These files are an input to the Omeka CSV Bulk Uploader module -- specifically the CDASH modification, which allows field mappings to be specified by an auxiliary json file.  

The prod versions of the mapping files generate new documents that link up to pre-existing places and folders in a running CDASH instance. 

The stage versions of the files create the necessary place items and folders as you would want to do if importing the batch into a clean cdash instance where these do not already exist. 
  