[dxwg] Possible mismatch between the stated scope in the non-normative text and the vocabulary specification (#1186)

aidig has just created a new issue for https://github.com/w3c/dxwg:

== Possible mismatch between the stated  scope in the non-normative text and the vocabulary specification  ==
### Problem statement:
There seems to be a possible mismatch between the stated goals and scope in the non-normative text and the vocabulary specification presented at https://www.w3.org/TR/vocab-dcat-2/.

In other words, a dcat:Catalog in DCAT 2.0 may include many different assets - not just datasets and dataservices (if the appropriate subclasses are defined naturally), but still the definition of dcat:Catalog is still limited to to datasets and dataservices.

### Examples
**Example from non-normative text: (Status of this Document)**

> The main changes to the DCAT vocabulary have been: (..)
> - loosening of constraints in class and property definitions to promote re-use of terms and modularity
> - addition of a dcat:Resource class for representing any asset than can be included in the catalog, this is now the super-class of dcat:Dataset

**Example from non-normative text: (5.1 DCAT scope)** 
https://www.w3.org/TR/vocab-dcat-2/#dcat-scope
> dcat:Resource represents a dataset, a data service or any other resource that may be described by a metadata record in a catalog. This class is not intended to be used directly, but is the parent class of dcat:Dataset, dcat:DataService and dcat:Catalog. Member items in a catalog should be members of one of the sub-classes, or of a sub-class of these, or of a sub-class of dcat:Resource defined in a DCAT profile or other DCAT application. dcat:Resource is effectively an extension point for defining a catalog of any kind of resource. dcat:Dataset and dcat:DataService can be used for datasets and services which are not documented in any catalog.

These statements do not seem to be reflected in the following examples from the vocabulary specification 

**Example from the description of dcat:Catalog in the Vocabulary specifcation**
https://www.w3.org/TR/vocab-dcat-2/#Class:Catalog

```
NOTE
The scope of DCAT 2014 was catalogs of datasets [VOCAB-DCAT-20140116]. This has been generalized, and properties common to all cataloged resources are now associated with a super-class dcat:Resource.
Moreover, an explicit class for data services has been added in this revision of DCAT, to enable these to be part of a catalog.
Finally, dcat:Catalog has been made a sub-class of dcat:Dataset, and provision for catalogs to be composed of other catalogs is also enabled.
See Issue #116 and Issue #172.
The following properties are specific to this class: catalog record, has part, dataset, service, catalog, homepage, themes.

The following properties are inherited from the super-class dcat:Dataset: distribution, frequency, spatial/geographic coverage, spatial resolution, temporal coverage, temporal resolution, was generated by. The following properties are inherited from the super-class dcat:Resource: access rights, conforms to, contact point, creator, description, has policy, identifier, is referenced by, keyword/tag, landing page, license, catalog language, relation, rights, qualified relation, publisher, release date, theme/category, title, type/genre, update/modification date, qualified attribution.
RDF Class: | dcat:Catalog
-- | --
Definition: | A curated collection of metadata about datasets and data services
Sub-class of: | dcat:Dataset
Usage note: | A Web-based data catalog is typically represented as a single instance of this class.
See also: | § 6.5 Class: Catalog Record, § 6.6 Class: Dataset
```
Or in ttl:
```
dcat:Catalog
  a rdfs:Class ;
  a owl:Class ;
  rdfs:comment "A curated collection of metadata about datasets and data services"@en ;
  rdfs:subClassOf dcat:Dataset ;
  rdfs:subClassOf [
      a owl:Restriction ;
      owl:allValuesFrom dcat:Resource ;
      owl:onProperty dct:hasPart ;
    ] ;
  skos:definition "A curated collection of metadata about datasets and data services."@en ;
  skos:scopeNote "A web-based data catalog is typically represented as a single instance of this class."@en ;

```

### Proposal
The _definition_ and _usage notes_ of the relevant vocabulary elements ought to reflect the intended scope. The definition of dct:Catalog as "A curated collection of metadata about datasets and data services" does obviously not eksplicitly state that a catalog **_exclusively_** collects metadata about datasets and data services, and the note explains the generalization of related elements, but it can be questioned whether this is represented in an user-friendly manner.






Please view or discuss this issue at https://github.com/w3c/dxwg/issues/1186 using your GitHub account

Received on Wednesday, 4 December 2019 12:25:13 UTC