1.
BioSharing.org
Cross-linked metadata standards, repositories and the
data policies - The BioSharing Information and
Education Resource
Biosharing Registry WG, Metadata Standards Catalog WG, Publishing Data Workflows WG
International Data Week, RDA 8TH Plenary, Denver, 17th September, 2016
Peter McQuilton
BioSharing Content Lead
@biosharing

2.
Outline
• What is BioSharing?
• How do we describe and link standards?
• Exploring the landscape of standards, databases
and data policies in the life sciences
• The BioSharing RDA/FORCE 11 WG – working with
the community

3.
What is BioSharing?
A web-based, curated and searchable portal that monitors the development and
evolution of standards, their use in databases and the adoption of both in data
policies, to inform and educate the user community.

4.
What is BioSharing?
Standards are digital objects too and we make them FAIR

5.
Data policies by
funders, journals and
other organizations
(>100)
Database, tools
and services
(>1000)
Content standards
(>700)
Complex and evolving landscape
Formats Terminologies Guidelines

6.
Helping users make the right decision

7.
How do we describe and
link standards

8.
Linking standards and databases to
training material

9.
Ready for use, implementation, or recommendation
In development
Status uncertain
Deprecated as subsumed or superseded
Manually curated, approved by the community
Using indicators to describe the
‘status’ of a resource

10.
https://biosharing.org/collection/EuroBioImaging

11.
Discover standards, databases,
policies, and their relationships

12.
Collections group together
one or more types of
resource by domain,
project or organization.
Recommendations are a
core-set of resources that
are selected and
recommended by a funder
or journal data policy.
Different cuts of the data

13.
“BioSharing and its interactive browser will allow us to
discover which databases and standards are not currently
included in our author guidelines, enabling us to regularly
monitor and refine our policies as appropriate, in support of
our mission to help our authors enhance the reproducibility
of their work.” – Holly Murray, F1000Research

14.
What we do
Inform – what’s out there, which databases use
which standards. Map the landscape.
Educate – what databases are recommended by your
funder, or journal of choice, which standards should
you be using, which standards and databases should
you recommend? Explore the landscape.

15.
Aims of the BioSharing WG
• To develop principles for linking information on
databases, content standards and journal and
funder data policies in the life sciences
• To develop a curated registry (running since 2011),
to access and cross-search this information, such
that a variety of stakeholders can make decisions
on which standards and databases to use or
endorse

16.
Standards Registry Survey:
• 533 responses from RDA, FORCE11, NIH (US), ELIXIR (UK)
• Provides a review of BioSharing content and
functionality
• Defines BioSharing activities under the US NIH BD2K
initiative, and the European excelerate interoperability
package
• 10 questions, detailing content, functionality and
indicators of standards maturity/use etc.
BioSharing Standards Survey – January 2016

17.
The Standards Registry Survey Shows:
• BioSharing already fulfills ~80% of user needs, which:
• are not limited to standards but extend to databases
and policies
• require an (curated) informational and educational
system, not simply a registry.
• BioSharing is uniquely positioned because of its cross-
linked content types, functionalities, community
endorsement and user base.
BioSharing Standards Survey – January 2016

18.
Adopters/users of BioSharing
Infrastructure:
Institutional RDM services:
Standard developing communities:
Projects/programmes:
Journal Publishers:

19.
Ongoing engagements
• Funders -
• Journal Publishers -
• Societies –
• Infrastructure -
Thanks to the RDA!
Come and talk to us!

20.
Advisory Board Operational Team