FindingGLAMs/Documentation/Modelling GLAM institutions on Wikidata

Every item of a GLAM institution should have an instance of (P31) statement. Depending on the data we have, we may be able to use a more precise item, i.e. automobile museum (Q787934) rather than museum (Q33506). The more precise item should be used if available, but in many cases the data will not be that detailed. A catch-all object will do:

• museum (Q33506)
• archive (Q166118)
• library (Q7075)
• art museum (Q207694)

Properties to use

The set of properties to use will vary with both on the type of institution and the level of detail in the source data. Here are some general properties that are applicable to many types of cultural institutions:

• country (P17)
• located in the administrative territorial entity (P131)
• location (P276)
• coordinate location (P625)
• inception (P571)
• collection or exhibition size (P1436)
• director / manager (P1037)
• employees (P1128)
• visitors per year (P1174)
• official website (P856)
• Twitter (X) username (P2002)
• Instagram username (P2003)

If any photos of the institution have been uploaded to Wikimedia Commons, they should also be included in the item:

• image (P18)
• Commons category (P373)

For more detailed overview of GLAM institution ontology, with further examples, you can have a look at these projects on Wikidata:

• WikiProject Heritage institutions
• WikiProject Libraries
• WikiProject Museums

Hierarchical relationships between organizations

Some GLAM institutions are parts of other organizational units. For example:

• a university museum (Q866133)
• a bank archive (Q52718263)
• a school library (Q1076099)

Similarly, a GLAM institution can consist of several organizational units, e.g. an academic library (which is itself part of a university) with a number of specialized branches.

To model these relationships, we use the property pair part of (P361) and has part(s) (P527). See for example the following claims:

• University of Gothenburg (Q371522) → has part(s) (P527) → Gothenburg University Library (Q5587845)
• Gothenburg University Library (Q5587845) → part of (P361) → University of Gothenburg (Q371522)
• Gothenburg University Library (Q5587845) → has part(s) (P527) → Social Sciences Library (Q10550570)
• Social Sciences Library (Q10550570) → part of (P361) → Gothenburg University Library (Q5587845)

Note that the reverse property is not added automatically; after adding a has part(s) (P527) statement to an item, you should then go to the item that is the object of that statement and add a part of (P361) statement to it.