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DOI-DO / dcat-us

Data Catalog Vocabulary (DCAT) - United States Profile Chief Data Officers Council & Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology
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Primary topic is a confusing property name #150

Closed sofianef closed 8 months ago

sofianef commented 9 months ago

Name: Morgan Daniels

Affiliation: USAID, mdaniels@usaid.gov

Type of issue: Editorial, Administrative

Section # / Table #: 5.9.1

Issue:

Original email submission: USAID-FAIRness.Project.-.DCAT-US-3-AP.-.Comment.Review.Matrix_USAID.xlsx

fellahst commented 8 months ago

Response for GitHub Issue:

Dear Morgan Daniels,

Thank you for your feedback on the DCAT-US profile, specifically regarding the property name foaf:primaryTopic in Section primary topic

We understand your concern about the clarity of the property name. The term foaf:primaryTopic is indeed defined in the DCAT CatalogRecord specification (https://www.w3.org/TR/vocab-dcat-3/#Property:record_primary_topic). This property is used to denote the main or primary topic of a web resource, and it is a standard term within the Friend of a Friend (FOAF) vocabulary, which is commonly used in the context of Linked Data and semantic web technologies.

In the DCAT-US context, foaf:primaryTopic serves to provide a clear linkage between the CatalogRecord and the primary dataset or dataset series that the record describes. The use of standardized vocabularies like FOAF ensures consistency and interoperability in the representation of metadata across different systems.

While we acknowledge that the term might seem abstract or less intuitive, its usage is aligned with established practices in semantic web and data cataloging standards. We appreciate your input as it helps us improve the usability and understandability of the DCAT-US profile. Please feel free to reach out if you have further suggestions or need additional clarifications.