People and Organizations

From Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP)
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Many documentation dialects include mechanisms for connecting people and organizations to metadata records. There are two general approaches to these connections. The first involves including the roles of the people in the names of the metadata element's. For example, the NetCDF Attribute Convention for Data Discovery includes fields titled creator_name, creator_email, and creator_url. This approach makes it difficult to standardize because new standard elements must be added in order to add a new role, i.e. processor_name, processor_email, processor_URL. The second approach centers around a generic description of a person or an organization that includes an attribute that gives the role they play with respect to the resource being documented. This approach allows additions by extending the list of roles. See NetCDF, HDF, and ISO Metadata for more details on this approach.

Connecting people to resources is an important role of metadata. In addition, it is critical to describe people's role with respect to the resource.

NASA GCMD Directory Interchange Format

The DIF dialect differentiates clearly between documentation of people and organizations. People are documented using the Personnel object with roles of DIF AUTHOR, INVESTIGATOR, and TECHNICAL CONTACT:

<dif:Personnel>
  <dif:Role/>
  <dif:First_Name/>
  <dif:Middle_Name/>
  <dif:Last_Name/>
  <dif:Email/>
  <dif:Phone/>
  <dif:Fax/>
  <dif:Contact_Address>
    <dif:Address/>
    <dif:City/>
    <dif:Province_or_State/>
    <dif:Postal_Code/>
    <dif:Country/>
  </dif:Contact_Address>
</dif:Personnel>

The dialect includes information for one type of organization: the Data Center that distributes the data. The Data Centers are documented using the DataCenter object:

<dif:Data_Center>
  <dif:Data_Center_Name>
    <dif:Short_Name/>
    <dif:Long_Name/>
  </dif:Data_Center_Name>
  <dif:Data_Center_URL/>
  <dif:Data_Set_ID/>
  <dif:Personnel>
    <dif:Role/>
    <dif:First_Name/>
    <dif:Middle_Name/>
    <dif:Last_Name/>
    <dif:Email/>
    <dif:Phone/>
    <dif:Fax/>
    <dif:Contact_Address>
      <dif:Address/>
      <dif:City/>
      <dif:Province_or_State/>
      <dif:Postal_Code/>
      <dif:Country/>
    </dif:Contact_Address>
  </dif:Personnel>
</dif:Data_Center>

ECHO

The ECHO dialect combines people and organizations into the Contact structure:

<Contact>
  <Role/>
  <HoursOfService/>
  <Instructions/>
  <OrganizationName/>
  <OrganizationAddresses>
    <Address>
      <StreetAddress/>
      <City/>
      <StateProvince/>
      <PostalCode/>
      <Country/>
    </Address>
  </OrganizationAddresses>
  <OrganizationPhones>
    <Phone>
      <Number/>
      <Type>voice</Type>
    </Phone>
    <Phone>
      <Number/>
      <Type>fax</Type>
    </Phone>
  </OrganizationPhones>
  <OrganizationEmails>
    <Email/>
  </OrganizationEmails>
  <ContactPersons>
    <ContactPerson>
      <FirstName/>
      <MiddleName/>
      <LastName/>
      <JobPosition/>
    </ContactPerson>
  </ContactPersons>
</Contact>

The ECHO Collection Roles:

Investigator 	 1339
ORNL DAAC User Services 749
Archive 638
TECHNICAL CONTACT 617
DATA CENTER CONTACT 585
DIF AUTHOR 368
Producer 271
Data Manager 225
GHRC USER SERVICES 181
User Services 176
Data Originator 77
TECHNICAL CONTACT, DIF AUTHOR 54
Archiver 40
DIF AUTHOR, TECHNICAL CONTACT 35
INVESTIGATOR, TECHNICAL CONTACT  2
Distributor 2

ECS

<Contact>
  <Role/>
  <HoursofService/>
  <ContactInstructions/>
  <ContactOrganizationAddress>
    <StreetAddress/>
    <City/>
    <StateProvince/>
    <PostalCode/>
    <Country/>
  </ContactOrganizationAddress>
  <OrganizationTelephone>
    <TelephoneNumber/>
    <TelephoneNumberType/>
  </OrganizationTelephone>
  <OrganizationEmail>
    <ElectronicMailAddress/>
  </OrganizationEmail>
  <ContactPersons>
    <ContactFirstName/>
    <ContactMiddleName/>
    <ContactLastName/>
    <ContactJobPosition/>
  </ContactPersons>
</Contact>

Roles

The ECS Collection Metadata include eight roles:

ValueCount
Archive4481
Data Originator594
Distributor6
Instrument68
Investigator851
Producer3201
Quality Assessment4
User Services587

ISO

The ISO dialect combines people and organizations into the CI_ResponsibleParty object, a flexible structure that supports many combinations of organizations and people. Most objects that include associated responsible parties can have any number, so, for example, a citation can have people identified in any or all of the roles listed in the CI_RoleCode code list.

The structure of the CI_ResponsibleParty is:

<gmd:CI_ResponsibleParty>
  <gmd:individualName/>
  <gmd:organisationName/>
  <gmd:positionName/>
  <gmd:contactInfo>
    <gmd:CI_Contact>
      <gmd:phone/>
      <gmd:address>
        <gmd:CI_Address>
          <gmd:deliveryPoint/>
          <gmd:city/>
          <gmd:administrativeArea/>
          <gmd:postalCode/>
          <gmd:country/>
          <gmd:electronicMailAddress/>
        </gmd:CI_Address>
      </gmd:address>
      <gmd:onlineResource/>
      <gmd:hoursOfService/>
      <gmd:contactInstructions/>
    </gmd:CI_Contact>
  </gmd:contactInfo>
  <gmd:role/>
</gmd:CI_ResponsibleParty>

Roles

CI_RoleCode

ISO 19115Added in ISO 19115-1

+ resourceProvider
+ custodian
+ owner
+ user
+ distributor
+ originator
+ pointOfContact
+ principalInvestigator
+ processor
+ publisher
+ author

+ sponsor
+ coAuthor
+ collaborator
+ editor
+ mediator
+ rightsHolder
+ contributor
+ funder
+ stakeholder

Crosswalks

ConceptDescriptionDialect (Fit) Paths
Rolefunction performed by the responsible partyISO (1) //gmd:CI_ResponsibleParty/gmd:role/gmd:CI_RoleCode
ISO-1 (1) //cit:CI_Responsibility/cit:role/cit:CI_RoleCode
DIF (1) /dif:DIF/dif:Personnel/dif:Role
ECHO (1) /*/echo:Contacts/echo:Contact/echo:Role
ECS (1) /*/ecs:Contact/ecs:Role
Organization NameName of the organizationISO (1) //gmd:CI_ResponsibleParty/gmd:organisationName/gco:CharacterString
ISO-1 (1) //cit:CI_Responsibility/cit:party/cit:CI_Organisation/cit:name/gco:CharacterString
DIF (1) /dif:DIF/dif:Data_Center/dif:Data_Center_Name/dif:Short_Name
DIF (1) /dif:DIF/dif:Data_Center/dif:Data_Center_Name/dif:Long_Name
ECHO (1) /*/echo:Contacts/echo:Contact/echo:OrganizationName
ECS (1) /*/ecs:Contact/ecs:ContactOrganizationName
ECS (1) /*/ecs:Contact/ecs:ContactOrganizationName
Position NameName of the job or position in an organizationISO (1) //gmd:CI_ResponsibleParty/gmd:positionName/gco:CharacterString
ISO-1 (1) //cit:CI_Responsibility/cit:party/cit:CI_Organisation/cit:individual/cit:CI_Individual/cit:positionName/gco:CharacterString
ECHO (1) /*/echo:Contacts/echo:Contact/echo:ContactPersons/echo:ContactPerson/echo:JobPosition
ECS (1) /*/ecs:Contact/ecs:ContactPersons/ecs:ContactJobPosition
First NameFirst name of the individualISO (2) //gmd:CI_ResponsibleParty/gmd:individualName/gco:CharacterString
ISO-1 (2) //cit:CI_Responsibility/cit:party/cit:CI_Organisation/cit:individual/cit:CI_Individual/cit:name/gco:CharacterString
ISO-1 //cit:CI_Responsibility/cit:party/cit:CI_Individual/cit:name/gco:CharacterString
DIF (1) /dif:DIF/dif:Personnel/dif:First_Name
ECHO (1) /*/echo:Contacts/echo:Contact/echo:ContactPersons/echo:ContactPerson/echo:FirstName
ECS (1) /*/ecs:Contact/ecs:ContactPersons/ecs:ContactFirstName
Middle NameMiddle name of the individualISO (2) //gmd:CI_ResponsibleParty/gmd:individualName/gco:CharacterString
ISO-1 (2) //cit:CI_Responsibility/cit:party/cit:CI_Organisation/cit:individual/cit:CI_Individual/cit:name/gco:CharacterString
ISO-1 //cit:CI_Responsibility/cit:party/cit:CI_Individual/cit:name/gco:CharacterString
DIF (1) /dif:DIF/dif:Personnel/dif:Middle_Name
ECHO (1) /*/echo:Contacts/echo:Contact/echo:ContactPersons/echo:ContactPerson/echo:MiddleName
ECS (1) /*/ecs:Contact/ecs:ContactPersons/ecs:ContactMiddleName
Last NameLast name of the individualISO (2) //gmd:CI_ResponsibleParty/gmd:individualName/gco:CharacterString
ISO-1 (2) //cit:CI_Responsibility/cit:party/cit:CI_Organisation/cit:individual/cit:CI_Individual/cit:name/gco:CharacterString
ISO-1 //cit:CI_Responsibility/cit:party/cit:CI_Individual/cit:name/gco:CharacterString
DIF (1) /dif:DIF/dif:Personnel/dif:Last_Name
ECHO (1) /*/echo:Contacts/echo:Contact/echo:ContactPersons/echo:ContactPerson/echo:LastName
ECS (1) /*/ecs:Contact/ecs:ContactPersons/ecs:ContactLastName
EmailEmail address of the individual or organizationISO (1) //gmd:CI_ResponsibleParty/gmd:contactInfo/gmd:CI_Contact/gmd:address/gmd:CI_Address/gmd:electronicMailAddress/gco:CharacterString
ISO-1 //cit:CI_Responsibility/cit:party/cit:CI_Organisation/cit:contactInfo/cit:CI_Contact/cit:address/cit:CI_Address/cit:electronicMailAddress/gco:CharacterString
ISO-1 //cit:CI_Responsibility/cit:party/cit:CI_Individual/cit:contactInfo/cit:CI_Contact/cit:address/cit:CI_Address/cit:electronicMailAddress/gco:CharacterString
DIF (1) /dif:DIF/dif:Personnel/dif:Email
ECHO (1) /*/echo:Contacts/echo:Contact/echo:OrganizationEmails/echo:Email
ECS (1) /*/ecs:Contact/ecs:OrganizationEmail/ecs:ElectronicMailAddress
Hours of ServiceTime period (including time zone) when individuals can contact the organisation or individualISO (1) //gmd:CI_ResponsibleParty/gmd:contactInfo/gmd:CI_Contact/gmd:hoursOfService/gco:CharacterString
ISO-1 //cit:CI_Responsibility/cit:party/cit:CI_Organisation/cit:contactInfo/cit:CI_Contact/cit:hoursOfService/gco:CharacterString
ISO-1 //cit:CI_Responsibility/cit:party/cit:CI_Individual/cit:contactInfo/cit:CI_Contact/cit:hoursOfService/gco:CharacterString
ECHO (1) /*/echo:Contacts/echo:Contact/echo:HoursOfService
ECS (1) /*/ecs:Contact/ecs:HoursofService
Contact InstructionsSupplemental instructions on how or when to contact the individual or organisationISO (1) //gmd:CI_ResponsibleParty/gmd:contactInfo/gmd:CI_Contact/gmd:contactInstructions/gco:CharacterString
ISO-1 //cit:CI_Responsibility/cit:party/cit:CI_Organisation/cit:contactInfo/cit:CI_Contact/cit:contactInstructions/gco:CharacterString
ISO-1 //cit:CI_Responsibility/cit:party/cit:CI_Individual/cit:contactInfo/cit:CI_Contact/cit:contactInstructions/gco:CharacterString
ECHO (1) /*/echo:Contacts/echo:Contact/echo:Instructions
ECS (1) /*/ecs:Contact/ecs:ContactInstructions
PhoneTelephone numbers at which the organisation or individual may be contactedISO (1) //gmd:CI_ResponsibleParty/gmd:contactInfo/gmd:CI_Contact/gmd:phone/gmd:CI_Telephone/gmd:voice/gco:CharacterString
ISO-1 //cit:CI_Responsibility/cit:party/cit:CI_Individual/cit:contactInfo/cit:CI_Contact/cit:phone/cit:CI_Telephone[cit:numberType/cit:CI_TelephoneTypeCode='voice']
ISO-1 //cit:CI_Responsibility/cit:party/cit:CI_Organisation/cit:contactInfo/cit:CI_Contact/cit:phone/cit:CI_Telephone[cit:numberType/cit:CI_TelephoneTypeCode='voice']
DIF (1) /dif:DIF/dif:Personnel/dif:Phone
ECHO (1) /*/echo:Contacts/echo:Contact/echo:OrganizationPhones/echo:Phone[echo:type='voice]'/echo:Number
ECS (1) /*/ecs:Contact/ecs:OrganizationTelephone[ecs:TelephoneNumberType='Voice']/ecs:TelephoneNumber
FaxTelephone numbers at which the organisation or individual may be contacted via facsimile (fax)ISO (1) //gmd:CI_ResponsibleParty/gmd:contactInfo/gmd:CI_Contact/gmd:phone/gmd:CI_Telephone/gmd:facsimile/gco:CharacterString
ISO-1 //cit:CI_Responsibility/cit:party/cit:CI_Individual/cit:contactInfo/cit:CI_Contact/cit:phone/cit:CI_Telephone[cit:numberType/cit:CI_TelephoneTypeCode='facsimile']
ISO-1 //cit:CI_Responsibility/cit:party/cit:CI_Organisation/cit:contactInfo/cit:CI_Contact/cit:phone/cit:CI_Telephone[cit:numberType/cit:CI_TelephoneTypeCode='facsimile']
DIF (1) /dif:DIF/dif:Personnel/dif:Fax
ECHO (1) /*/echo:Contacts/echo:Contact/echo:OrganizationPhones/echo:Phone[echo:type='fax]'/echo:Number
ECS (1) /*/ecs:Contact/ecs:OrganizationTelephone[ecs:TelephoneNumberType='Facsimile']/ecs:TelephoneNumber
AddressAddress line for the locationISO (1) //gmd:CI_ResponsibleParty/gmd:contactInfo/gmd:CI_Contact/gmd:address/gmd:CI_Address/gmd:deliveryPoint/gco:CharacterString
ISO-1 //cit:CI_Responsibility/cit:party/cit:CI_Individual/cit:contactInfo/cit:CI_Contact/cit:address/cit:CI_Address/cit:deliveryPoint/gco:CharacterString
ISO-1 //cit:CI_Responsibility/cit:party/cit:CI_Organisation/cit:contactInfo/cit:CI_Contact/cit:address/cit:CI_Address/cit:deliveryPoint/gco:CharacterString
DIF (1) /dif:DIF/dif:Personnel/dif:Contact_Address/dif:Address
ECHO (1) /*/echo:Contacts/echo:Contact/echo:OrganizationAddresses/echo:Address/echo:StreetAddress
ECS (1) /*/ecs:Contact/ecs:ContactOrganizationAddress/ecs:StreetAddress
CityCity of the locationISO (1) //gmd:CI_ResponsibleParty/gmd:contactInfo/gmd:CI_Contact/gmd:address/gmd:CI_Address/gmd:city/gco:CharacterString
ISO-1 //cit:CI_Responsibility/cit:party/cit:CI_Individual/cit:contactInfo/cit:CI_Contact/cit:address/cit:CI_Address/cit:city/gco:CharacterString
ISO-1 //cit:CI_Responsibility/cit:party/cit:CI_Organisation/cit:contactInfo/cit:CI_Contact/cit:address/cit:CI_Address/cit:city/gco:CharacterString
DIF (1) /dif:DIF/dif:Personnel/dif:Contact_Address/dif:City
ECHO (1) /*/echo:Contacts/echo:Contact/echo:OrganizationAddresses/echo:Address/echo:City
ECS (1) /*/ecs:Contact/ecs:ContactOrganizationAddress/ecs:City
Province or StateProvince, state, or other administrative area of the locationISO (1) //gmd:CI_ResponsibleParty/gmd:contactInfo/gmd:CI_Contact/gmd:address/gmd:CI_Address/gmd:administrativeArea/gco:CharacterString
ISO-1 //cit:CI_Responsibility/cit:party/cit:CI_Individual/cit:contactInfo/cit:CI_Contact/cit:address/cit:CI_Address/cit:administrativeArea/gco:CharacterString
ISO-1 //cit:CI_Responsibility/cit:party/cit:CI_Organisation/cit:contactInfo/cit:CI_Contact/cit:address/cit:CI_Address/cit:administrativeArea/gco:CharacterString
DIF (1) /dif:DIF/dif:Personnel/dif:Contact_Address/dif:Province_or_State
ECHO (1) /*/echo:Contacts/echo:Contact/echo:OrganizationAddresses/echo:Address/echo:StateProvince
ECS (1) /*/ecs:Contact/ecs:ContactOrganizationAddress/ecs:StateProvince
Postal_CodeZip code or other postal code for the locationISO (1) //gmd:CI_ResponsibleParty/gmd:contactInfo/gmd:CI_Contact/gmd:address/gmd:CI_Address/gmd:postalCode/gco:CharacterString
ISO-1 //cit:CI_Responsibility/cit:party/cit:CI_Individual/cit:contactInfo/cit:CI_Contact/cit:address/cit:CI_Address/cit:postalCode/gco:CharacterString
ISO-1 //cit:CI_Responsibility/cit:party/cit:CI_Organisation/cit:contactInfo/cit:CI_Contact/cit:address/cit:CI_Address/cit:postalCode/gco:CharacterString
DIF (1) /dif:DIF/dif:Personnel/dif:Contact_Address/dif:Postal_Code
ECHO (1) /*/echo:Contacts/echo:Contact/echo:OrganizationAddresses/echo:Address/echo:PostalCode
ECS (1) /*/ecs:Contact/ecs:ContactOrganizationAddress/ecs:PostalCode
CountryCountry of the locationISO (1) //gmd:CI_ResponsibleParty/gmd:contactInfo/gmd:CI_Contact/gmd:address/gmd:CI_Address/gmd:country/gco:CharacterString
ISO-1 //cit:CI_Responsibility/cit:party/cit:CI_Individual/cit:contactInfo/cit:CI_Contact/cit:address/cit:CI_Address/cit:country/gco:CharacterString
ISO-1 //cit:CI_Responsibility/cit:party/cit:CI_Organisation/cit:contactInfo/cit:CI_Contact/cit:address/cit:CI_Address/cit:country/gco:CharacterString
DIF (1) /dif:DIF/dif:Personnel/dif:Contact_Address/dif:Country
ECHO (1) /*/echo:Contacts/echo:Contact/echo:OrganizationAddresses/echo:Address/echo:Country
ECS (1) /*/ecs:Contact/ecs:ContactOrganizationAddress/ecs:Country
Web PageOn-line information that can be used to contact the individual or organisationISO (1) //gmd:CI_ResponsibleParty/gmd:contactInfo/gmd:CI_Contact/gmd:onlineResource/gmd:CI_OnlineResource
ISO-1 /mdb:MD_Metadata/mdb:contact/cit:CI_Responsibility/cit:party/cit:CI_Organisation/cit:contactInfo/cit:CI_Contact/cit:onlineResource/cit:CI_OnlineResource
ISO-1 /mdb:MD_Metadata/mdb:contact/cit:CI_Responsibility/cit:party/cit:CI_Individual/cit:contactInfo/cit:CI_Contact/cit:onlineResource/cit:CI_OnlineResource
DIF (1) /dif:DIF/dif:Data_Center/dif:Data_Center_URL

xPath Note: The xPaths included in this table use several wildcards. // means any path, so //gmd:CI_ResponsibleParty indicates a gmd:CI_ResponsibleParty anywhere in an XML file. /*/ indicates a single level with several possible elements. This usually indicates one of several concrete realizations of an abstract object. For example /*/gmd:identificationInfo could be gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:identificationInfo or gmi:MI_Metadata/gmd:identificationInfo and gmd:identificationInfo//*/gmd:descriptiveKeywords could be gmd:identificationInfo/gmd:MD_DataIdentification/gmd:descriptiveKeywords or gmd:identificationInfo/srv:SV_ServiceIdentification/gmd:descriptiveKeywords.

Fit: The fit of the dialect path with the concept is estimated on a scale of 1 = excellent two-way fit, 2 = one-way fit or some other problem, 3 - extension required.

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