ResourceType for dataset files/elements

[uit.p...@gmail.com]

(The following question might be related to the topic Should ResourceType be required?, and to several suggestions in the topic Would you like us to add a new selection to a controlled list?.)

When harvested by DataCite, all the datasets in our archive get the value "Dataset" in the DataCite metadata field resourceTypeGeneral. This value is generated by the application (Dataverse) since this application is intended as a platform for archiving datasets. However, after Dataverse has introduced file DOIs (in addition to dataset DOIs), both datasets and files are represented on the same level in DataCite (e.g. DataCite Fabrica, and DataCite Search). Please see this GitHub issue for more details.

In order to differentiate between datasets and dataset files/elements we need a standardized generic value term for the field ResourceType. The term has to be generic since we do not want users to have to specify this when depositing datasets.

The DataCite to Dublin Core Metadata Application Profile Discussion Group has suggested the FaBiO term DataFile as a term for specifying elements of a dataset (cf. "data file" in the FaBiO ontology). This would then look like this in DataCite metadata XML, i guess:

<resourceType resourceTypeGeneral="Dataset">DataFile</resourceType>

But the question is whether DataFile is too specific for the case I have outlined above. A dataset may consist of different elements, e.g.

• data files like images or plain text files
• software or statistical code
• PDF/A or plain text ReadMe files for documentation

So, could we agree on a more generic term? What about DatasetFile or DatasetElement?

Best regards,

Philipp Conzett

UiT The Arctic University of Norway