Resources

All Resources have the following attributes:

  • name: Human-readable name (required)
  • description: Detailed description
  • homepage_url: Primary resource URL
  • repository: Version control repository
  • license: Resource licensing information
  • version: Resource version
  • domain: Primary scientific domain (see Domains below)
  • contacts: List of contact points
  • products: Specific representations of the resource
  • activity_status: Current state of the resource (active, inactive, etc.)
  • use_instead: KG-Registry Resource ID(s) that replace this resource (see Pointing to a Replacement Resource below)
  • tags: Categorization tags
  • funding: Funding source information

Specialized Resource Types

Each Resource may have a more specific type.

KnowledgeGraph

A specialized Resource for graph-based data:

  • Tracks graph creation and modification dates
  • Lists contributors and components
  • Represents nodes and edges data collection

DataSource

This Resource provides data. The data may or may not be in a graph structure.

DataModel

This Resource defines a data structure, i.e., a way to describe how data is organized and how its components relate to one another.

Ontology

This Resource defines an ontology, or a formal representation of a set of concepts within a domain and the relationships between those concepts.

Aggregator

This Resource combines multiple data sources.

Pointing to a Replacement Resource

Some resources are obsoleted or absorbed by others over time. When that happens we do not delete the older Resource’s page — its metadata still has historical and provenance value — but we point visitors toward whatever they should use in its place. This is done with the use_instead field, which holds one or more KG-Registry Resource IDs. On the Resource page these appear as a “Use instead” notice linking to the replacement(s).

We apply use_instead conservatively, only when both of the following hold:

  • The resource is not active. Its activity_status is inactive, orphaned, or unresponsive. We do not redirect users away from an active resource, even if a similar one exists.
  • There is a clear replacement. This is usually one of two situations:
    • A newer resource was explicitly intended to supersede the older one (for example, a version 2 released under a new identifier), or
    • The older resource has been subsumed by, merged into, or fully absorbed by another resource that now covers its content.

When neither a clear successor nor an absorbing resource exists — for instance a resource that was simply discontinued — we leave use_instead empty and rely on the activity_status banner alone. If a resource was split into several successors, or was subsumed by more than one resource, list each replacement ID.

The value of each use_instead entry must be an existing KG-Registry Resource ID (the id of the replacement’s page), not a name or URL.

Domains

Each Resource is annotated with one or more domains describing the kinds of information it provides. Wherever possible a domain maps to a concept in an external controlled vocabulary — the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) or, where MeSH lacks a suitable concept, the NCI Thesaurus (NCIT). These mappings are recorded as the meaning of each value in DomainEnum and are shown as links on each Resource page.

Resources may cover one or more of the following domains:

Domain Description Controlled vocabulary
agriculture Agricultural and food sciences, including crops, animals, plant science, and food production MeSH:D000383
anatomy and development The anatomy, structure, and developmental biology of organisms MeSH:D000715
biological systems The biological sciences broadly, where no more specific domain applies MeSH:D001690
biomedical The biomedical sciences spanning health and disease MeSH:D035843
chemistry and biochemistry The chemical and biochemical sciences MeSH:D002621
clinical The clinical sciences, including trials, patient data, diagnosis, and treatment MeSH:D015510
drug discovery Identification and development of new candidate medications MeSH:D055808
environment The environment, ecosystems, ecology, and environmental health MeSH:D004777
general Broadly applicable, cross-domain, or upper-level resources —
genomics The study of genomes, including structure, function, mapping, and editing MeSH:D023281
immunology The study of the immune system and its disorders MeSH:D000486
information technology Informatics, software, computational methods, simulation, and digital health MeSH:D000073256
literature The literature and publications of a domain MeSH:D011642
medical imaging Techniques for visual representation of the body for clinical analysis MeSH:D003952
microbiology The microbiological sciences, including microbiomes MeSH:D008829
neuroscience The study of the nervous system and its disorders MeSH:D009488
nutrition The nutritional sciences, including diet and metabolomics MeSH:D052756
organisms Specific organisms or taxa NCIT:C14250
pathways Biological pathways: metabolic, signaling, and regulatory networks MeSH:D053858
pharmacology How drugs interact with biological systems MeSH:D010600
phenotype The phenotypes of organisms MeSH:D010641
precision medicine Treatment/prevention accounting for individual variability MeSH:D057285
proteomics The large-scale study of proteins MeSH:D040901
public health Population health, epidemiology, and social determinants of health MeSH:D011634
systems biology Computational/mathematical analysis of complex biological systems MeSH:D049490
toxicology The adverse effects of chemicals on living organisms MeSH:D014116
other Another domain not defined here —

(The stub value is reserved for auto-generated placeholder pages and is not a subject-matter domain.)