In the RDA Registry relationships between real world entities are described by linking registry objects together using different kinds of relations. Relationships between activities, collections, parties and services are used to provide navigational links and contextual information. These relations create a rich mesh of information about Australia's research data and the parties, activities and services that support it. The four classes of registry objects can be related to each other.
Related Object child elements
The RelatedObject element has a number of child elements that describe the related entity or object:
the Key of the registry object to be linked (mandatory).
Relation, to describe the nature of the relationship between the registry objects, using Relation Type (mandatory), and the optional child elements:
Description—a plain text description further refining or describing a relationship. Optionally, the language of the relation description metadata can be recorded in the language attribute, @lang.
URL—a URL expressing or implementing the relationship between registry objects. For example, the URL which implements a service related to a collection.
Relation attributes
Relation Type
A Relation Type is required. Preferably specify a type from the Relation Type vocabulary. Local types may also be used, for example if a data source has described different relationships according to an established schema. Ad hoc local values should be avoided.
Available Relation Types differ according to the classes of registry object being linked; detailed descriptions of relevant relations are provided on the collection, service, activity and party pages. If the generic relation 'hasAssocationWith' is used, include a description of the details or nature of the association.
Expand the links below to view available Types:
Relation Types: Activity...
Activity-Activity relation:
isPartOf
is contained in the related activity (for example, a project that is part of a broader program)
hasPart
contains the related activity
isFundedBy
receives monetary or in-kind aid from the related program
isInvestedBy
receives monetary or in-kind aid from the related coinvestment program
Activity-Collection relation:
hasOutput
delivers materials in the related collection
Activity-Party relation:
isFundedBy
receives monetary or in-kind aid from the related party
isManagedBy
is organised and/or administered by the related party
isOwnedBy
legally belongs to the related party
hasPrincipalInvestigator
the related party is the lead investigator for the project or grant
hasParticipant
the related party is a participant in the project or grant
Activity-Any relation:
hasAssociationWith
has an unspecified relationship with the related registry object
Relation Types: Collection...
Collection-Collection relation:
describes
is a catalogue for, or index of, items in a related collection
hasPart
contains the related collection
hasAssociationWith
has an unspecified relationship with the related collection
isDescribedBy
is catalogued or indexed by the related collection
isLocatedIn
is held in the related repository
isLocationFor
is the repository where the related collection is held
isPartOf
is contained within the related collection
isDerivedFrom
collection is derived from the related collection e.g. through analysis
hasDerivedCollection
the related collection is derived from the collection e.g. through analysis
hasVersion
versioned by the related collection
isVersionOf
is a version of the related collection
Collection-Party relation:
hasCollector
has been collected, generated, created or aggregated by the related party
isManagedBy
is maintained and made accessible by the related party (includes custodian role)
isOwnedBy
legally belongs to the related party
hasPrincipalInvestigator
is researched by the related party
isEnrichedBy
additional value provided to a collection by a party
Collection-Activity relation:
isOutputOf
is a product of the related activity
Collection-Service relation:
supports
can be contributed to, accessed or used through the related service (i.e. the collection supports the service)
isAvailableThrough
is made available through a discovery service (Harvest, Search, Syndicate)
isProducedBy
is produced by a creation service (Create, Generate, Assemble, Transform output)
isPresentedBy
is presented by a creation service (Report)
isOperatedOnBy
is operated on by a creation service (Transform input)
hasValueAddedBy
is added to by a metadata service (Annotate)
Collection-Any relation:
hasAssociationWith
has an unspecified relationship with the related registry object
Relation Types: Party...
Party-Party relation:
isFundedBy
receives monetary or in-kind aid from the related party
isFunderOf
provides monetary or in-kind aid to the related party
isManagedBy
is overseen by the related party
isManagerOf
oversees the related party
hasMember
(group) has enrolled the related party (person)
isMemberOf
(person) is enrolled in the related party (group)
isOwnedBy
legally belongs to the related party
isOwnerOf
legally possesses the related party (group)
Party-Collection relation:
enriches
provides additional value to a collection
isCollectorOf
has collected, generated, created or aggregated the related collection
isManagerOf
administers the related collection
isPrincipalInvestigatorOf
is researched by the related party
Party-Activity relation:
isParticipantIn
is enrolled in the related activity
isFunderOf
provides monetary or in-kind aid to the related activity (program)
isPrincipalInvestigatorOf
is researched by the related party
Party-Any relation:
hasAssociationWith
has an unspecified relationship with the related registry object
isManagedBy
is overseen by the related party (includes custodian role)
isManagerOf
oversees the related party or service or administers the related collection (includes custodian role)
isOwnedBy
legally belongs to the related party
isOwnerOf
legally possesses the related activity, collection, service or party (group only)
Relation Types: Service...
Service-Service relation:
hasPart
contains the related service
isPartOf
is contained within the related service
Service-Collection relation:
isSupportedBy
enables contribution and access to or use of the related collection
makesAvailable
enables discovery and/or access to the related collection (Harvest, Search, Syndicate)
produces
produces the related collection (Create, Generate, Assemble, Transform output)
presents
presents the related collection (Report)
operatesOn
operates on the related collection (Transform input)
addsValueTo
uses metadata to add to the related collection (Annotate)
Service-Party relation:
isManagedBy
is overseen by the related party (includes custodian role)
isOwnedBy
legally belongs to the related party
Service-Any relation:
hasAssociationWith
has an unspecified relationship with the related registry object
Use in Research Data Australia
All relations are displayed as hyperlinks and can be used to navigate to other information within Research Data Australia. In addition, a visual presentation of a record's relationships is displayed through a relationship graph with each node on the graph representing a related entity with links to related pages (internal and external to Research Data Australia).
If two or more collections are related to each other with a relationship type of 'hasPart' or 'isPartOf' (nested collections: see XML encoding example below), they will graphically display as a hierarchy in Research Data Australia similar to the following:
Labels for relationships are simplified for display in Research Data Australia:
Click here to view Relation labels...
Relation
Displays as:
describes
Describes
enriches
Enriches
isEnrichedBy
Enriched by
hasAssociationWith
Associated with
hasCollector
Aggregated by
hasMember
Has member
hasOutput
Produces
hasPart
Includes
hasParticipant
Undertaken by
has PrincipalInvestigator
Principal investigator
isCollectorOf
Collector of
isDescribedBy
Described by
isFundedBy
Funded by
isFunderOf
Funds
isInvestedBy
Invested by
isLocatedIn
Located in
isLocationFor
Location for
isManagedBy
Managed by
isManagerOf
Manages
isMemberOf
Member of
isOutputOf
Output of
isOwnedBy
Owned by
isOwnerOf
Owner of
isParticipantIn
Participant in
isPartOf
Part of
is PrincipalInvestigatorOf
Principal investigator of
isSupportedBy
Supported by
supports
Supports
Best practice
Contributors should consider how important a relation is to discovery, and not create relations that will not improve access. In particular, although the RDA Registry allows parties to be related, this should be used only to improve discovery. A relation between a person (researcher) and a group (funding organisation) may add value, while hierarchical relations between organisational parts may not.
RelatedInfo or RelatedObject?
Registry objects can be linked to a related collection, party, activity or service in one of two ways:
using an identifier in the RelatedInfo element; OR
using the key of an (existing or new) related RegistryObject in the RelatedObject element.
As Research Data Australia is primarily a collections registry, it is preferred that a registry object be created to describe collections. However, consider whether you need to create a registry object for parties. Research Data Australia treats parties linked via RelatedObject or RelatedInfo in almost exactly the same way: the indexing and display of names are equivalent; however, an advantage of using RelatedObject is that reverse links are generated from the party object, allowing all collections related to that party to be displayed when a party name is clicked on (this functionality will hopefully be available with RelatedInfo links in a future release). The advantage of using RelatedInfo is that it is the simplest (and most sustainable) way to link parties to collections, activities and services with a globally unique persistent identifier (preferably an ORCID or ROR).
Whichever option is chosen, contributors are strongly encouraged to provide a globally unique identifier such as a DOI, ORCID or ROR in their records. Identifiers support a linked data approach that enables relationships between resources to be identified and displayed in Research Data Australia regardless of the source of the record.
Multiple relations
It is possible to create multiple relations for a single object. For example, a party may be related to a collection as both manager and owner. Multiple relations for a single object should be provided in a single instance of the RelatedObject element. See the XML encoding examples below for details.
See Relationships between registry objects for information on how the RDA Registry can automatically create relationships between objects, and bi-directional links between related objects.
Information about inferred bi-directional links added
21 Nov 2011
Information about creating primary relationships
5 Dec 2011
Minor clarifications to descriptions of relation types
4 May 2012
Correction, added collection-to-any relation isAssociatedWith, previously omitted in error
20 Nov 2012
PrincipalInvesigator relation type added
8 April 2013
Information about multiple relations added
15 May 2013
Information about nested collections added
26 Nov 2013
Information about expanded use of relatedInfo added to best practice section (RIF-CS v1.0.5)
26 Nov 2015
Updated definitions of hasCollector and isCollectorOf introduced with Release 18
5 July 2017
Content completely revised and updated. Updated relatedInfo vs relatedObject best practice guidance. Primary and bi-directional links info, and detailed relation explanations moved to new Research Data Functionality and Display page.
20 June 2018
Updated relatedInfo vs relatedObject best practice guidance.
14 Aug 2018
Added information about graph display of relations in RDA (Release 28)
28 May 2025
Updated screenshots
16 October 2025
Added "IsInvestedBy" as a new Activity-Activity relation type
