User:Mara

WIKIDATA WORKFLOW

First Steps

1. Log into or create a free Wikimedia account. Navigate to Wikidata.
2. Make sure you are logged into the Black Bibliography Project.

Creating Author Items

We'll be looking at the spreadsheet to determine what names to create in Wikidata. We will be creating names for those authors who do not already have a Wikidata record.

Steps:

1. Open this Google spreadsheet
2. Pick a name from column B.
3. Search the name in Wikidata to double-check that it hasn't been created. Be sure to search any variant forms of the name.
4. If a Wikidata item for the person you have selected already exists, please copy and paste the QID into column C of the spreadsheet and set column D to "Wiki QID Found". If the Wikidata item does not already exist, please proceed to the next step.
5. In Wikidata, click "Create a new item" to start the creation process.
6. The data model below has been created as a basic guide for the creation of a Wikidata item for a person. Feel free to supplement with any relevant fields. You may use information from internet sources, print sources, the Library of Congress Authorities database, and information added in their BBP item record, linked to in column A of the spreadsheet linked above. Be sure to use the reference functionality in Wikidata to cite your sources. If you cannot find enough information on the person, set column D to "Not enough info" and return to step 2.
7. Once your item has been created, add its QID to the Wikidata QID column (column C) in the spreadsheet and set column D to "Wiki QID Created."

Linking Steps (can be done as part of or after the above workflow):

1. Once you have entered a Wikidata QID in column C, click on the corresponding BBP link in column A to open the BBP item for that person.
2. Click "Add statement" to add a statement with property "Wikidata Identifier" and the value of the Wikidata QID from column C. Once entered, please click Publish.
3. Once the statement is published, please set column D on the spreadsheet to "Wiki QID Linked."

Basic statements

Property	Value	Usage note
Label	Person's name as most commonly known	Recommended to search name in web browser to see if that's the common usage
Alias	Other form of name in use or previously used	Other names users could potentially search for this person as
Description	based on predominant field of work	Guidelines: Some examples: American memoirist, American poet
instance of (P31)	human (Q5)	no reference needed
occupation (P106)	QID, based on predominant field of work	Ex: writer (Q36180), poet (Q49757), memoirist (Q11774156); for enslaved or formerly enslaved persons, do not use slave (Q12773225) -- see section below

Optional statements

• Can search for additional properties on Wikidata List of Properties page.

Property	Value	Usage note
date of birth (P569)	YYYY-MM-DD	add reference; can be limited to YYYY or YYYY-MM only
date of death (P570)	YYYY-MM-DD	add reference; can be limited to YYYY or YYYY-MM only
ethnic group (P172)	QID; African Americans (Q49085), etc.	Add reference, ex: stated in (P248) or reference URL (P854). Ethnicity statements require a high standard of proof; see note below.
sex or gender (P21)	QID; female (Q6581072), etc.	requires references -- please read note below before use.
languages spoken, written or signed (P1412)	QID of languages spoken, written or signed	no reference needed
educated at (P69)	QID of institution	add qualifiers as per information available: academic degree (P512), academic major (P812), start time (P580), end time (P582), point in time (P585); add reference
described at URL (P973)	URL, if an author is described in another online resource	example: Sojourner Truth
notable work (P800)	QID of work	dependent on whether it exists in Wikidata; Example: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (Q6014663)
movement (P135)	QID for literary or artistic movement of which person was a part, ex: Harlem Renaissance (Q829895), Black Arts Movement (Q4920294)	reference preferred; for political ideologies, use political ideology (P1142)
residence (P551)	QID place of residence	if location has existing Wikidata item; include reference
place of birth (P19)	QID for place of birth	if location has existing Wikidata item; include reference
place of death (P20)	QID place of death	if location has existing Wikidata item; include reference
field of work (P101)	QID for genre creator typically works in	examples: poetry (Q482), memoir (Q112983), slave narrative (Q3429239); no reference needed
birth name (P1477)	free text string for birth name	reference required; qualify by language of birth name
Library of Congress authority ID (P244)	LCCN from national authority record	can be searched [lastname, firstname] at: LoC Authorities ; Format should be 1 or 2 letters and then numbers (no spacing), e.g., no2019050143 (no reference needed)
VIAF ID (P214)	VIAF ID	can be searched at: VIAF (no reference needed); format should be numerical, such as: 5150565527606250501

Note on using "ethnic group" (P172)

• The documentation for this property requires ethnicity statements to meet a high standard of proof. In general this means 1) the subject claims it themselves, or 2) it is widely agreed on by scholars, or 3) is fictional and portrayed as such). In the case of this Edit-a-thon, many names are pulled from publications specifically for African American literature, which could be referenced to justify these statements.

Notes on using "sex or gender" (P21)

• Only use in cases where the subject specifically claims a gender identity themselves. In such cases, add a reference.
• Assigning gender is no longer recommended practice for PCC authority work. As the PCC Task Group on Recording Gender in Personal Name Authority Records noted in their report, "Gender identity, the vocabulary used to describe it, and the degree to which individuals are able to and choose to disclose it, are complex, contextual, personal, and subject to change over time and in different environments and jurisdictions."

Optional statements for enslaved persons

Property	Value	Usage note
social classification (P3716)	slave (Q12773225), freedman (Q841571), Free people of color (Q5500267)	add reference; use only for pre-Emancipation authors; can use multiple values, qualify with start and end times when known
Enslaved.org Person ID (P9315)	Enslaved.org Person ID	if relevant; search Enslaved.org

Notes on using "slave" (Q12773225)

• The documentation for this item suggests that this item should be used with social classification (P3716) rather than with occupation (P106).
• Most controlled vocabularies, including the Library of Congress Subject Headings are preferring "enslaved persons," "formerly-enslaved persons," or similar language which emphasizes the humanity of the person in question over the dehumanizing term "slave." This change has yet to be made within Wikidata; however, in free-text fields such as "description," best practice is to use the adjective "enslaved" rather than the noun "slave."
• You can read more about how related Wikibase instance Enslaved.org denotes enslavement status through "relationship" and "person status" in their controlled vocabulary documentation.

Example Items

• Harriet Tubman (Q102870)
• Katherine D. Tillman (Q28739915)
• Amiri Baraka (Q354783)