The information below can also be viewed as a Microsoft Word document here.

EML Metadata

Highlighted elements are required. Definitions and guidance for each metadata element can be found on the GBIF IPT User Manual, on this page

Dataset shortname (will be the URL in the IPT, all lower case, no spaces):
Title:
Update Frequency (pick one): Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Biannually, Annually, As Needed, Continually, Irregular, Not Planned, Unknown, Other Maintenance Period
Data License (pick one): CC-0, CC-BY, CC-BY-NC
Description / Abstract:
Resource Contacts (include First Name, Last Name, Position, Organization, Email, can link to ORCID):
Resource Creators (include First Name, Last Name, Position, Organization, Email, can link to ORCID):
Metadata Providers (include First Name, Last Name, Position, Organization, Email, can link to ORCID):

Geographic Coverage

Set global coverage: YES or NO (if NO rest is required)
Description:
West (decimal degrees):
East (decimal degrees):
South (decimal degrees):
North (decimal degrees):

Taxonomic Coverage

Description:
Scientific Name, Common Name, Taxon Rank for all species or at higher level if all part of one higher level rank

Temporal Coverage

Temporal Coverage Type (can select more than one but corresponding information must align with the type): Single Date, Formation Period, Date Range, Living Time Period

Keywords

Thesaurus / Vocabulary:
Keyword List:

Associated Parties

Associated Party (include First Name, Last Name, Position, Organization, Email, can link to ORCID):
Associated Party Role (pick one per person from table below):
Role information is also available at https://ipt.gbif.org/manual/en/ipt/latest/manage-resources#associated-parties.

Note: Stephen Formel will be listed as the publisher if he loads the data into the Integrated Publishing Toolkit (IPT) for you and shares to GBIF and/or OBIS.

For IOOS Regional Associations
All IOOS Regional Association affiliated datasets should include at least one Associated Party which lists the proper RA. The RA names must appear the same as they are listed in OceanExpert. This allows the dataset to show up on the Regional Association’s institutional dashboard. The metrics for all linked datasets will be tracked on this dashboard.

For MBON
All US MBON affiliated datasets should include at least one Associated Party which is affiliated with US MBON. This allows the dataset to show up on the US MBON institutional dashboard. The metrics for your dataset will be tracked on this dashboard and combined with other MBON dataset metrics. This is possible because US MBON has an OceanExpert institute which links the various datasets together on the institute page.

United States Marine Biodiversity Observation Network
OceanExpert: https://oceanexpert.org/institution/23070
OBIS Institute: https://obis.org/institute/23070

Note: Mathew Biddle will be listed as the distributor with US MBON as the institution.

Appendices
To create an OceanExpert institution, follow the Appendix: How-to Create an OceanExpert Institution.

NOAA and IOOS DMAC encourage the use of Research Organization Registry identifiers for organizations and institutions.
See the Appendix: More Information on ROR Identifiers.

Project Data

If including this section Title and Project Personnel are required

Title:
Identifier
Description:
Funding:
Study Area Description:
Design Description:
Project Personnel (First Name, Last Name, Role):

Sampling Methods

If including this section Study Extent, Sampling Description, Step Description are required)

Study Extent:
Sampling Description:
Quality Control:
Step Description:

Citations

Resource Citation (can be autogenerated):
Resource Citation Identifier:
Bibliographic Citations:

Collection Data

Collections:
Specimen Preservation Methods:
Curatorial Units:

External Links

Resource Homepage:
Other Data Formats (Name, Character Set, Download URL, Data Format, Data Format Version):

Additional Metadata

Resource Logo URL (or file upload):
Purpose:
Maintenance Description:
Additional Information:
Alternative Identifiers:

Appendix: How to create an OceanExpert institution

Before creating a new institution it’s always good to first do a search to make sure your institution doesn’t already exist in OceanExpert. You can search for institutions at https://oceanexpert.org/advancedSearch. Be sure to check various spellings and acronyms too!

To create an OceanExpert institution:

1. Create an OceanExpert account: https://oceanexpert.org/register
2. Once your account is created, log in and edit your profile:
   
3. In the Affiliation and Address section of the profile there is a dropdown menu for Organisation/Institution/Company, select the first option Cannot find my Institute - Create New:
   
4. A new window will pop up and ask you to populate a new institution record:
   
   1. The only required fields are: Name, Type (choose from Academic, Government, International / Intergovernmental, NGO, Private Commercial, Private non-profit, and Research), Address, Zip Code, and City.
5. Click Add Institution.
6. That should add the institution to the drop down list for Organisation/Institution/Company so that you can associate it with your profile.

To edit OceanExpert institution pages, send an email to info@oceanexpert.org with the requested changes.

Appendix: More information on ROR identifiers

NOAA and IOOS DMAC encourage the use of Research Organization Registry (ROR) identifiers for institutions, but the current implementation of OBIS uses OceanExpert to create the institutional dashboard. For more information about ROR identifiers and IOOS recommendations, see the August 2024 DMAC tech webinar recording. The documentation here regarding institution identifiers will be updated with new guidance when advances are made in linking RORs to OceanExpert identifiers and if RORs are implemented in other relevant repositories for IOOS marine life data.