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Class name

Definition

Usage Note

URI

Distribution

An available distribution of the dataset.

Used to describe the different ways that a single dataset can be made available in. I.e., it can be downloaded or it can be accessed online in one or more distributions (e.g. one in a downloadable .csv file, another file with an access or query webpage)

dcat:Distribution

Dataset Series

A resource type.

Dataset series are defined in [ISO-19115] as a collection of datasets […] sharing common characteristics. However, their use is not limited to geospatial data, although in other domains they can be named differently (e.g., time series, data slices) and defined more or less strictly (see, e.g., the notion of "dataset slice" in VOCAB-DATA-CUBE).

With Dataset Series we refer to data, somehow interrelated, that are published separately. An example is budget data split by year and/or country, instead of being made available in a single dataset.

dcat:DatasetSeries

Data Service

A Resource type.
A collection of operations that provides access to one or more datasets or data processing functions.

The kind of service can be indicated using the dcterms:type property. Its value may be taken from a controlled vocabulary that should be defined in the community.

DRAFT EXAMPLE:

dcat:DataService

Project

A project (a collective endeavour of some kind).

Used to describe a project that is connected to one or more datasets. A resource type

foaf:Project

Abstract

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Class

Resource is a generic concept from the DCAT vocabulary, that is rarely used directly, but indirectly through its extensions. We recommend avoiding using dcat:Resourcedirectly for your document unless and requesting a model extension or update, in case the type/class you need is not in this schema.

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No recommended properties are identified for this release.

Resource

All things described by RDF are called resources, and they are instances of the class dcat:Resource. This is the class of everything. All other classes are subclasses of this class. To read more, go to https://www.w3.org/TR/rdf12-schema/#ch_resource

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