Registry object

Meaning & purpose

A registry object is equivalent to a metadata record (a set of metadata describing a single object or entity). There will be one RegistryObject element for each activity, collection, party or service that is described by a set of metadata in the RDA Registry.

The RegistryObject element appears at the beginning and end of each section of an XML document that complies with the RIF-CS Schema. It marks the start and finish of a metadata record. It is a wrapper element containing descriptive and administrative metadata for a single registry object.

Groupis a required attribute of the RegistryObject element which uniquely identifies the contributing organisation by name.

Use in Research Data Australia

The RegistryObject element is used to define the display of collection, activity, service and party records in Research Data Australia.

Best practice

This element can be repeated as often as required within a RIF-CS XML document, although there may be technical limits on the number of records imposed by harvesting software.

To avoid duplication, check to see whether an object already exists before creating a new RegistryObject for that entity.

XML encoding example

<registryObjects>
  <registryObject group="Monash University">
    <!--remainder of record1-->
 </registryObject>
  <registryObject group="Monash University">
    <!--remainder of record2-->
 </registryObject>
</registryObjects>

Change history