RADAR Software Release (Version 1.9): Annotation with subject-specific metadata

The metadata annotation capabilities have been significantly improved and expanded in RADAR Software v 1.9, which is now available online: In addition to standard annotation using the generic RADAR metadata schema, annotation using flexibly selectable subject-specific schemas is now also possible. After being commissioned, the function was initially developed as a customer-specific enhancement for a fee and has now been made generally available.

In addition to RADAR metadata, the new function also allows researchers to use their own metadata for datasets and the files and directories they contain, in accordance with their specialist requirements, and even to have them validated against subject-specific metadata schemas. Users are free to choose whether the supplementary annotation is based on an already established metadata standard or on a metadata schema developed, for example, in their own research project or within the NFDI consortium. Both standard RADAR metadata and subject-specific metadata are displayed on the landing page of a dataset, are included in the downloadable archive information package according to the BagIt standard (.tar file) and are available for harvesting via our OAI provider.

Prerequisites for subject-specific annotation:

RADAR administrators have the ability to store subject metadata schemas (.xsd file) for users at their institution. In doing so, they also define how the conversion to RADAR metadata should occur. On the one hand, this can be done via the RADAR standard transformation or via a separate, additionally deposited stylesheet (.xsl or .xslt). In both cases, the separate entry of RADAR metadata is not required for the data provider.

The annotation of the dataset by data providers is done by uploading a metadata XML file. This is automatically validated against the metadata schema selected in advance when the dataset is created. This ensures that subject-specific metadata annotations are also compliant with the standard RADAR metadata schema and that the basic requirements for DOI registration with DataCite are met.

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