Poems on Various Subjects (Q86) title page

BBP Wikidata Edit-a-thon 2024

When: Monday, January 22, 2024, 1:00pm-4:00pm Where: Yale University, Sterling Memorial Library, Digital Humanities Lab

First Steps

1. Log into or create a free Wikimedia account.
2. Login to the Edit-a-thon dashboard with your Wikimedia account to keep track of your edits today.

Background

Today's Edit-a-thon will help to improve metadata used in the Black Bibliography Project (BBP), a collaboration between scholars at Yale University and Rutgers University. This project, piloted in 2019 and funded with a grant from the Mellon Foundation for a new phase that began in 2023, aims to revive the practice of descriptive bibliography for African American literary studies through the use of linked data.

While the BBP uses a bespoke data model for its unique Wikibase instance, the utility of the data therein is enhanced through links to existing Wikidata items. In this Edit-a-thon, we will:

1. Create new Wikidata items for under-described African-American authors/creators
2. Discuss linked data standards and best practices for metadata about persons
3. Perform biographical research and citation practices

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. Claim an author name that doesn't yet exist in Wikidata (no Q number next to it in column D) by filling in your initials in the adjacent column (column A).
3. Search the name in Wikidata to double-check that it hasn't been created.
4. Click "Create a new item" to start the creation process.
5. The data model below has been created as a basic guide. Feel free to supplement with any relevant fields.
6. Once your item has been created, add its QID to the Wikidata QID column (column D) in the spreadsheet.

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)