Dear Marcus,

Thank you for reaching out to us.

Please see our response below regarding your questions:

- Use Project Data/Project Personnel for both groups, since they were directly involved in the project;

- For the role, please be cautious about using Originator, as that sounds broader than the contribution described, please use the closest available role in IPT and keep the specific contribution clear in the comments, description or acknowledgements; and

- Lastly, only use Contacts / Associated Parties if those individuals are actually intended to serve as contacts for the dataset.

Kind Regards,

Rhea Kanhai

Senior Environmental Officer II

MEAs & Biodiversity Department

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Ganges Street, Sophia

Tel: 225-5472, ext.2369

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On Tue, 10 Nov 2026 at 12:34, Ernst, Marcus via IPT <ipt@lists.gbif.org> wrote:

Dear all,

I hope this mailing list is the correct channel for my question. We are currently curating an observation dataset which we intend to publish via IPT to GBIF. However, while filling in the metadata, we have come across a question about how to represent staff members adequatly in the metadata.

A number of people were involved in this specific project, and they can be divided into two groups: the field team, who helped to collect the observations, and a group who assisted with plant identification. Previously, these individuals have only been listed in the acknowledgements. However, we would like to give them a more prominent mention in the metadata, specifying their role according to their respective group.

So far, I have identified two options in the IPT:
1) Project Data/Project Personnell: In my view, this is the most natural way of listing the staff. However, I am having trouble selecting the correct roles for the two described groups from the available options. I have also been unable to find any definitions or best practice examples. Which role(s) would be most appropriate for those staff members? Content Provider? Originator?

2) Contacts/Associated Parties: Essentially, the same applies here as in 1), although these wouldn't really fit into the "Contacts" category.

Would 1) be the best choice? And is "Originator" a suitable role? Are there any definitions for these roles anywhere?

Would greatly appreciate your opinions.

Best regards,

Marcus Ernst

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