Structured Data

Structured Data is data that takes the form of spreadsheets (e.g., CSV, TSV, XSL, XSLX), relational databases, JSON files, RDF files, and XML files.

At LINCS, we count data as structured if the entities are all tagged individually (e.g., one entity per spreadsheet cell or XML element) and the entities are connected, either in a hierarchical way (e.g., nested XML elements) or with relationships between entities expressed following some clearly-defined schema and data structure (e.g., spreadsheet headings relating columns of entities together).

Examples

The Canadian Centre for Ethnomusicology data started as several spreadsheets with a row for each artifact

ID	Title	placeMade	placeMadeID	material	materialID
CCEA-L1995.63	Bamboo Flute	Edmonton	https://sws.geonames.org/5946768	bamboo	http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q27891820
CCEA1995.21	Pair of Taiko Drums	Shinano	https://sws.geonames.org/1852136	hide	http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q3291230

The University of Saskatchewan Art Collection data began as an XML file with a parent element for each art object

<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<rdf:RDF xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#">
    <rdf:Description>
        <ObjectIdentifier>1910.001.001</ObjectIdentifier>
        <AcquistionDate>1910</AcquistionDate>
        <ObjectTitle>Portrait of Thomas Copland</ObjectTitle>
        <ArtistName url="http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q100921439">Victor Albert Long</ArtistName>
        <Medium url="http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300015050">oil paint</Medium>
        <Category url="http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300033618">painting</Category>
    </rdf:Description>
    <rdf:Description>
        <ObjectIdentifier>2018.026.001</ObjectIdentifier>
        <AcquistionDate>2018</AcquistionDate>
        <ObjectTitle>Grace</ObjectTitle>
        <ArtistName url="http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q19609740">Lori Blondeau</ArtistName>
        <Medium url="http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300265621">inkjet print</Medium>
        <Category url="http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300046300">Photograph</Category>
    </rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>

Examples​

Examples