Searchable resources include not only repositories and data platforms that can be used by people but also extended search environments that make the (meta-)data discoverable to a much wider audience. This includes opening data offers to library discovery systems and internet search engines, as well as making data available via query interfaces (APIs) for harvesting by third parties.
Publishing structured metadata on web pages can be a simple and efficient way to enhance the FAIRness of research resources. Research data repositories and cultural collection platforms on the web benefit from search engine optimisation through the integration of Schema.org metadata, which is embedded as markup in HTML web pages. Referring to the Schema.org vocabulary provides search engines with additional context to interpret the semantic relationships between terms on a webpage.
The prerequisite for good search and query results lies in the completeness and accuracy of the metadata. Also make use of the non-mandatory elements of the schema for indexing. Reference the entities mentioned in the metadata with authority data PIDs to make them semantically machine-readable.
Document the resources and interfaces through which the data from your platform can be accessed, and specify in which formats the metadata is available. For example, data may be available for download, metadata may be harvested through an OAI interface, or indexed in other places, such as DataCite or B2Find.
Open your platform's content to web crawlers so they can analyse and index it for search engines. Integrate markup with Schema.org vocabulary into your platform's web pages. The RDA Research Metadata Schemas Working Group offers guidelines and a metadata crosswalk for this purpose. The integration of Schema.org is recommended and supported by DataCite and Dataverse.