Create metadata (content) for Research Data Australia

Getting started with RIF-CS

The RDA Registry requires records to be in RIF-CS metadata schema for ingest. Records can be harvested in RIF-CS, or in another metadata schema used by your institutional repository where subsequent conversion to RIF-CS has been configured. There are a number of metadata crosswalks to RIF-CS available for you to adopt or adapt.

Learn more about RIF-CS.

Create a RIF-CS metadata record

In RIF-CS, there are four different kinds of objects which can be described and related to one another. These are:

• Collection: an aggregation of physical or digital objects;

• Party: a person or group;

• Activity: something occurring over time that generates one or more outputs; and

• Service: a physical or electronic interface that provides its users with benefits such as work done by a party or access to a collection or activity.

To get started with creating metadata for Research Data Australia, refer to the relevant object overview below which provides an entry point to each of the relevant RIF-CS elements, their obligation, and their associated attributes, together with examples and guidance on best practice.

This Content Providers Guide describes encoding requirements to prepare valid RIF-CS records for submission to the RDA Registry. The Registry applies a number of structural and content rules about information being supplied in order to ensure its validity and broad fitness for purpose. Completion of mandatory metadata elements is required but not sufficient to create a quality set of information about research data collections.

To create more impactful descriptions, see Metadata for Impact: make RIF-CS work for you.