> 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/fair-assistance/fair-enabling-databases/fair-i1-for-database-evaluation.md).

# FAIR I1 for database evaluation

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## I1 – (Meta)data use a formal, accessible, shared, and broadly applicable language for knowledge representation

<https://doi.org/10.25504/FAIRsharing.ec5648>

FAIR Principle I1 requires that (meta)data use a formal, accessible, shared, and broadly applicable language for knowledge representation. Within the ARK-based benchmarks, this principle focuses on whether databases adopt formats that support structured representation of information.

Knowledge representation languages are important FAIR-enabling characteristics because they enable information to be exchanged, interpreted, validated, and reused across systems. Different formats provide different levels of machine interpretability. Some formats provide structured syntactic representations that support consistent exchange of information, while others provide semantic representations that support explicit meaning and machine reasoning.

The ARK-based benchmarks therefore evaluate two complementary aspects of knowledge representation. The first evaluates whether a database adopts structured syntactic formats, while the second evaluates whether it adopts semantic or linked-data formats.

The metrics associated with I1 evaluate the knowledge representation characteristics of formats associated with databases through the explicitly curated relationships from the FAIRsharing database records to FAIRsharing model/format records.

**Database FAIR-Enabling Characteristics**

<table><thead><tr><th width="101.50390625">Context</th><th width="189.76953125">Database FAIR-enabling characteristic</th><th>FAIRsharing operationalisation</th><th>Metric</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>🏛</td><td>Database adopts syntactic knowledge representation languages</td><td>Presence of one or more <a href="/pages/LhEB3rTvmuz7W6IoMSGd">linked model/format</a> records classified as <a href="/pages/NboRRy77Jrxe0Jlg1n71">syntactic knowledge representation languages</a>.</td><td><a href="https://fairsharing.org/8401">FAIR Metric - I1 - Metadata - Database adopts syntactic knowledge representation languages (registry evaluation)</a>​</td></tr><tr><td>🏛</td><td>Database adopts semantic knowledge representation languages</td><td>Presence of one or more <a href="/pages/LhEB3rTvmuz7W6IoMSGd">linked model/format</a> records classified as <a href="/pages/NboRRy77Jrxe0Jlg1n71">semantic knowledge representation languages</a>.</td><td>​<a href="https://fairsharing.org/8402">FAIR Metric - I1 - Metadata - Database adopts semantic knowledge representation languages (registry evaluation)</a></td></tr></tbody></table>