> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://fairsharing.gitbook.io/fairsharing/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://fairsharing.gitbook.io/fairsharing/associated-records.md).
# Relations to Other Records
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#### FAIR guidance
Throughout this documentation, you'll find explanations of why particular metadata are important and how they support the **Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability and Reusability (FAIR)** of your resource.
FAIRsharing helps resource providers describe their standards, databases and policies using rich, structured metadata that supports discovery, understanding and reuse by both people and software. These guidance notes explain why each field matters and how it contributes to making your resource more FAIR-enabling.
To learn more about FAIRsharing's approach to FAIR, see [**Alignment with FAIR**](/fairsharing/alignment-with-community-efforts.md#alignment-with-fair).
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**Why is this important?**
Relationships are one of FAIRsharing's defining features. They describe how your resource connects to standards, databases, policies, FAIRassist components, organisations and other resources across the research landscape. Recording these connections provides valuable context for your resource, helping users understand how it is used, implemented, recommended, supported or related to other community resources. The FAIRsharing Relation Graph uses these relationships to visualise your resource within this wider ecosystem, highlighting its interoperability, collaborations and community engagement.
**FAIR:** Supports **Interoperability** and **Reusability** by documenting qualified relationships among resources and providing context that helps researchers and software understand how your resource fits within the wider research ecosystem. For database records, these relationships also contribute to FAIR-enabling characteristics relating to standards adoption, terminology use, interoperability and qualified references.
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**One of the most important parts of a FAIRsharing record is its links to other records. This information places a resource in context - which standards does a database implement, how is it interoperable with other resources?**
Any resource only really exists within the context of its research landscape - those standards, databases and data policies that reference it in some way. Is there a standard format used by your database? Does your terminology extend or import another ontology? Does your data policy recommend the use of particular standards/databases? These are the relationships that can be added - and provide so much valuable context - to your record.
This section describes the "Relations to Other Records" tab within the Edit Interface.
## How to Create Relations
Please link to other FAIRsharing records by adding the appropriate FAIRsharing to be linked via the autocomplete field using the FAIRsharing ID, full name, or short name of the record to be linked. To **add a relationship**, search for the name of the resource in the "Available records" section on the left-hand side and click on the green arrow. To **remove a relationship**, search for the name of the resource in the "Associated records" on the right-hand side (or simply scroll) and then click on the red bin icon. Once the new association has been saved, a link back to your record will also appear in the other resource’s record. Here's a gif of the three relationships in our example record being added:
The simplest reason to link to another FAIRsharing record is to show a direct association between two resources. This is the most common type of association between records in FAIRsharing, and covers most user requirements. However, sometimes a group of resources are interrelated requiring every record in that group to be linked to each other.
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If you are not the maintainer for all of the records in an interrelated group, you will not be able to add all the required associations. In such cases, please [get in touch](mailto:contact@fairsharing.org) and we'll help you add everything you need.
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Here are some examples:
* The [GenBank](https://doi.org/10.25504/FAIRsharing.9kahy4) database record links to a number of standards it either develops or implements (e.g. [GenBank Sequence Format](https://doi.org/10.25504/FAIRsharing.rg2vmt) and [FASTA Sequence Format](https://doi.org/10.25504/FAIRsharing.rz4vfg)), as well as to a variety of databases it has collaborations with or which draw data from it (e.g. [DNA Data Bank of Japan](https://doi.org/10.25504/FAIRsharing.k337f0) and [NCBI BioSample](https://doi.org/10.25504/FAIRsharing.qr6pqk)).
* The [QTL Archive record](https://doi.org/10.25504/FAIRsharing.2g4cfa) is linked to [MPD](https://doi.org/10.25504/FAIRsharing.h6enr1) because the databases are closely related; although the QTL Archive is part of the MPD project, it retains a unique identity.
* As part of the wwPDB organisation, the five interrelated PDB resources are all linked together (see the [wwPDB](https://doi.org/10.25504/FAIRsharing.mckkb4) record in FAIRsharing to view these relationships).
## What relation should I use?
In the following sections, the relationships available from each record type are described. Please use these to help you decide how best to capture the ecosystem of interlinked databases, standards and policies related to your resource.
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