Reference your datasets on data.gouv.fr

Carole Bodilis Updated by Carole Bodilis

This article was written for producers of French open data who publish it on the Opendatasoft platform, but who wish to also have their data referenced on https://www.data.gouv.fr to increase its discoverability.

The method defined jointly by the Etalab and Opendatasoft teams is based on the Opendatasoft DCAT export and the data.gouv.fr DCAT harvester.

The steps involved are as follows:

  1. Fill in the metadata for each dataset
  2. Copy the DCAT export link, having selected datasets for publication
  3. Set up the harvester in your organization's profile on data.gouv.fr
Prerequisites:
- An Opendatasoft portal configured to allow anonymous users
- An "Organisation" profile on data.gouv.fr

Step 1: Fill in the metadata

Metadata to fill in

In Opendatasoft, the metadata you need to fill in for your datasets—and which are used to calculate the quality score on data.gouv.fr—are listed below:

ODS metadata template

ODS metadata field

Matching data.gouv.fr metadata field

How to fill it out

Standard

Description

Déscription

Standard

License

Licence

For a public administration, these licenses are recommended: Licence Ouverte version 2.0 or ODC Open Database License (ODbL) version 1.0. For more information, see here (in French).

DCAT

Accrual periodicity

Fréquence

One of the following values:

  • Triennal
  • Biennal
  • Annuelle
  • Deux fois par an
  • Trois fois par an
  • Trimestrielle
  • Bimestrielle
  • Mensuelle
  • Deux fois par mois
  • Toutes les deux semaines
  • Trois fois par mois
  • Hebdomadaire
  • Deux fois par semaine
  • Trois fois par semaine
  • Quotidienne
  • Continue
  • Sans régularité

DCAT

Temporal coverage start date + Temporal coverage end date

Couverture temporelle

Fill out the start and end dates for the data.

DCAT

Spatial

Couverture territoriale

This metadata is not currently retrieved by data.gouv.fr, so needs to be added individuqlly to each dataset on the data.gouv.fr side.

Option 1: Reference all of the datasets on your portal

Go to your portal's catalog (<the URL of your portal>/explore).

Find the "RDF/XML (DCAT)" export link at the bottom left of your screen.

Right-click on the link to copy it. This is what you will use when setting up the harvester on data.gouv.fr.

Option 2: Reference a subset of your data

This option is preferable if you don't want to reference all of your portal's datasets. For example, you may wish to exclude the SIRENE database or other data published by third-party organizations. This step can be quite technical, so don't hesitate to contact Opendatasoft support if you need assistance.

In this case, you'll need to create the export URL with:

  • The root <the URL of your portal>/api/v2/catalog/exports/dcat
  • Plus the parameters to filter the export, based on ODSQL syntax (Opendatasoft API query language)

The resulting link is what you will use when setting up the harvester on data.gouv.fr.

Examples:
  1. Here's an example of a query to retrieve the DCAT export from the https://public.opendatasoft.com portal, excluding the "Opendatasoft" producer:
    https://public.opendatasoft.com/api/v2/catalog/exports/dcat?where=publisher!="Opendatasoft"
  2. Here's an example query to retrieve the DCAT export from the https://public.opendatasoft.com portal, excluding the "Opendatasoft" producer and filtering on the "Population" keyword:
    https://public.opendatasoft.com/api/explore/v2.1/catalog/exports/dcat?where=publisher!="Opendatasoft" AND keyword="Population"&lang=en
Note that you can run the test with a CSV export to see if you are indeed retrieving the desired datasets: https://public.opendatasoft.com/api/v2/catalog/exports/csv?where=publisher!="Opendatasoft"

Create the harvester on data.gouv.fr

For this final step, follow the documentation at data.gouv.fr: https://guides.etalab.gouv.fr/data.gouv.fr/publier-jeu-de-donnees/#publier-un-catalogue-de-donnees-existant-par-moissonnage (in French).

Remember to select the DCAT harvesting option.

Once done, what will be available on data.gouv.fr?

  • The metadata for the datasets you've referenced.
  • Export files for the datasets you've referenced. For all datasets, CSV, XLSX, and JSON exports will be available as resources on data.gouv.fr. If the dataset contains geographic forms, the GeoJSON export will also be available.
  • Other resources. If you wish to add other files to be available as resources on data.gouv.fr, you can add them to your dataset's alternative exports (as a file, or via URL).

How did we do?

Referencing your datasets with your national open data portal (DCAT-AP)

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