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DCAT-US SCHEMA V1.1 (PROJECT OPEN DATA METADATA SCHEMA)

How to use Project Open Data Metadata Schema guidelines to document and list
agency datasets and application programming interfaces (APIs) for hosting at
agency.gov/data and currently in use at data.gov


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KEYWORDS

data schema, open data, DCAT, Project Open Data Metadata Schema, data standards,
data inventory

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GLOSSARY

This section contains explanations of common terms referenced on
resources.data.gov.

Search for a term:
 * API
   
   An application programming interface, which is a set of definitions of the
   ways one piece of computer software communicates with another. It is a method
   of achieving abstraction, usually (but not necessarily) between higher-level
   and lower-level software.
   
   (Source)
 * API Analytics
   
   Rate limiting will be part of any API platform, without some sort of usage
   log and analytics showing developers where they stand, the rate limits will
   cause nothing but frustration. Clearly show developers where they are at with
   daily, weekly or monthly API usage and provide proper relief valves allowing
   them to scale their usage properly.
   
   (Source)
 * API Documentation
   
   Quality API documentation is the gateway to a successful API. API
   documentation needs to be complete, yet simple–a very difficult balance to
   achieve. This balance takes work and will take the work of more than one
   individual on an API development team to make happen. API documentation can
   be written by developers of the API, but additional edits should be made by
   developers who were not responsible for deploying the API. As a developer,
   it’s easy to overlook parameters and other details that developers have made
   assumptions about.
   
   (Source)
 * Basic Auth
   
   Basic Auth is a way for a web browser or application to provide credentials
   in the form of a username and password. Because Basic Auth is integrated into
   HTTP protocol it is the easiest way for users to authenticate with a RESTful
   API. Basic Auth is easily integrated, however if SSL is not used, the
   username and password are passed in plain text and can be easily intercepted
   on the open Internet.
   
   (Source)
 * Code Library
   
   Working code samples in all the top programming languages are common place in
   the most successful APIs. Documentation will describe in a general way, how
   to use an API, but code samples will speak in the specific language of
   developers.
   
   (Source)
 * Content API
   
   A web service that provides dynamic access to the page content of a website,
   includes the title, body, and body elements of individual pages. Such an API
   often but not always functions atop a Content Management System.
   
   (Source)
 * CSV
   
   A comma separated values (CSV) file is a computer data file used for
   implementing the tried and true organizational tool, the Comma Separated
   List. The CSV file is used for the digital storage of data structured in a
   table of lists form. Each line in the CSV file corresponds to a row in the
   table. Within a line, fields are separated by commas, and each field belongs
   to one table column. CSV files are often used for moving tabular data between
   two different computer programs (like moving between a database program and a
   spreadsheet program)
   
   (Source)
 * CSW
   
   Catalog Service for the Web (CSW) is an API used by geospatial systems to
   provide metadata in open standards, including in the FGDC-endorsed ISO 19115
   schema. The CSW-provided metadata can be mapped into the Project Open Data
   metadata schema.
   
   (Source)
 * Data Asset
   
   A collection of data elements or datasets that make sense to group together.
   Each community of interest identifies the Data Assets specific to supporting
   the needs of their respective mission or business functions. Notably, a Data
   Asset is a deliberately abstract concept. A given Data Asset may represent an
   entire database consisting of multiple distinct entity classes, or may
   represent a single entity class.
   
   (Source)
 * Data vs. information
   
   Data is defined as a value or set of values representing a specific concept
   or concepts. Data become 'information' when analyzed and possibly combined
   with other data in order to extract meaning, and to provide context. The
   meaning of data can vary depending on its context. 'Data' includes, but is
   not limited to, 1) geospatial data 2) unstructured data, 3) structured data,
   etc. Information, as defined in OMB Circular A-130, means any communication
   or representation of knowledge such as facts, data, or opinions in any medium
   or form, including textual, numerical, graphic, cartographic, narrative, or
   audiovisual forms.
   
   (Source)
 * Database
   
   A collection of data stored according to a schema and manipulated according
   to the rules set out in one Data Modeling Facility.
   
   (Source)
 * Dataset
   
   A dataset is an organized collection of data. The most basic representation
   of a dataset is data elements presented in tabular form. Each column
   represents a particular variable. Each row corresponds to a given value of
   that column’s variable. A dataset may also present information in a variety
   of non-tabular formats, such as an extensible mark-up language (XML) file, a
   geospatial data file, or an image file, etc.
   
   (Source)
 * Endpoint
   
   An association between a binding and a network address, specified by a URI,
   that may be used to communicate with an instance of a service. An end point
   indicates a specific location for accessing a service using a specific
   protocol and data format.
   
   (Source)
 * Error Response Code
   
   Errors are an inevitable part of API integration, and providing not only a
   robust set of clear and meaningful API error response codes, but a clear
   listing of these codes for developers to follow and learn from is essential.
   API errors are directly related to frustration during developer integration,
   the more friendlier and meaningful they are, the greater the chance a
   developer will move forward after encountering an error. Put a lot of
   consideration into your error responses and the documentation that educates
   developers.
   
   (Source)
 * Github
   
   GitHub is a social coding platform allowing developers to publicly or
   privately build code repositories and interact with other developers around
   these repositories–providing the ability to download or fork a repository, as
   well as contribute back, resulting in a collaborative environment for
   software development.
   
   (Source)
 * Hackathon
   
   An event in which computer programmers and others in the field of software
   development, like graphic designers, interface designers, project managers
   and computational philologists, collaborate intensively on software projects.
   Occasionally, there is a hardware component as well. Hackathons typically
   last between a day and a week in length. Some hackathons are intended simply
   for educational or social purposes, although in many cases the goal is to
   create usable software. Hackathons tend to have a specific focus, which can
   include the programming language used, the operating system, an application,
   an API, the subject, or the demographic group of the programmers. In other
   cases, there is no restriction on the type of software being created.
   
   (Source)
 * Information Life Cycle
   
   Information life cycle, as defined in OMB Circular A-130, means the stages
   through which information passes, typically characterized as creation or
   collection, processing, dissemination, use, storage, and disposition.
   
   (Source)
 * Information System
   
   Information system, as defined in OMB Circular A-130, means a discrete set of
   information resources organized for the collection, processing, maintenance,
   transmission, and dissemination of information, in accordance with defined
   procedures, whether automated or manual.
   
   (Source)
 * Information System Life Cycle
   
   Information system life cycle, as defined in OMB Circular A-130, means the
   phases through which an information system passes, typically characterized as
   initiation, development, operation, and termination.
   
   (Source)
 * JSON
   
   JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight data-interchange format.
   It is easy for humans to read and write. It is easy for machines to parse and
   generate. It is based on a subset of the JavaScript Programming Language,
   Standard ECMA-262 3rd Edition - December 1999. JSON is a text format that is
   completely language independent but uses conventions that are familiar to
   programmers of the C-family of languages, including C, C++, C#, Java,
   JavaScript, Perl, Python, and many others. These properties make JSON an
   ideal data-interchange language.
   
   (Source)
 * JSON-LD
   
   JSON Based Serialization for Linked Data. JSON-LD gives Schema.org data about
   your content to search engines.
   
   (Source)
 * JSONP
   
   JSONP or “JSON with padding” is a JSON extension wherein the name of a
   callback function is specified as an input argument of the underlying JSON
   call itself. JSONP makes use of runtime script tag injection.
   
   (Source)
 * Machine Readable File
   
   Refers to information or data that is in a format that can be easily
   processed by a computer without human intervention while ensuring no semantic
   meaning is lost.
   
   (Source)
 * Metadata
   
   To facilitate common understanding, a number of characteristics, or
   attributes, of data are defined. These characteristics of data are known as
   “metadata”, that is, “data that describes data.” For any particular datum,
   the metadata may describe how the datum is represented, ranges of acceptable
   values, its relationship to other data, and how it should be labeled.
   Metadata also may provide other relevant information, such as the responsible
   steward, associated laws and regulations, and access management policy. Each
   of the types of data described above has a corresponding set of metadata. Two
   of the many metadata standards are the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI)
   and Department of Defense Discovery Metadata Standard (DDMS). The metadata
   for structured data objects describes the structure, data elements,
   interrelationships, and other characteristics of information, including its
   creation, disposition, access and handling controls, formats, content, and
   context, as well as related audit trails. Metadata includes data element
   names (such as Organization Name, Address, etc.), their definition, and their
   format (numeric, date, text, etc.). In contrast, data is the actual data
   values such as the “US Patent and Trade Office” or the “Social Security
   Administration” for the metadata called “Organization Name”. Metadata may
   include metrics about an organization’s data including its data quality
   (accuracy, completeness, etc.).
   
   (Source)
 * OAuth
   
   An open standard for authorization. It allows users to share their private
   resources stored on one site with another site without having to hand out
   their credentials, typically username and password.
   
   (Source)
 * OGC
   
   Open Geospatial Consortium, a worldwide community committed to advancing
   geospatial location information and fostering a global conversation to create
   free and publicly available geospatial standards.
   
   (Source)
 * Open Source Software
   
   Computer software that is available in source code form: the source code and
   certain other rights normally reserved for copyright holders are provided
   under an open-source license that permits users to study, change, improve and
   at times also to distribute the software. Open source software is very often
   developed in a public, collaborative manner. Open source software is the most
   prominent example of open source development and often compared to
   (technically defined) user-generated content or (legally defined) open
   content movements.
   
   (Source)
 * Open Standard
   
   A standard developed or adopted by voluntary consensus standards bodies, both
   domestic and international. These standards include provisions requiring that
   owners of relevant intellectual property have agreed to make that
   intellectual property available on a non-discriminatory, royalty-free or
   reasonable royalty basis to all interested parties.
   
   (Source)
 * Parameter
   
   A special kind of variable, used in a subroutine to refer to one of the
   pieces of data provided as input to the subroutine. The semantics for how
   parameters can be declared and how the arguments get passed to the parameters
   of subroutines are defined by the language, but the details of how this is
   represented in any particular computer system depend on the calling
   conventions of that system.
   
   (Source)
 * RDF
   
   Resource Description Framework - A family of specifications for a metadata
   model. The RDF family of specifications is maintained by the World Wide Web
   Consortium (W3C). The RDF metadata model is based upon the idea of making
   statements about resources in the form of a subject-predicate-object
   expression…and is a major component in what is proposed by the W3C’s Semantic
   Web activity: an evolutionary stage of the World Wide Web in which automated
   software can store, exchange, and utilize metadata about the vast resources
   of the Web, in turn enabling users to deal with those resources with greater
   efficiency and certainty. RDF’s simple data model and ability to model
   disparate, abstract concepts has also led to its increasing use in knowledge
   management applications unrelated to Semantic Web activity.
   
   (Source)
 * RDFa Lite
   
   RDFa Lite is a minimal subset of RDFa, the Resource Description Framework in
   attributes, consisting of a few attributes that may be used to express
   machine-readable data in Web documents like HTML, SVG, and XML. While it is
   not a complete solution for advanced data markup tasks, it does work for most
   day-to-day needs and can be learned by most Web authors in a day.
   
   (Source)
 * REST
   
   A style of software architecture for distributed systems such as the World
   Wide Web. REST has emerged as a predominant Web service design model. REST
   facilitates the transaction between web servers by allowing loose coupling
   between different services. REST is less strongly typed than its counterpart,
   SOAP. The REST language is based on the use of nouns and verbs, and has an
   emphasis on readability. Unlike SOAP, REST does not require XML parsing and
   does not require a message header to and from a service provider. This
   ultimately uses less bandwidth.
   
   (Source)
 * RSS
   
   A family of web feed formats (often dubbed Really Simple Syndication) used to
   publish frequently updated works — such as blog entries, news headlines,
   audio, and video — in a standardized format. An RSS document (which is called
   a “feed,” “web feed,” or “channel”) includes full or summarized text, plus
   metadata such as publishing dates and authorship.
   
   (Source)
 * Schema
   
   An XML schema defines the structure of an XML document. An XML schema defines
   things such as which data elements and attributes can appear in a document;
   how the data elements relate to one another; whether an element is empty or
   can include text; which types of data are allowed for specific data elements
   and attributes; and what the default and fixed values are for elements and
   attributes. A schema is also a description of the data represented within a
   database. The format of the description varies but includes a table layout
   for a relational database or an entity-relationship diagram. It is method for
   specifying constraints on XML documents.
   
   (Source)
 * SDK
   
   Software Development Kits (SDK) are the next step in providing code for
   developers, after basic code samples. SDKs are more complete code libraries
   that usually include authentication and production ready objects, that
   developers can use after they are more familiar with an API and are ready for
   integration. Just like with code samples, SDKs should be provided in as many
   common programming languages as possible. Code samples will help developers
   understand an API, while SDKs will actually facilitate their integration of
   an API into their application. When providing SDKs, consider a software
   licensing that gives your developers as much flexibility as possible in their
   commercial products.
   
   (Source)
 * Service-Oriented-Architecture
   
   Expresses a software architectural concept that defines the use of services
   to support the requirements of software users. In a SOA environment, nodes on
   a network make resources available to other participants in the network as
   independent services that the participants access in a standardized way. Most
   definitions of SOA identify the use of Web services (using SOAP and WSDL) in
   its implementation. However, one can implement SOA using any service-based
   technology with loose coupling among interacting software agents.
   
   (Source)
 * SOAP
   
   SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) is a message-based protocol based on XML
   for accessing services on the Web. It employs XML syntax to send text
   commands across the Internet using HTTP. SOAP is similar in purpose to the
   DCOM and CORBA distributed object systems, but is more lightweight and less
   programming-intensive. Because of its simple exchange mechanism, SOAP can
   also be used to implement a messaging system.
   
   (Source)
 * Swagger
   
   A specification and complete framework implementation for describing,
   producing, consuming, and visualizing RESTful web services. The overarching
   goal of Swagger is to enable client and documentation systems to update at
   the same pace as the server. The documentation of methods, parameters and
   models are tightly integrated into the server code, allowing APIs to always
   stay in sync.
   
   (Source)
 * Terms of Service
   
   Terms of Service provide a legal framework for developers to operate within.
   They set the stage for the business development relationships that will occur
   within an API ecosystem. Terms of Service should protect the API owner’s
   company, assets and brand, but should also provide assurances for developers
   who are building businesses on top of an API.
   
   (Source)
 * TSV
   
   A simple text format for a database table. Each record in the table is one
   line of the text file. Each field value of a record is separated from the
   next by a tab stop character. It is a form of the more general
   delimiter-separated values format.
   
   (Source)
 * Unstructured Data
   
   Data that is more free-form, such as multimedia files, images, sound files,
   or unstructured text. Unstructured data does not necessarily follow any
   format or hierarchical sequence, nor does it follow any relational rules.
   Unstructured data refers to masses of (usually) computerized information
   which do not have a data structure which is easily readable by a machine.
   Examples of unstructured data may include audio, video and unstructured text
   such as the body of an email or word processor document. Data mining
   techniques are used to find patterns in, or otherwise interpret, this
   information. Merrill Lynch estimates that more than 85 percent of all
   business information exists as unstructured data – commonly appearing in
   e-mails, memos, notes from call centers and support operations, news, user
   groups, chats, reports, letters, surveys, white papers, marketing material,
   research, presentations, and Web pages (“The Problem with Unstructured
   Data.”)
   
   (Source)
 * Web Service
   
   A Web service is a software system designed to support interoperable
   machine-to-machine interaction over a network. It has an interface described
   in a machine-processable format (specifically WSDL). Other systems interact
   with the Web service in a manner prescribed by its description using SOAP
   messages, typically conveyed using HTTP with an XML serialization in
   conjunction with other Web-related standards.
   
   (Source)
 * WSDL
   
   An XML-based language (Web Services Description Language) used to describe
   the services a business offers and to provide a way for individuals and other
   businesses to access those services electronically.
   
   (Source)
 * XML
   
   Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a flexible language for creating common
   information formats and sharing both the format and content of data over the
   Internet and elsewhere. XML is a formatting language recommended by the World
   Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
   
   (Source)