the meta-search/indexer level. Descriptions can be provided in multiple languages if appropriate and available.
Examples
type
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/dc/terms/type
Definition The nature or genre of the resource
Comments Must be populated with a value from the local Type and subType lists
Examples Datafile
language
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/dc/terms/language
Definition A language of the resource.
Comments ISO 639-2 (alpha-3)
Examples eng
license
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/dc/terms/license
Definition A legal document giving official permission to do something with the resource.
Comments List of licenses from SPDX
Examples http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
rightsHolder
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/dc/terms/rightsHolder
Definition A person or organisation owning or managing rights over the resource.
Comments
Examples CIAT
accessRights
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/dc/terms/accessRights
Definition Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
Comments Values should come from the following list: "open", "restricted"
Examples open
subject
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject
Definition keywords describing the subject of the information product.
Comments To be used to link the resource to one or more concept
Examples
issued
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/dc/terms/issued
Definition Date of formal issuance (e.g., publication) of the resource
Comments The date when the information product was created in its final form to be published
Examples
embargoDate
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/cg/terms/embargoDate
Definition In cases when the information product has an embargo this date indicates when it would be available.
Comments
Examples
creator
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/dc/terms/creator
Definition To be used to link the resource to one or more creator objects
Comments This term is intended to be used with non-literal values
Examples
contributor
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/dc/terms/contributor
Definition To be used to link the resource to one or more contributor objects
Comments This term is intended to be used with non-literal values
Examples
coverage
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/dc/terms/coverage
Definition To be used to link the resource to one or more coverage objects
Comments This term is intended to be used with non-literal values
Examples
relation
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/dc/terms/relation
Definition A related resource
Comments This term is intended to be used with non-literal values. Should be use to link a dataset to its related publication(s) and reciprocally
Examples
hasMetadata
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/cg/terms/hasMetadata
Definition A related resource that is the metadata record for the measured variables of the described dataset
Comments This term is intended to be used with non-literal values.
Examples

Metadata Classes

Concept

concept
Class
Identifier http://purl.org/cg/terms/concept
Definition A a unit of thought e.g. skos:concept, owl:class or simple keywords
Comments
Examples
label
Property
Identifier http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#label
Definition The label of the concept
Comments Should be the preferred label if a concept has several labels
Examples
vocab
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/cg/terms/vocab
Definition Source of the concept
Comments One of the following: AGROVOC, GACS, AgrO, CO
Examples AGROVOC
identifier
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/dc/terms/identifier
Definition URI of the concept
Comments
Examples http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_7771

Contributor

contributor
Class
Identifier http://purl.org/cg/terms/contributor
Definition Organisation, or service making contributions to the information product.
Comments describe one of the following: "Project", "Project Lead Entity", "Partner", "CRP", "Donor"
Examples
name
Property
Identifier http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/name
Definition The name identifying the contributor
Comments
Examples
type
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/dc/terms/type
Definition The type of contributor the contributor
Comments one of these values: "Project", "Project Lead Entity", "Partner", "CRP", "Donor"
Examples

Coverage

coverage
Class
Identifier http://purl.org/cg/terms/coverage
Definition Spatial or temporal coverage
Comments
Examples
type
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/dc/terms/type
Definition The nature or genre of the coverage information
Comments Must be populated with a value coming from the coverage type list
Examples
  • spatial
  • temporal
  • region
  • country
  • administrative Unit
  • AEZ
  • X
  • Y
spatial
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/dc/terms/spatial
Definition Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Comments
Examples
temporal
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/dc/terms/temporal
Definition Temporal characteristics of the resource.
Comments Should point to an interval of time that is named or defined by its start and end dates.
Examples
label
Property
Identifier http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#label
Definition Label of the spatial zone
Comments
Examples
identifier
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/dc/terms/identifier
Definition Identifier of the spatial unit
Comments
Examples
code
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/cg/terms/code
Definition Code of the agroecological zone as defined by FAO
Comments
Examples 101
xCoord
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/cg/terms/xCoord
Definition x coordinate, in decimal degrees
Comments
Examples
yCoord
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/cg/terms/yCoord
Definition y coordinate, in decimal degrees
Comments
Examples

Creator

creator
Class
Identifier http://purl.org/cg/terms/creator
Definition The author(s), researcher(s), scientist(s) responsible for producing the information product
Comments
Examples
identifier
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/dc/terms/identifier
Definition ORCID
Comments
Examples
affiliation
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/cg/terms/affiliation
Definition the affiliation of the creator
Comments Must be populated with a value coming from the CLARISA institution list or the grid list
Examples Bioversity International
name
Property
Identifier http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/name
Definition The full name identifying the creator
Comments
Examples

Scientific Publication

Scientific Publication
Class
Identifier http://purl.org/cg/terms/ScientificPublication
Definition Specific Information Product type covering publications
Comments
Examples
abstract
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/dc/terms/abstract
Definition A summary of the resource
Comments refines dct:description
Examples
bibliographicCitation
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/dc/terms/bibliographicCitation
Definition A bibliographic reference for the resource
Comments Recommended practice is to include sufficient bibliographic detail to identify the resource as unambiguously as possible. Refines dct:identifier
Examples
publisher
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/dc/terms/publisher
Definition An entity responsible for making the resource available
Comments Here, the publisher of the scientific publication
Examples
issn
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/cg/terms/issn
Definition Used to record ISSN number
Comments Refines dct:identifier
Examples
isbn
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/cg/terms/isbn
Definition Used to record ISBN number
Comments Refines dct:identifier
Examples
peer-reviewed
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/cg/terms/peer-reviewed
Definition If the resource has been peer reviewed
Comments
Examples true is peer-reviewed, not used if not
Alternative Title
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/dc/terms/alternative
Definition An alternative name for the resource.
Comments refines dct:title
Examples
howpublished
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/cg/terms/howpublished
Definition How it was published, if the publishing method is nonstandard
Comments
Examples
journal
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/cg/terms/journal
Definition The journal name
Comments
Examples
booktitle
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/cg/terms/booktitle
Definition The title of the book, if only part of it is being cited
Comments
Examples
chapter
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/cg/terms/chapter
Definition The chapter number
Comments
Examples
pages
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/cg/terms/pages
Definition Page numbers
Comments
Examples
volume
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/cg/terms/volume
Definition The volume of a journal or multi-volume book
Comments
Examples
number
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/cg/terms/number
Definition The "(issue) number" of a journal, magazine, or tech-report
Comments
Examples
extent
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/dc/terms/extent
Definition The size or duration of the resource
Comments
Examples
  • p. 1159-1179
  • 47 p.
  • 185-211 p.
  • 65(2): 200-206
  • 1-13
series
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/cg/terms/series
Definition The series of books the book was published in
Comments
Examples Lecture Notes in Computer Science
edition
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/cg/terms/edition
Definition The edition of a book, long form
Comments
Examples First Edition
notes
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/cg/terms/notes
Definition Miscellaneous extra information related to a scientific publication
Comments
Examples
audience
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/dc/terms/audience
Definition A class of entity for whom the resource is intended or useful.
Comments Should be populated using 'Agent Class', which include groups seen as classes, such as students, women, charities, lecturers.
Examples Students
isPartOf
Property
Identifier http://purl.org/dc/terms/isPartOf
Definition A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included
Comments Should be used to link a book to a series
Examples