[dxwg] Proposal to generalise property dcat:dataset

andrea-perego has just created a new issue for https://github.com/w3c/dxwg:

== Proposal to generalise property dcat:dataset  ==
> This proposal is related to requirement [[RDST]](https://www.w3.org/TR/dcat-ucr/#RDST) ("Dataset type") #64

In the current version of DCAT, the relationship used to link a `dcat:Catalog` with the documented resources is [`dcat:dataset`](https://www.w3.org/TR/vocab-dcat/#Property:catalog_dataset), which is meant to be used only for `dcat:Dataset`'s.

If we plan to support the possibility of documenting resources not falling into the DCAT definition of "datasets", we need to use another property. 

For instance, as illustrated by [UC20](https://www.w3.org/TR/dcat-ucr/#ID20), in GeoDCAT-AP, catalogues can include records about services. In this case, the relationship between the catalogue and the service is specified by using [`dct:hasPart`](http://dublincore.org/documents/dcmi-terms/#terms-hasPart). 

This is in line with DCAT, as [`dcat:dataset`](https://www.w3.org/TR/vocab-dcat/#Property:catalog_dataset) is defined as a subproperty of `dct:hasPart`. The issue is that `dct:hasPart` is quite generic, and it is already used for expressing other "inclusion" relationships. E.g., in DCAT-AP 1.1, it is used to specify the relationship between catalogues and subcatalogues (i.e., "a catalogue that is part of the described catalogue").

So, an option would be to mint a new property (`dcat:resource`?), more specific than `dct:hasPart` - e.g.:

````turtle
dcat:resource rdfs:subPropertyOf dct:hasPart .

dcat:dataset rdfs:subPropertyOf dct:hasPart , dcat:resource .
````
Please note that the proposal is not to replace / deprecate `dcat:dataset`: this property should be still used for linking `dcat:Catalog`'s to `dcat:Dataset`'s, whereas `dcat:resource` (or whatever we decide to call it) will be used for those resources which are not `dcat:Dataset`'s.

NB: This issue does not concern how `dcat:CatalogRecord`'s are linked to the the corresponding resources, as this relationship is expressed in the current version of DCAT by using a generic property, namely, [`foaf:primaryTopic`](https://www.w3.org/TR/vocab-dcat/#Property:record_primary_topic). Moreover, the creation of a new property (i.e., the hypotetical `dcat:resource`) has no impact on the current definition of [`dcat:CatalogRecord`](https://www.w3.org/TR/vocab-dcat/#class-catalog-record), and the related properties.

Please view or discuss this issue at https://github.com/w3c/dxwg/issues/116 using your GitHub account

Received on Wednesday, 14 February 2018 23:31:23 UTC