Review and update skos:narrowMatch and skos:broadMatch mappings

This PR and issue in the SSSOM repo showed that - by following the old SSSOM guidance - we have sometimes used the SKOS predicates for narrow match and broad match incorrectly.

Definition in old SSSOM guidance:

skos:narrowMatch: The subject is taxonomically narrower than the object. skos:broadMatch: The subject is taxonomically broader than the object.

The updated definitions are in accordance with the SKOS specs:

skos:narrowMatch: From the SKOS primer: A triple \ skos:narrower (and skos:narrowMatch) \ asserts that \, the object of the triple, is a narrower concept than \, the subject of the triple skos:broadMatch: From the SKOS primer: A triple \ skos:broader (and skos:broadMatch) \ asserts that \, the object of the triple, is a broader concept than \, the subject of the triple

The SSSOM guidance has since been updated.

In this issue we will review and update our mapping files to fix this.

Please see below for a list of the mappings that use skos:narrowMatch or skos:broadMatch and may require updating:

Semantic mappings

V1 skos:broadMatch, potentially need to be update to skos:narrowMatch

dwc:verbatimCoordinates [Verbatim Coordinates] to MIXS:0000009 [lat_lon]

dwc:country [Country] to MIXS:0000010 [geo_loc_name]

dwc:waterBody [Water Body] to MIXS:0000010 [geo_loc_name]

dwc:associatedOrganisms [Associated Organisms] to MIXS:0000028 [biotic_relationship]

dwc:samplingProtocol [Sampling Protocol] to MIXS:0000002 [samp_collect_device] update comment!

dwc:sampleSizeValue [Sample Size Value] to MIXS:0000001 [samp_size]

dwc:sampleSizeUnit [Sample Size Unit] to MIXS:0000001 [samp_size]

V1 skos:narrowMatch, potentially need to be updated to skos:broadMatch

dwc:decimalLatitude [Decimal Latitude] toMIXS:0000009 [lat_lon]

dwc:decimalLongitude [Decimal Longitude] to MIXS:0000009 [lat_lon]

dwc:verbatimLatitude [Verbatim Latitude] to MIXS:0000009 [lat_lon]

dwc:verbatimLongitude [Verbatim Longitude] to MIXS:0000009 [lat_lon]

dwc:verbatimDepth [Verbatim Depth] to MIXS:0000018 [depth]

dwc:minimumDistanceAboveSurfaceInMeters [Minimum Distance Above Surface in Meters] to MIXS:0000018 [depth]

dwc:maximumDistanceAboveSurfaceInMeters [Maximum Distance Above Surface in Meters] to MIXS:0000018 [depth]

dwc:minimumDepthInMeters [Minimum Depth In Meters] to MIXS:0000018 [depth]

dwc:maximumDepthInMeters [Maximum Depth In Meters] to MIXS:0000018 [depth]

dwc:minimumDistanceAboveSurfaceInMeters [Minimum Distance Above Surface in Meters] to [alt]

dwc:maximumDistanceAboveSurfaceInMeters [Maximum Distance Above Surface in Meters] to [alt]

dwc:minimumElevationInMeters [Minimum Elevation in Meters] to MIXS:0000093 [elev]

dwc:maximumElevationInMeters [Maximum Elevation in Meters] to MIXS:0000093 [elev]

dwc:eventDate [Event Date] to MIXS:0000011 [collection_date]

dwc:samplingProtocol [Sampling Protocol] to MIXS:0000016 [samp_mat_process]

dwc:associatedSequences [Associated Sequences] to MIXS:0000091 [url]

dwc:associatedTaxa [Associated Taxa] to MIXS:0000091 [url]

Syntactic mappings

V1 skos:narrowMatch, potentially need to be updated to skos:broadMatch

dwc:decimalLatitude [Decimal Latitude] to MIXS:0000009 [lat_lon]

dwc:decimalLongitude [Decimal Longitude] to MIXS:0000009 [lat_lon]

dwc:minimumDepthInMeters [Minimum Depth In Meters] to MIXS:0000018 [depth]

dwc:maximumDepthInMeters [Maximum Depth In Meters] to MIXS:0000018 [depth]

dwc:minimumDistanceAboveSurfaceInMeters [Minimum Distance Above Surface in Meters] to [alt]

dwc:maximumDistanceAboveSurfaceInMeters [Maximum Distance Above Surface in Meters] to [alt]

dwc:minimumElevationInMeters [Minimum Elevation in Meters] to MIXS:0000093 [elev]

dwc:maximumElevationInMeters [Maximum Elevation in Meters] to MIXS:0000093 [elev]

List of terms with updated semantic mappings

skos:broadMatch updated to skos:narrowMatch "subject has skos:narrowMatch object"

dwc:verbatimCoordinates [Verbatim Coordinates] skos:narrowMatch MIXS:0000009 [lat_lon]
- xRef https://github.com/tdwg/gbwg/issues/12#issue-805145896
- "original spatial coordinates of the location" is semantically broader than "latitude and longitude"
dwc:samplingProtocol [Sampling Protocol] skos:narrowMatch MIXS:0000002 [samp_collect_device]
- xRef https://github.com/tdwg/gbwg/issues/20#issue-805169799
- Update comment: dwc:samplingProtocol covers both of the concepts samp_collect_device and samp_collect_process. Both of these terms list both, the names of (or links to) methods, or devices (either in the definition or in the examples). Based on the examples these could be skos:exactMatch, focusing on the definition, skos:narrowMatch would be appropriate. The information that this term and the samp_mat_process capture is often captured in the method steps in the EML (metadata about the dataset, not indexed in GBIF’s case), and less in the DwC terms themselves. This influences how people will use the terms in reality.

List of terms with updated semantic mappings

skos:narrowMatch updated to skos:broadMatch "subject has skos:broadMatch object"

dwc:decimalLatitude [Decimal Latitude] toMIXS:0000009 [lat_lon]
- xRef https://github.com/tdwg/gbwg/issues/12#issuecomment-810125107
- DwC expects only the latitude (narrower), while MIxS expects both latitude and longitude (broader)
dwc:decimalLongitude [Decimal Longitude] to MIXS:0000009 [lat_lon]
- xRef https://github.com/tdwg/gbwg/issues/12#issuecomment-810125107
- DwC expects only the longitude (narrower), while MIxS expects both latitude and longitude (broader)
dwc:verbatimLatitude [Verbatim Latitude] to MIXS:0000009 [lat_lon]
- xRef https://github.com/tdwg/gbwg/issues/12#issuecomment-810125107
- DwC expects only the latitude (narrower), while MIxS expects both latitude and longitude (broader)
dwc:verbatimLongitude [Verbatim Longitude] to MIXS:0000009 [lat_lon]
- xRef https://github.com/tdwg/gbwg/issues/12#issuecomment-810125107
- DwC expects only the longitude (narrower), while MIxS expects both latitude and longitude (broader)
dwc:minimumDistanceAboveSurfaceInMeters [Minimum Distance Above Surface in Meters] to MIXS:0000018 [depth]
- xRef https://github.com/tdwg/gbwg/issues/13#issue-805149090
- DwC expects only the upper depth limit - negative value for depth - in meter (narrower), while MIxS expects either a single depth measurement or a range
dwc:maximumDistanceAboveSurfaceInMeters [Maximum Distance Above Surface in Meters] to MIXS:0000018 [depth]
- xRef https://github.com/tdwg/gbwg/issues/13#issue-805149090
- DwC expects only the lower depth limit - negative value for depth - in meter (narrower), while MIxS expects either a single depth measurement or a range
dwc:minimumDepthInMeters [Minimum Depth In Meters] to MIXS:0000018 [depth]
- xRef https://github.com/tdwg/gbwg/issues/13#issuecomment-818165921
- The DwC term specifically addresses a range of depths, for which this term gives the minimum depth, whereas the MIxS term does not specify that it is about a depth range (expecting either a single depth measurement or a range)
dwc:maximumDepthInMeters [Maximum Depth In Meters] to MIXS:0000018 [depth]
- xRef https://github.com/tdwg/gbwg/issues/13#issuecomment-818165921
- The DwC term specifically addresses a range of depths, for which this term gives the maximum depth, whereas the MIxS term does not specify that it is about a depth range (expecting either a single depth measurement or a range)
dwc:minimumDistanceAboveSurfaceInMeters [Minimum Distance Above Surface in Meters] to [alt]
- xRef https://github.com/tdwg/gbwg/issues/14#issue-805153888
- DwC expects only the lower altitude limit - positive value for altitude - in meter (narrower), while MIxS expects a single altitude measurement at which the sample was taken
dwc:maximumDistanceAboveSurfaceInMeters [Maximum Distance Above Surface in Meters] to [alt]
- xRef https://github.com/tdwg/gbwg/issues/14#issue-805153888
- DwC expects only the upper altitude limit - positive value for altitude - in meter (narrower), while MIxS expects a single altitude measurement at which the sample was taken
dwc:minimumElevationInMeters [Minimum Elevation in Meters] to MIXS:0000093 [elev]
- xRef https://github.com/tdwg/gbwg/issues/15#issuecomment-810365548
- DwC expects only the lower elevation limit in meter (narrower), while MIxS expects a single elevation measurement at which the sample was taken
dwc:maximumElevationInMeters [Maximum Elevation in Meters] to MIXS:0000093 [elev]
- xRef https://github.com/tdwg/gbwg/issues/15#issuecomment-810365548
- DwC expects only the upper elevation limit in meter (narrower), while MIxS expects a single elevation measurement at which the sample was taken
dwc:associatedSequences [Associated Sequences] to MIXS:0000091 [url]
- xRef https://github.com/tdwg/gbwg/issues/23#issuecomment-810376934
- DwC expects only the identifiers (DOI to publication, global unique ID, URI) to associated taxa, while MIxS expects a url to anything related
dwc:associatedTaxa [Associated Taxa] to MIXS:0000091 [url]
- xRef https://github.com/tdwg/gbwg/issues/23#issuecomment-810376934
- DwC expects only the identifiers or names of associated taxa, while MIxS expects a url to anything related

List of terms with updated syntactic mappings

skos:narrowMatch updated to skos:broadMatch "subject has skos:broadMatch object"

dwc:decimalLatitude [Decimal Latitude] to MIXS:0000009 [lat_lon]
- xRef https://github.com/tdwg/gbwg/issues/12#issuecomment-810125107
- DwC term expects one value, while MIxS expects two
dwc:decimalLongitude [Decimal Longitude] to MIXS:0000009 [lat_lon]
- xRef https://github.com/tdwg/gbwg/issues/12#issuecomment-810125107
- DwC term expects one value, while MIxS expects two
dwc:minimumDepthInMeters [Minimum Depth In Meters] to MIXS:0000018 [depth]
- xRef https://github.com/tdwg/gbwg/issues/13#issuecomment-818165921
- DwC expects only the value {float}, whereas the MIxS syntax expects the value and the unit to be added {float} {unit}
dwc:maximumDepthInMeters [Maximum Depth In Meters] to MIXS:0000018 [depth]
- xRef https://github.com/tdwg/gbwg/issues/13#issuecomment-818165921
- DwC expects only the value {float}, whereas the MIxS syntax expects the value and the unit to be added {float} {unit}
dwc:minimumDistanceAboveSurfaceInMeters [Minimum Distance Above Surface in Meters] to [alt]
- xRef https://github.com/tdwg/gbwg/issues/14#issuecomment-821090331
- DwC expects only the value {float}, whereas the MIxS syntax expects the value and the unit to be added {float} {unit}. However, this mapping is only based on the definition and term label (DwC example is not consistent)
dwc:maximumDistanceAboveSurfaceInMeters [Maximum Distance Above Surface in Meters] to [alt]
- xRef https://github.com/tdwg/gbwg/issues/14#issuecomment-821090331
- DwC expects only the value {float}, whereas the MIxS syntax expects the value and the unit to be added {float} {unit}. However, this mapping is only based on the definition and term label (DwC example is not consistent)
dwc:minimumElevationInMeters [Minimum Elevation in Meters] to MIXS:0000093 [elev]
- xRef https://github.com/tdwg/gbwg/issues/15#issuecomment-810365548
- DwC expects only the value {float}, whereas the MIxS syntax expects the value and the unit to be added {float} {unit}
dwc:maximumElevationInMeters [Maximum Elevation in Meters] to MIXS:0000093 [elev]
- xRef https://github.com/tdwg/gbwg/issues/15#issuecomment-810365548
- DwC expects only the value {float}, whereas the MIxS syntax expects the value and the unit to be added {float} {unit}

While reviewing the mapping, the following mappings were additionally updated:

syntax xRef https://github.com/tdwg/gbwg/issues/13 (previously skos:exactMatch)

dwc:minimumDistanceAboveSurfaceInMeters skos:broadMatch MIXS:0000018[depth] (the DwC term only expects the value, while the MIxS term expects both value and unit)
dwc:maximumDistanceAboveSurfaceInMeters skos:broadMatch MIXS:0000018[depth] (the DwC term only expects the value, while the MIxS term expects both value and unit)

tdwg / gbwg

Review and update skos:narrowMatch and skos:broadMatch mappings #77