Tag Archive for: metadata authoring

New: YAML Support for CEDAR Artifacts

/in /by

We’re excited to announce support for a new YAML-based representation of CEDAR metadata artifacts. YAML (YAML Ain’t Markup Language) offers a more readable, compact alternative to JSON for defining CEDAR templates, elements, fields, and instances—making it easier for users and developers to understand and edit metadata structures.

Why YAML?

CEDAR templates have traditionally been represented as JSON Schema. While powerful and expressive, JSON Schema can be verbose and difficult to read or edit manually—especially for users reviewing or writing complex metadata templates.

The new YAML format addresses this by offering:

  • Improved readability with cleaner indentation and less syntactic clutter
  • Simpler hand-editing of templates for users comfortable with structured configuration formats
  • Better version control diffs (changes in YAML are easier to interpret in Git-based workflows)
  • Easier onboarding for those new to CEDAR or metadata specification

What’s Included

The YAML representation captures the full semantics of CEDAR artifacts, including:

  • Template structure
  • Field definitions and types
  • Value constraints and cardinality
  • Ontology bindings and value sets
  • Required fields and conditional visibility
Read more

New Paper in Scientific Data: Modeling Community Standards as Metadata Templates

/in /by

We’re pleased to highlight the publication of a foundational paper from the CEDAR team in Scientific Data:
“Modeling community standards for metadata as templates makes data FAIR”
by Mark A. Musen, Martin J. O’Connor, Erik Schultes, and colleagues
? Read the paper

The Problem: Abstract Guidelines, Inconsistent Metadata

The FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) have become central to modern research data policy—but implementing them at scale remains difficult. Many scientific domains have published metadata reporting guidelines, but these are typically in free-text form, making them difficult to apply in practice or enforce systematically.

The result? Metadata that is often inconsistent, incomplete, or lacking the semantic richness needed to enable true data reuse and discovery.

Read more

CEDAR User Guide Now Available

/in /by

We’re pleased to announce the release of the CEDAR User Guide, a comprehensive, searchable resource to help users navigate the CEDAR Workbench.

Whether you’re designing metadata templates, filling in forms, or managing metadata artifacts, the guide walks you through key features with step-by-step instructions, annotated screenshots, and helpful tips. It’s ideal for both new users and experienced template authors looking to get more out of CEDAR.

? Explore the guide here:
https://metadatacenter.readthedocs.io/en/latest/user-overview/

Let us know what you think—we’ll continue updating it as the platform evolves!