Specifying the differences with the DALIA Interchange Format (DIF) – Picklists and Controlled Vocabularies for a Knowledge Graph on Open Educational Resources

Description

Abstract

DALIA (“Data Literacy Alliance”) is a scientific infrastructure project that indexes and connects learning materials on data literacy, especially from the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI), federal Research Data Management initiatives, and data competence centers, and makes them available on the DALIA platform. This platform integrates the diverse needs of various professions, career stages, and disciplines — spanning fields such as engineering, sciences, and humanities — with varying data literacy competency levels.

DALIA employs a knowledge graph to link resources and has developed the DALIA Interchange Format (DIF) as a framework for ensuring metadata consistency and seamless integration into the DALIA platform. DIF was developed through a multi-feedback process involving the scientific community and has influenced other schemas. Most recently, the metadata schema has been revised to reflect current developments, while maintaining backward compatibility.

In addition to providing clear definitions and references to standards for attributes, their values are specified in picklists. For example, differentiating between file formats and media types is achieved through definitions, and the respective picklists restrict the available options.

This presentation highlights the development of picklists for DIF, aiming to simplify the retrieval of learning resources.

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