FAIR data principles

Making data and tools Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR). Modern data repositories are now providing data in machine-readable formats that are web-accessible via RESTful APIs. These practices enable the community to connect and interrelate data that have previously been silo-ed. At the same time, developers are moving toward enhanced reproducibility by making their tools available in virtual machines or “containers” that encapsulate the code, operating system, and dependencies. These containers can be run on any system and promote reuse as the underlying operating system or dependencies change. Planet Microbe leverages FAIR practices to allow researchers to discover patterns in massive and interlinked datasets using community-developed tools.

In regard to metadata interoperability, Ontologies, human- and machiene- readable representations of information, can be used to provide metadata which have qualified references to other metadata needed to ensure interoperability.

See the FAIR data principles website for more detailed information.