Associated Resource ★★★

Geospatial data and service often are part of a larger collection of resources. Geospatial practitioners need to be provided linkages to these associated resources of which a given resource is a part. There are many types of associated resources, spatial and non-spatial. Associated resources can also provide a useful path for discovery.

Definition

An entity to indicate an association between resources and records related to the resources when part of a larger collection

ISO Obligation -

• In a metadata record there should be zero to many [0..*] associatedResources packages for the cited resource in the MD_DataIdentification package of class MD_AssociatedResource that relate a resource to other resources. These should be of type DS_AssociationTypeCode.

Discussion

When important aspects or information about a spatial resource are derived by the association of this resource to others of which it is part, it is useful that these associations be documented in the metadata so as these can be captured and discovered. Doing so provides important avenues for additional data discovery. Some resources are truly of little use unless combined with others of which they are a part.

Best Practice Recommendations

Therefore - to provide an effective way to document, preserve and provide discovery of associated resources, these relations should be documented in the metadata. At a minimum, this should include a name, description of the relationship and link to the resource or its metadata. In contrast to additionalDocumentation which can be thought of as outputs used to describe and understand a cited resource, an associatedResource is something that is of a piece of, or input to, the cited resource.

Recommended Sub-Elements

• associationType - (codelist - DS_AssociationTypeCode) [1..1] Mandatory for associated resource citations - one name for the type of relationship
  • crossReference - reference from one resource to another
  • largerWorkCitation - reference to a master resource of which this one is a part
  • partOfSeamlessDatabase - part of same structured set of data held in a computer
  • stereoMate - part of a set of imagery that when used together, provides three-dimensional images
  • isComposedOf - reference to resources that are parts of this resource
  • collectiveTitle - common title for a collection of resources
  • series - associated through a common heritage such as produced to a common product specification
  • dependency - associated through a dependency
  • revisionOf - resource is a revision of associated resource
• At least one of:
  • name - (class - CI_Citation/title) {0..1]} - citation information about the associated resource
  • metadataReference - (class - CI_Citation) [0..1] - reference to the metadata of the associated resource
• Optional sub elements
  • initiativeType - (codelist - DS_InitiativeTypeCode) [0..1] - type of initiative under which the associated resource was produced

## Outstanding Issues

Geonetwork support Support of associated resources for iso19115-3 in GeoNetwork 3.6 seems limited and perhaps broken. This needs investigation.

## Other discussion

DCAT Def - A resource with an unspecified relationship to the catalogued item. Notes - Use only if more specific subproperty is not available. Sub-properties of dct:relation in particular dcat:distribution, dct:hasPart, (and its sub-properties dcat:catalog, dcat:dataset, dcat:service ), dct:isPartOf, dct:conformsTo, dct:isFormatOf, dct:hasFormat, dct:isVersionOf, dct:hasVersion, dct:replaces, dct:isReplacedBy, dct:references, dct:isReferencedBy, dct:requires, dct:isRequiredBy

## Also Consider

• additionalDocumentation - other documentation associated with the resource, e.g. related articles, publications, user guides, data dictionaries.
• resourceLineage - Information about the provenance, source(s), and/or the production process(es) applied to the resource.
• browseGraphic - associates to a large number of packages to provide linkage to associated image files, such as business or product icons and logos
• supplementalInformation - a free text field that is defined as “any other descriptive information about the resource”.

Crosswalk considerations

Examples

<mdb:MD_Metadata>  
....
 </mdb:identificationInfo>   
  </mri:MD_DataIdentification>
  ....  
   <mri:associatedResource>
    <mri:MD_AssociatedResource>
     <mri:name>
      <cit:CI_Citation>
       <cit:title>
        <gco:CharacterString>Big Project</gco:CharacterString>
       </cit:title>
      </cit:CI_Citation>
     </mri:name>
     <mri:associationType>
      <mri:DS_AssociationTypeCode codeList="https://schemas.isotc211.org
      /19115/resources/Codelist/cat/codelists.xml#DS_AssociationTypeCode"
      codeListValue="largerWorkCitation"/>
     </mri:associationType>
    </mri:MD_AssociatedResource>
   </mri:associatedResource>
  ....
  </mri:MD_DataIdentification>
 </mdb:identificationInfo>
....
</mdb:MD_Metadata>

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