diff --git a/xsd/eml-attribute.xsd b/xsd/eml-attribute.xsd index bcec2900..902d992d 100644 --- a/xsd/eml-attribute.xsd +++ b/xsd/eml-attribute.xsd @@ -761,18 +761,23 @@ Semantic Annotation - A precisely-defined semantic type for this attribute. + A precisely-defined semantic statement for this attribute. An annotation represents a precisely-defined semantic - type that applies to this attribute. This semantic type is used to - associate precise measurement semantics with the attribute, including - the property that is being measured (oboe:Characteristic), the entity - that is being measured (oboe:Entity), and the measurement standard for - interpreting values for this attribute (oboe:Standard). Each annotation - consists of a termURI which is the canonical reference fo the term, and - a termLabel that can be used to display the term to users. The termURI is - typically resolvable to a controlled vocabulary that provides a definition, - relationships to other terms, and multiple labels for displaying the term. + statement that applies to this attribute. This semantic + statement is used to associate precise measurement semantics + with the attribute, such as the property that is being measured + (e.g., oboe:Characteristic), the entity that is being measured + (e.g., oboe:Entity), and the measurement standard for + interpreting values for this attribute (e.g., oboe:Standard). + Each annotation consists of a propertyURI and valueURI that + define the property and value of the statement. The subject + of the statement is the eml:attribute that contains the + annotation. The propertyLabel and valueLabel can be used + to display the statement to users. Each URI is + typically resolvable to a controlled vocabulary that provides + a definition, relationships to other terms, and multiple + labels for displaying the statement. diff --git a/xsd/eml-entity.xsd b/xsd/eml-entity.xsd index 564c93e3..018ad578 100644 --- a/xsd/eml-entity.xsd +++ b/xsd/eml-entity.xsd @@ -287,15 +287,17 @@ Semantic Annotation - A precisely-defined semantic type for this entity. + A precisely-defined semantic statement about this entity. An annotation represents a precisely-defined semantic - type that applies to this entity. This semantic type is used to - associate precise measurement semantics with the entity. Each annotation - consists of a termURI which is the canonical reference fo the term, and - a termLabel that can be used to display the term to users. The termURI is - typically resolvable to a controlled vocabulary that provides a definition, - relationships to other terms, and multiple labels for displaying the term. + statement that applies to this entity. This semantic statement + is used to associate precise measurement semantics with the + entity. Each annotation consists of a propertyURI and valueURI, + which define a property and a value that apply to the entity. + The propertyLabel and valueLabel can be used to display the + value to users. Each URI is typically resolvable to a + controlled vocabulary that provides a definition, relationships + to other terms, and multiple labels for displaying the statement. diff --git a/xsd/eml-resource.xsd b/xsd/eml-resource.xsd index b0a9e8c0..cc312257 100644 --- a/xsd/eml-resource.xsd +++ b/xsd/eml-resource.xsd @@ -396,15 +396,19 @@ Semantic Annotation - A precisely-defined semantic type for this resource. + A precisely-defined semantic statement about this resource. An annotation represents a precisely-defined semantic - type that applies to this resource. This semantic type is used to - associate precise semantics with the resource. Each annotation - consists of a termURI which is the canonical reference fo the term, and - a termLabel that can be used to display the term to users. The termURI is - typically resolvable to a controlled vocabulary that provides a definition, - relationships to other terms, and multiple labels for displaying the term. + statement that applies to this resource. This semantic + statement is used to associate precise semantics with the + resource. Each annotation consists of a propertyURI and + valueURI that define a property and value that apply to the + resource. The subject of the statement is implicitly the + eml:resource that contains the annotation. The propertyLabel + and valueLabel can be used to display the statement to users. + Each URI is typically resolvable to a controlled vocabulary + that provides a definition, relationships to other terms, and + multiple labels for displaying the statement. diff --git a/xsd/eml-semantics.xsd b/xsd/eml-semantics.xsd index 7e30a9d9..12334fbd 100644 --- a/xsd/eml-semantics.xsd +++ b/xsd/eml-semantics.xsd @@ -28,13 +28,17 @@ The eml-semantics module - Semantic annotations for formalizing meaning - The eml-semantics module defines types and elements for annotating other - structures within EML with semantically-precise terms from various - controlled vocabularies. This is accomplished by associating the global - URI for a term along with the common label for the term with one of the - elements within EML, such as an attribute, an entity, or an overall dataset. - It is used throughout the other EML modules where detailed semantic - information is needed. + The eml-semantics module defines types and elements for + annotating other structures within EML with semantically-precise + statements from various controlled vocabularies. This is + accomplished by associating the global URI for a property and + value with elements from EML, such as an attribute, an entity, + or a dataset. It is used throughout the other EML modules where + detailed semantic information is needed. For example, given an + EML attribute named "tmpair", one might want to indicate + semantically that the attribute is measuring the property + "Temperature" from a sample of the entity "Air", where both of + those terms are defined precisely in controlled vocabularies. @@ -47,16 +51,18 @@ Semantic annotation - A semantically-precise term associated with another element. + A semantically-precise statement about an EML element.
- The SemanticAnnotation Type contains - elements that are used to associate a controlled term from a specific - formal vocabulary with other elements within EML. For example, one - might want to provide the precise set of terms from an ontology that - clarify the measurement semantics of an attribute within a data set, - or associate a specific term with a data table or dataset. + The SemanticAnnotation Type contains + elements that are used to associate a semantic statement using + a property and value from specific formal vocabularies with + other elements within EML. For example, one + might want to provide the precise set of semantic statements that + clarify the measurement semantics of an attribute (variable) + within a data set, or associate a specific statement with a + data table or dataset.
@@ -65,53 +71,107 @@ - + - Term URI - The persistent URI used to identify a term from a vocabulary. + Property URI + The persistent URI used to identify a property from a vocabulary. - The URI for a term that is drawn from a controlled - vocabulary such as a published ontology or controlled term list. These terms - should provide a semantically-precise definition of the term, inlcuding various - relationships to related terms. Term URIs are typically drawn from formal - ontologies that provide well-defined logical semantics and provide for various - types of reasoning about term equivalence and overlap. - Term URIs should be persistent and unique over decades, - and the meaning of the terms associated with the URI should be stable - over time as well. These URIs are usually constructed using - an additional abstraction layer via link resolvers, rather than directly - resolving to the term definition itself. Thus, when resolving the termURI, - software user agents should be prepared to follow multiple redirects before - finally resolving the current location of the term definition. However, there - is no requirement that termURIs need to be resolvable, and metadata parsers should - expect to find termURIs that do not resolve and are only used as unique URIs for the term. + The URI for a property that is drawn from a controlled + vocabulary, and that links the subject of this annotation + (which is implied by its parent elements) to the annotation value. + + http://ecoinformatics.org/oboe/oboe.1.2/oboe-characteristics.owl#ofCharacteristic + http://ecoinformatics.org/oboe/oboe.1.2/oboe-standards.owl#usesStandard + + + + + + + Property Label + + A human readable representation of the controlled property. + + + A label that provides a human readable representation of + the controlled property. The label is often used to represent + the controlled property when displaying annotations in + software. The label is often redundant with one or more labels + that are defined in the controlled vocabulary itself, + but is repreated here within the EML document to make it easy + for consumers to display the annotation to users. Other + labels, including labels in multiple languages, may often be + accessible from within the ontology or controlled + vocabularly accessible at the propertyURI. Property definitions + and relationships to other properties are also typically + provided within the vocabularly accessible at the propertyURI. + Software and people may be able to resolve the URI to find out + the definition and retrieve additional labels and other metadata + for presentation to users. + + has characteristic + uses protocol + + + + + + + Value URI + The persistent URI used to identify a value from a vocabulary. + + The URI for a value that is drawn from a controlled + vocabulary such as a published ontology or controlled term list. The + value represents the object of a semantic statement in which the + subject is the containing element, the property is defined by + the sibling propertyURI, and this valueURI element represents + the object. These values should be precisely defined, + including defining various relationships to related concepts. + Value URIs are typically drawn from formal ontologies that + provide well-defined logical semantics and provide for various + types of reasoning about value equivalence and overlap. + Value URIs should be persistent and unique over decades, + and the meaning of the values associated with the URI should + be stable over time as well. These URIs are usually constructed + using an additional abstraction layer via link resolvers, + rather than directly resolving to the term definition itself. + Thus, when resolving the valueURI, software user agents should + be prepared to follow multiple redirects before finally + resolving the current location of the value definition. + However, there is no requirement that valueURIs need to be + resolvable, and metadata parsers should expect to find + valueURIs that do not resolve and are only used as unique + URIs for the value. http://ecoinformatics.org/oboe/oboe.1.2/oboe-characteristics.owl#Mass http://ecoinformatics.org/oboe/oboe.1.2/oboe-standards.owl#Kilogram - + - Term Label + Value Label - A human readable representation of the controlled term. + A human readable representation of the controlled value. A label that provides a human readable representation of - the controlled term. The label is often used to represent the controlled - term when displaying annotations in software. The label is often redundant - with one or more labels that are defined in the controlled vocabulary itself, - but is repreated here within the EML document to make it easy for consumers to - display the annotation to users. Other labels, including labels in multiple - languages, may often be accessible from within the ontology or controlled - vocabularly accessible at the termURI. Term definitions and relationships to - other terms are also typically provided within the vocabularly accessible - at the termURI. Software and people can resolve the term URI to find out - the definition of the term and retrieve additional labels and other metadata - about the term for presentation to users. + the controlled value. The label is often used to represent the + controlled value when displaying annotations in software. The + label is often redundant with one or more labels that are + defined in the controlled vocabulary itself, but is repreated + here within the EML document to make it easy for consumers to + display the annotation to users. Other labels, including + labels in multiple languages, may often be accessible from + within the ontology or controlled vocabularly accessible at + the valueURI. Value definitions and relationships to + other terms are also typically provided within the vocabularly + accessible at the valueURI. Software and people can resolve + the value URI to find out the definition of the value and + retrieve additional labels and other metadata about the value + for presentation to users. Mass Kilogram @@ -127,12 +187,30 @@ Semantic Annotation - A precisely-defined semantic term. + A precisely-defined semantic statement. An annotation represents a precisely-defined semantic - term that is used to label another structure within EML, such as an - attribute, entity, or dataset. + statement that is used to semantically label another structure + within EML, such as an attribute, entity, or dataset. The annotation + is composed of a subject (implied by the element containing + the annotation or pointed at from within eml:additionalMetadata), a + property that defines the relationship between the + subject and the object of the statement, and the value of that + property. This is equivalent to RDF Statements that consist of a + Subject, Predicate, and Object. More concretely, the annotation + provides a way to state that an element within EML has a specific + property with a specific value. + For example, a common annotation would state that a containing + 'attribute' uses a measurement unit of 'grams'. This would be equivalent + to defining a statement using the OBOE design pattern that says: + 'attribute7' 'oboe:usesStandard' 'oboe:Gram', where 'attribute7' is + shorthand for the attribute in EML containing the annotation, and + 'oboe:' is shorthand for the full OBOE URI. In this example, + 'attribute7' is the subject represented as the id of the attribute + containing the annotation, 'oboe:standard' is the propertyURI for the + statement, and 'oboe:Gram' is the object of the statement. +