Introduction#

What are Darwin Core Archives?#

Darwin Core Archives are the format in which the Atlas of Living Australia accepts and publishes biodiversity data. Each archive contains:

  • Data: This is the data you (and/or others) have collected. This can include, but is not limited to: observations, data on longitudinal studies, and environmental data.

  • Metadata: This is information about the data. This can include, but is not limited to:
    • who collected the data

    • what methods were used to collect the data

    • the license you would like attributed to your data

  • Description of DwCA: Each archive contains a file that describes how the data and the metadata are linked.

What type of data do I have?#

We currently support two types of archives, with extensions coming in the future.

Independent Observations

Longitudinal Studies