Mapping Hierarchical File Structures to Semantic Data Models for Efficient Data Integration into Research Data Management Systems

Henrik tom Wörden, Florian Spreckelsen, Stefan Luther, Ulrich Parlitz and Alexander Schlemmer ()
Additional contact information
Henrik tom Wörden: Indiscale GmbH, 37083 Göttingen, Germany
Florian Spreckelsen: Indiscale GmbH, 37083 Göttingen, Germany
Stefan Luther: Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
Ulrich Parlitz: Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
Alexander Schlemmer: Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, 37077 Göttingen, Germany

Data, 2024, vol. 9, issue 2, 1-15

Abstract: Although other methods exist to store and manage data in modern information technology, the standard solution is file systems. Therefore, keeping well-organized file structures and file system layouts can be key to a sustainable research data management infrastructure. However, file structures alone lack several important capabilities for FAIR data management: the two most significant being insufficient visualization of data and inadequate possibilities for searching and obtaining an overview. Research data management systems (RDMSs) can fill this gap, but many do not support the simultaneous use of the file system and RDMS. This simultaneous use can have many benefits, but keeping data in RDMS in synchrony with the file structure is challenging. Here, we present concepts that allow for keeping file structures and semantic data models (in RDMS) synchronous. Furthermore, we propose a specification in yaml format that allows for a structured and extensible declaration and implementation of a mapping between the file system and data models used in semantic research data management. Implementing these concepts will facilitate the re-use of specifications for multiple use cases. Furthermore, the specification can serve as a machine-readable and, at the same time, human-readable documentation of specific file system structures. We demonstrate our work using the Open Source RDMS LinkAhead (previously named “CaosDB”).

Keywords: research data management; FAIR; file structure; file crawler; semantic data model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C8 C80 C81 C82 C83 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5729/9/2/24/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5729/9/2/24/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jdataj:v:9:y:2024:i:2:p:24-:d:1327257

Access Statistics for this article

Data is currently edited by Ms. Cecilia Yang

More articles in Data from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().