From Metadata Chaos to Interoperable Metadata Profiles with the AIMS Metadata Profile Service

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)

Abstract

Data stewards often face persistent challenges when describing research data with metadata. Metadata are frequently recorded in non-standardised formats and often lack semantic annotations, which limits their reusability, discoverability, and the overall FAIRness of the data. In addition, there is often uncertainty about which standards and vocabularies should be used within specific research communities. The AIMS Metadata Profile Service [1], developed in the DFG-funded AIMS project (Applying Interoperable Metadata Standards), addresses these challenges by enabling the creation, sharing and reuse of interoperable, machine-readable metadata profiles based on RDF and SHACL. By linking metadata elements to well-defined ontological concepts, AIMS supports both humans and machines to better understand, integrate, and analyse complex datasets across domains. With the AIMS Metadata Profile Service, data stewards can iteratively create domain-specific profiles by selecting relevant ontology terms and defining constraintssuch as cardinalities and data types. These profiles can be used to automatically generate web forms that guide researchers in capturing consistent, machine-readablemetadata without requiring expertise in semantic technologies. The resulting metadata can be directly integrated into knowledge graphs, thereby improving interoperability and reuse. This poster presents the AIMS Metadata Profile Service and illustrates the transition from heterogeneous and non-standardised metadata practices to a profile-based approach for creating interoperable, semantically enriched metadata. Keywords: Metadata, RDF, Interoperability, Knowledge Graph [1] NFDI4ING. Metadata Profile Service. Retrieved April 17, 2026 from https://profiles.nfdi4ing.de.

Authors 3

1. Jacquline Wormstädt

   Technische Universität Darmstadt

   Affiliation as printed

   Technical University of Darmstadt

2. Jürgen Windeck

   Technische Universität Darmstadt

   Affiliation as printed

   Technische Universität Darmstadt

3. Kseniia Dukkart Aachen

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   RWTH Aachen University