ISO/IEC 11179-7:2019

INTERNATIONAL ISO/IEC
STANDARD 11179-7
First edition
2019-12
Information technology — Metadata
registries (MDR) —
Part 7:
Metamodel for data set registration
Reference number
ISO/IEC 11179-7:2019(E)
©
ISO/IEC 2019

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ISO/IEC 11179-7:2019(E)

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© ISO/IEC 2019
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this publication may
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ISO/IEC 11179-7:2019(E)

Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms, definitions and abbreviated terms . 1
3.1 Terms and definitions . 1
3.2 Abbreviated terms . 3
4 Conformance . 3
4.1 Overview of conformance . . 3
4.2 Conformance by clause . 3
4.3 Standard profiles . 3
4.3.1 General. 3
4.3.2 Data Set Registry profile . . 4
4.3.3 Extended Data Set Registry profile . 4
5 Data Set package . 4
5.1 Data Set metamodel region . 4
5.1.1 Overview of the Data Set metamodel region . 4
5.1.2 Classes in the Data Set metamodel region . 5
5.1.3 Association Classes in the Data Set metamodel region .21
5.1.4 Associations in the Data Set metamodel region .22
6 Relationship to other parts of the ISO/IEC 11179 series .26
6.1 Relationship to ISO/IEC 11179-3 .26
6.1.1 General.26
6.1.2 Use of the common facilities types specified in ISO/IEC 11179-3 .26
6.2 Relationship to ISO/IEC 11179-6 .27
Annex A (informative) Alphabetical list of terms and designations .28
Annex B (informative) Examples of data set registration .31
Annex C (informative) Additional standard conformance profiles .37
Annex D (informative) A complete view of the concept of “provenance” .38
Bibliography .39
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ISO/IEC 11179-7:2019(E)

Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that
are members of ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through
technical committees established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of
technical activity. ISO and IEC technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other
international organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also
take part in the work.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for
the different types of document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the
editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www .iso .org/ directives).
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject
of patent rights. ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent
rights. Details of any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the
Introduction and/or on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www .iso .org/ patents) or the IEC
list of patent declarations received (see http:// patents .iec .ch).
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and
expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the
World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) see www .iso .org/
iso/ foreword .html.
This document was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology,
Subcommittee SC 32, Data management and interchange.
A list of all parts in the ISO/IEC 11179 series can be found on the ISO website.
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A
complete listing of these bodies can be found at www .iso .org/ members .html.
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ISO/IEC 11179-7:2019(E)

Introduction
Many data sets are now generally available. These may be part of a government-led open data initiative,
or may be data sets that are used within and across organizations for commercial, scientific or academic
purposes.
There is a requirement for metadata about these data sets to be readily available to enable the consistent
and appropriate use of data and information, and to prevent duplication of work. Having an enhanced
Metadata Registry where metadata that describes data sets is registered will facilitate the discovery of
appropriate data sets.
In ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013, Clauses 5 to 11 the structure of a Metadata Registry is specified in the form
of a conceptual data model. The Metadata Registry is used to keep information about data elements
and associated concepts, such as “data element concepts”, “conceptual domains” and “value domains”.
Generically, these are all referred to as “metadata items”. Such metadata are necessary to clearly
describe, record, analyse, classify and administer data. This document provides a specification of the
extensions to the registry metamodel specified in ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013, Clauses 5 to 11 to enable the
registration of metadata about datasets.
When considering data and metadata, it is important to distinguish between types of data/metadata,
and instances of these types. ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013, Clauses 5 to 11 specifies the types of metadata
objects that form the structure of a basic Metadata Registry. Clause 5 specifies the types of metadata
objects that form an extension to that structure so that the whole structure provides facilities to keep
information about data sets. A Metadata Registry will be populated with instances of these metadata
objects (metadata items), which in turn define, for example, types of data in an application database,
or, in the case of this document, data sets that are held elsewhere. Such data sets could, for example, be
made available over the internet or be included as a table within a word processing document.
The facilities described in this document, together with those described in ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013,
Clauses 5 to 11 provides the ability to record the following data set metadata:
— one or more unique identifiers for the data set;
— the designation or title of the data set;
— a definition or description of the data set that provides sufficient detail to enable a user to quickly
understand whether this data set is of interest;
— the date the data set was issued and, if appropriate, the date that subsequent versions of the data set
were, or will be, issued;
— the access level and rights associated with the data set;
— the provenance of the data set, i.e., information about the place and time of the origin of the data set,
its ownership and the method of the generation of the set;
— a set of keywords or tags that help to explain the data set;
— the language or languages used to describe the data set;
— the temporal and spatial coverages of the data set;
— the accrual periodicity of the data set, i.e., the frequency at which new, revised or updated versions
of the data set are made available;
— the details of the distributions of the data set, including the identifier, the title, a description, the
media type or file format, the size, the issue date, languages, access level and rights and access and
download URLs;
— annotations drawn from a concept system, such as an ontology, to describe the theme or category of
the data set or the collection of data sets;
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— the details of any contexts, such as a programme, project or business area that use the data set;
— the details of any quality assessments made in respect of the data set;
— any additional descriptions of the data set, including:
— any data elements that are already registered that are included in the data set;
— any information models that describe the structure of the information in the data set;
— any documents which describe aspects of the data set, such as technical information about the
data set and/or developer documentation such as a graphical representation of the data model
of the data set;
— the details of any superset/subset hierarchies containing the data set;
— the details of any replacement data set if this data set is superseded;
— the details of any collection of data sets of which this data set is a part, including the identifiers,
the designation or title, a definition or description, issue dates, languages, access level, rights, the
spatial coverage, the provenance and any quality assessments of the collection.
This document was prepared taking into account concepts described in the following documents:
[1]
— Data Catalog Vocabulary (DCAT) (published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C));
[2]
— The PROV Ontology (Prov-O) (published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C));
[3]
— The PROV Data Model (Prov-DM) (published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C));
[4]
— Project Open Data Metadata Schema v1.1 (published by the US Government).
Supplementary material is provided in Annexes as follows:
— Annex A provides an alphabetical list of the terms used in this document;
— Annex B provides two examples of the registration of data sets using the facilities specified in this
document;
— Annex C summarizes conformance profiles specified in this document that are additional to those
specified in ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013, Clause 4;
— Annex D provides a complete description of how the concept of provenance can be captured using
the facilities specified in this document.
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INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO/IEC 11179-7:2019(E)
Information technology — Metadata registries (MDR) —
Part 7:
Metamodel for data set registration
1 Scope
This document provides a specification for an extension to a Metadata Registry (MDR), as specified in
ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013, Clauses 5 to 11 in which metadata which describes data sets, collections of data
available for access or download in one or more formats, can be registered. Since a set can contain a
single element, this document enables the recording of metadata about a single data value.
The registered metadata provides information about the data set that includes the provenance and the
quality of the dataset.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013, Information technology — Metadata registries (MDR) — Part 3: Registry
metamodel and basic attributes
ISO/IEC 11179-6, Information technology — Metadata registries (MDR) — Part 6: Registration
3 Terms, definitions and abbreviated terms
3.1 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO/IEC 11179-3 and the
following apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https:// www .iso .org/ obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at http:// www .electropedia .org/
3.1.1
access level
level of authority required from an entity to access a protected resource
Note 1 to entry: In the context of this document, items to which an access level may be specified are limited to a
data set, a data set distribution and a data set collection.
Note 2 to entry: For the public, the level of authority might describe the degree of public availability of a dataset.
EXAMPLE Public, restricted public and non-public.
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3.1.2
accrual periodicity
frequency with which items are added to a collection
Note 1 to entry: In the context of this document, it is assumed that an updated version of a data set is issued or
made available whenever new items are added to that data set.
[SOURCE: ISO 2146:2010, 7.2.6, modified – Note 1 to entry added and EXAMPLE deleted]
3.1.3
data element collection
collection of data elements that may be unordered or ordered
Note 1 to entry: Examples of unordered collections are a set or a bag (or multiset). An example of an ordered
collection is a list.
3.1.4
data set
dataset
identifiable collection of data available for access or download in one or more formats
Note 1 to entry: A data set can be a smaller grouping of data which, though limited by some constraint such as
spatial extent or feature type, is located physically within a larger data set. Theoretically, a data set can be as
small as a single feature or feature attribute contained within a larger data set.
Note 2 to entry: A data set may be presented in a tabular form and stored and distributed in tables in word
processed documents, spread sheets or databases. It could also be presented in any one of a number of alternative
formats, including AVRO, JSON, RDF and XML.
3.1.5
data set collection
curated collection of one or more data sets (3.1.4)
3.1.6
data set distribution
specific available form of a data set (3.1.4) or data set collection (3.1.5)
Note 1 to entry: Each data set might be available in different forms and each of these forms represents a different
format of the data set or a different endpoint.
Note 2 to entry: Examples of distributions include a downloadable CSV file, an API or an RSS feed. This represents
a general availability of a data set. It implies no information about the actual access method of the data, i.e.
whether it is a direct download, API, or through accessing a Web page.
3.1.7
data set specification
additional formal information to describe a data set
Note 1 to entry: A data set specification may consist of zero, one or more ISO/IEC 11179-3 Reference_Documents,
zero, one or more ISO/IEC 19763-12 Information_Models and/or zero, one or more sets of ISO/IEC 11179-3 Data_
Elements.
3.1.8
information model
graphical and textual representation of entities and the relationships between them
Note 1 to entry: An information model can exist as, at the conceptual or logical level, an entity relationship model
or an object class diagram, and, at the physical level, a database schema definition.
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 19763-12:2015, 4.2.24 modified – Note 1 to entry amended]
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3.1.9
ontology
specification of concrete or abstract things, and the relationships among them, in a prescribed domain
of knowledge
Note 1 to entry: The specification should be computer processable, such as an ontology registered as metadata
using the ISO/IEC 11179-3 Concept Region specification.
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 19763-3:2010, 3.1.1.1, modified – Note 1 to entry amended]
3.1.10
provenance
information on the place and time of origin, derivation or generation of a resource or a record or proof
of authenticity or of past ownership
3.1.11
rights
information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security or other policies
Note 1 to entry: This information may explain why a “non-public” or “restricted public” data set, data set
distribution or data set collection is not “public”.
Note 2 to entry: This definition is derived from Project Open Data Metadata Schema v1.1 (https:// project -open
-data .cio .gov/ v1 .1/ schema/ #dataQuality)
3.1.12
spatial coverage
geographical area which is the subject of a data set (3.1.4) or data set collection (3.1.5)
3.1.13
temporal coverage
period for which a data set (3.1.4) is applicable
3.2 Abbreviated terms
URL uniform resource locator
4 Conformance
4.1 Overview of conformance
Conformance rules for a Metadata Registry are specified in ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013, Clause 4. The
following subclauses extend these rules.
4.2 Conformance by clause
Conformance claims may also be limited to Clause 5. This clause is also dependent upon one or more
of ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013, Clauses 5 to 11, so conformance to this clause shall be understood to imply
conformance also to relevant provisions specified in one or more of ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013, Clauses 5 to 11.
Conformance may, therefore, be claimed for a set of data structures and/or datatypes for Clause 5.
4.3 Standard profiles
4.3.1 General
This document specifies the following standard profiles in addition to those specified in
ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013, 4.4.2.
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4.3.2 Data Set Registry profile
This profile implements ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013, Clauses 7, 8 and 9 and Clause 5.
4.3.3 Extended Data Set Registry profile
This profile implements ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013, Clause 11, and also satisfies all provisions of the Data
Set Registry profile.
5 Data Set package
5.1 Data Set metamodel region
5.1.1 Overview of the Data Set metamodel region
Figure 1 shows the metamodel for the registration of metadata about data sets.
Instances of each of the classes shown in Figure 1 shall be extended by one or more of an identified
item (with its subtypes of registered item, administered item or attached item), a designatable item or a
classifiable item, as specified in ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013, 5.5. See subclause 6.1.2 for details of the possible
types for instances of each of the classes shown in Figure 1.
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Figure 1 — Data Set metamodel region
5.1.2 Classes in the Data Set metamodel region
5.1.2.1 Concept class
The Concept class is described in ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013, 9.1.2.1.
In this document, the instances of the Concept class are used to model constructs within a concept
system, that may or may not be an ontology (3.1.9), that are used to annotate a data set or a data set
collection so as to describe the theme or category of the data set or data set collection.
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A Concept may participate in the following additional associations specified in this document:
— data_set_collection_concept_annotation (5.1.4.3) with zero, one or more concept_annotated_data_
set_collection Data_Set_Collections (5.1.2.4) in which this Concept is a concept_annotation.
— data_set_concept_annotation (5.1.4.8) with zero, one or more concept_annotated_data_set Data_Sets
(5.1.2.5) in which this Concept is a concept_annotation.
The Concept class has no additional attributes specified in this document.
5.1.2.2 Context class
The Context class is described in ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013, 7.3.2.5.
In this document, the instances of the Context class are used to model a particular programme, project
or business area that uses a data set (or collection of data sets), or a project or business area that is used
as the context for a quality assessment of a data set (or collection of data sets),
A Context may participate in the following additional associations specified in this document:
— data_set_context (5.1.4.9) with zero, one or more used_data_set Data_Sets (5.1.2.5) in which this
Context is a data_set_usage.
— data_set_collection_context (5.1.4.4) with zero, one or more used_data_set_collection Data_Set_
Collections (5.1.2.6) in which this Context is a data_set_collection_usage.
— quality_assessment_context (5.1.4.20) with zero, one or more contextualised_quality_assessment
Data_Set_Quality_Assessments (5.1.2.9) in which this Context is a quality_assessment_context.
The Context class has no additional attributes specified in this document.
5.1.2.3 Data_Element class
The Data_Element class is described in ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013, 11.1.2.4.
In this document, the instances of the Data_Element class are used to model any registered data element
that is referenced in a data set specification.
A Data_Element may participate in the following additional associations specified in this document:
— unordered_data_element_collection_data_element (5.1.4.21) with zero, one or more containing_data_
element_collection Unordered_Data_Element_Collections (5.1.2.13) in which this Data_Element is a
contained_data_element.
— ordered_data_element_collection_data_element (5.1.4.19) with zero, one or more containing_data_
element_collection Ordered_Data_Element_Collections (5.1.2.12) in which this Data_Element is a
contained_data_element.
The Data_Element class has no additional attributes specified in this document.
5.1.2.4 Data_Element_Collection class
Data_Element_Collection is a class each instance of which models a particular data element collection
(3.1.3), which is either an unordered collection of data elements or an ordered collection of data
elements.
A data element collection brings together the data elements that are referenced in the specification of a
particular data set.
A Data_Element_Collection shall be either an Unordered_Data_Element_Collection (5.1.2.13) or an
Orderered_Data_Element_Collection (5.1.2.12) but not both.
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A Data_Element_Collection may participate in the following associations:
— data_element_collection_hierarchy (5.1.4.1) with:
— zero or one superset_data_element_collection Data_Element_Collections in which this Data_
Element_Collection is a subset_data_element_collection.
— zero, one or more subset_data_element_collection Data_Element_Collections in which this Data_
Element_Collection is the superset_data_element_collection.
— data_set_specification_data_element_collection (5.1.4.14) with zero, one or more data_element_
collection_data_set_specification Data_Set_Specifications (5.1.2.10) in which this Data_Element_
Collecton is a partial_data_set_specification.
The Data_Element_Collection class has no attributes.
5.1.2.5 Data_Set class
5.1.2.5.1 Description of Data_Set
Data_Set is a class each instance of which models a particular data set (3.1.4), which is a collection of
data available for access or download in one or more formats.
A Data_Set may participate in the following associations:
— data_set_context (5.1.4.9) with zero, one or more data_set_usage Contexts (5.1.2.2) in which this
Data_Set is a used_data_set.
— data_set_data_set_distribution (5.1.4.11) with zero, one or more data_set_distribution Data_Set_
Distributions (5.1.2.7) in which this Data_Set is the distributed_data_set.
— data_set_data_set_collection (5.1.4.10) with zero, one or more containing_collection Data_Set_
Collections (5.1.2.6) in which this Data_Set is an included_data_set.
— data_set_data_set_specification (5.1.4.12) with zero, one or more data_set_specification Data_Set_
Specifications (5.1.2.10) in which this Data_Set is a specified_data_set.
— data_set_hierarchy (5.1.4.13) with:
— zero, one or more subset_data_set Data_Sets in which this Data_Set is the superset_data_set.
— zero or one superset_data_set Data_Set in which this Data_Set is a subset_data_set.
— data_set_concept_annotation (5.1.4.8) with zero, one or more concept_annotation Concepts (5.1.2.1)
in which this Data_Set is a concept_annotated_data_set.
— data_set_provenance (5.1.4.14) with zero, one or more publication_record Data_Set_Provenances
(5.1.2.8) in which this Data_Set is the published_data_set.
— data_set_quality_assessment (5.1.4.15) with zero, one or more data_set_quality_assessment Data_Set_
Quality_Assessments (5.1.2.9) in which this Data_Set is the quality_assessed_data_set.
— data_set_supersession (5.1.4.16) with:
— zero or one replacement_data_set Data_Set in which this Data_Set is the superseded_data_set.
— zero or one superseded_data_set Data_Set in which this Data_Set is the replacement_data_set.
The attributes of the Data_Set class are summarized here and specified more formally in 5.1.2.5.2:
— A Data_Set class may have zero or one access_level (5.1.2.5.2.1) of type String, which is the degree to
which this data set could have been made publicly-available, regardless of whether it has been made
available. If there is an instance of Data_Set_Collection associated with this instance of Data_Set and
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the access_level of the associated instance of Data_Set_Collection differs from the access_level of this
instance of Data_Set then it is assumed that the access_level of this instance of Data_Set overrides
the access_level of
...