Deposit Policy
All motor vehicle-related wildlife mortality data are subject to a review process meant to establish data relevancy and consistency. The processes for preparing data, creating a data dictionary, and submitting a data deposit request form are outlined below.
Based on how well a submitted dataset adheres to the following standards, it will either be accepted, accepted with contingencies, or, in the event that the dataset is not within the defined scope of the fF Repository, rejected.
Prepare Data for Deposit
Data about roadkill events are made up of observations that can be quantitative and qualitative. Therefore, flattenedFauna accepts both data types. Many of the same variables are found in roadkill datasets and it serves our users to ensure that important variables are consistently present and similarly structured.
Some roadkill data exist within larger datasets, like those that capture all known animal-human interaction events. In this case, depositors must create a subset of roadkill-specific dataset.
Depositor Responsibilities
To successfully deposit data with flattenedFauna, depositors are asked to meet the following criteria:
Data must be affiliated with a non profit, academic institution, or governmental body.
Confirm that the data falls within the scope of fF.
Remove personally identifying information of individual data collectors.
Acknowledge that any data concerning rare and protected species is removed.
Structure data with variables as columns and observations as rows.
Include the following four variables:
Location of the incident--Latitude
Location of the incident--Longitude
Date (accurate to the year)
Animal Description (common name, scientific name, or description; unknown is acceptable if the animal is unrecognizable)
Check spelling for correctness and consistency.
Remove abbreviations and acronyms or describe them in a data dictionary.
Remove all observations not relevant to roadkill events.
Remove all columns that only describe live animals, they are likely blank (ex.
release location,conditioning).Submit a separate data dictionary file that describes column titles, abbreviations, and acronyms.
Rare and Protected Species Disclaimer The depositor is responsible for removing records or any information that reveals the location of at-risk or protected species. Removal of information is documented in the resource metadata. At risk species are defined as any species where the revealing of one individual may make other individuals in the area susceptible to illegal collection, hunting, or well intentioned, but harmful, enthusiasts.
Suggested Variables
In addition to the four required variables listed above, datasets may contain many other variables. Particularly useful additional variables include:
taxonID - if the dataset contains identifiable species, enter the species record link from GBIF in this column.
organismRemarks - any relevant details or descriptions of the specimen.
establishmentMeans - describes whether the species is native, invasive, managed, introduced, or naturalized.
Cleaning Guidelines
Data should be cleaned as thoroughly as possible prior to submission to flattenedFauna. This reduces requests for the depositor to re-clean and resubmit. flattenedFauna asks depositors to perform the cleaning steps described in the Ingestion and Curation section to the best of their abilities before submission.
Data Dictionary
Depositors must include a separate data dictionary file that defines and describes every variable within the accompanying dataset. This file does not receive a DOI. The data dictionary should include the following fields. A template is available for download.
Column Header
Explanation
Variable name
Provide the meaning of each variable and how the variables relate to each other.
Data type
String, numeric, date, time
Description
The impetus or purpose of data collection (ex. road survey).
Controlled vocabulary values
List the values separated by commas.
List of values used
For string data type fields, if fewer than 10 unique values are present, list them separated by commas.
Missing values explanation
Explain why values are missing (implicit/explicit).
Collection methods
Brief description of how values were collected.
Actions taken to clean or anonymize data
Document any changes to original data.
Data Format
In order to facilitate data ingestion and organization, we require that depositors follow the Repository’s file formatting guidelines for both the dataset and the data dictionary. In general, proprietary file formats are not supported by flattendFauna. Deposited files should neither be password protected, nor encrypted. To ease preservation activities, ensure files are uncompressed and lossless. Our repository software can support most file sizes, though file size will affect upload time and method.
Examples of supported data file types:
.csv (this is the recommended file type; rfc 4180 standard)
.xls (Excel 97 and later)*
.xlsx (Excel 2007 and later)*
.tsv
Excel formatting can cause errors upon upload. If you experience an error when submitting an Excel file (.xls, .xlsx), convert to .csv and resume upload.
Supported image file types:
.png
.bmp
.svg
Examples of supported non-data file types:
.pdf
.docx
.xml
.json
Recordset-level Metadata
At the time of deposit request, flattenedFauna collects important information about the data throught the Deposit Request Form on the Ff Repository website. Some of this information is required for submission, while other elements are recommended if they apply to the resource.
Term
Definition
dwc:datasetName
A name given to the resource. See file naming guide.
dc:creator
The person(s), organization, or agency primarily responsible for making the resource.
dci:nameIdentifier
dc:rightsHolder
The person(s), organization, or agency with owning or managing rights over the resource
A spatial region or named place. Only regions within the U.S. and Canada are accepted at this time.
A period of time that is named or defined by its start and end dates (ISO 8601).
dc:description
An account of the resource; an abstract, a table of contents, a graphical representation, or a free-text account of the resource.
dc:license
A legal document giving official permission to do something with the resource. flattenedFauna has three options for licenses.
dwc:samplingProtocol
The name of, reference to, or description of the method or protocol used to collect the data.
dc:language
Language adheres to Library of Congress codes for representation of names and languages, ISO 639.2.
dc:extent
The size of the resource, in bytes.
Term
Definition
dc:source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived.
dwc:taxon
A group of organisms (sensu http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/OBI_0100026) considered by taxonomists to form a homogeneous unit. The taxon value must be represented on the GBIF list of names. Example for data about birds: <dwc:taxon>https://www.gbif.org/species/212</dwc:taxon>
xsi:funderName
Provides information about the agency and grant(s) which funded the described entity.
dc:subject
Keywords for the dataset separated by commas
Optional attributes
In addition to the required fields, depositors will be prompted to complete optional fields as they pertain to the dataset. It is highly encouraged that depositors include a list of keywords that will accompany the record to boost data discovery. The keywords provided on the submission form will be normalized by fF staff to fit our controlled vocabulary.
Required Event-level Variables
flattenedFauna requires datasets to include certain variables within the deposited data at the event level. fF welcomes additional related fields, but the minimums outlined below are required for ingest. Each event should include the following observations:
This date can describe when the roadkill event was first observed, or when it was reported. Please adhere to the temporal standard ISO 8601.
Latitude should be in decimal degrees (e.g. 47.39298)
Longitude should be in decimal degrees (e.g. -122.34523)
This can be a common name, scientific name, or free-text description. Efforts to make specific identification of the animal are preferred (eg. White-tailed deer rather than deer); however, any indication of what kind of animal was involved in the roadkill event will be accepted. Ideally, all fully identified observations will also have a link to the species record on GBIF in the optional column taxonID.
Uploading
Account creation and login is required for all publishing activities; though not for searching or downloading data.
Identify the type of upload.
Fill out deposit request form.
Upload the data file.
Types of Upload
Manual upload
Single datasets of a size less than 750 MB are eligible for manual upload through the web interface.
Links to external data
Large datasets may also be stored in the Repository as external links (URL). Users will locate the metadata record and follow the URL to the source website.
Metadata Only Ingestion
Datasets that are available only by a request from the owner(s) or are already stored in another digital repository are given a metadata record in flattenedFauna. These records receive an internal record locator but are not assigned a DOI. Metadata only records can be created through the data submission request form.
Automatic Upload
Data can be uploaded and updated automatically using the CKAN Action API. For more information about options for integrated uploading, please contact flattenedFauna. Additionally, datasets that exceed the 750 MB cap for manual upload must upload through integration.
Hardcopy data deposits:
Data sent to us in CD-ROM or other physical means will be promptly duplicated and those copies checked for accuracy.
Deposit Request Form
All of the above required and optional information about the dataset will be collected through the fF deposit request form and submitted to the flattenedFauna repository. Requests will be reviewed, and if they are determined within the scope of flattenedFauna, accepted or accepted pending edits to the dataset. The contents of completed forms are mapped onto the repository's metadata schema and keywords will be normalized using a controlled vocabulary.
Last updated
Was this helpful?