data model

Data Model

The LUDAP (Luxembourg Shared Authority File) uses a structured way to organize information about people relevant to Luxembourg's cultural and scientific heritage. This structure, or data model, ensures that the information is consistent, connected, and easy to understand by both humans and computers.

At its core, the LUDAP data model is built upon the CIDOC-CRM (Conceptual Reference Model), an international standard for describing cultural heritage information. Think of CIDOC-CRM as a universal language that helps different institutions talk about similar things in the same way.

The LUDAP data model then specifies how we apply this universal language to describe people. This page explains the main building blocks and concepts used in our model.

The Central Element: saflux:Person (Individual)

Everything in the LUDAP revolves around the concept of a Person (saflux:Person). For each individual in our authority file, we aim to record various pieces of information using specific properties. Here are the key aspects we describe for each person:

Identification (crm:P1_is_identified_by)

  • Each person has at least one Name Appellation (saflux:NameAppellation), which represents how their name is presented. This can include:
    • Their Name itself (saflux:Name), which has a specific Name Type (saflux:NameType) like "direct order" (e.g., John Smith) or "indirect order" (e.g., Smith, John).
    • An optional Numeration (saflux:Numeration), like "Jr." or Roman numerals (e.g., "Louis XIV").
    • An optional Title (saflux:Title), such as "Duke" or "Countess."
  • A Name Appellation can also have Alternative Name Appellations (saflux:AlternativeNameAppellation), representing other ways the person might be known, which can include Alternative Names, Alternative Numerations, and Alternative Titles.

Life Events

  • Birth Information (crm:P98i_was_born): We record details about the person's birth, including an optional Birth Date (saflux:birthDateLabel) and Birth Place (saflux:birthPlaceLabel).
  • Death Information (crm:P100i_died_in): Similarly, we record details about the person's death, including an optional Death Date (saflux:deathDateLabel) and Death Place (saflux:deathPlaceLabel).

Characteristics

  • Gender (crm:P2_has_type): The person's Gender (saflux:Gender) is recorded using a controlled vocabulary with options like "male," "female," "not known," or "not applicable."

Activities and Roles

  • Occupations (crm:P14i_performed): We record the Occupations (saflux:Occupation) the person engaged in. An occupation can optionally have a Beginning Date (saflux:beginningDateLabel) and an End Date (saflux:endDateLabel).
  • Activities (crm:P14i_performed): We also record other significant Activities (saflux:Activity) the person was involved in, which can also have optional Beginning and End Dates.

Notes (crm:P3_has_note)

We can add Notes (saflux:Note) about the person. These notes have a Note Type (saflux:noteTypeLabel), which can be "internal note" or "public note."

Identifiers

  • Preferred External Identifiers (crm:P48_has_preferred_identifier): We link to external standard identifiers like ISNI, VIAF, GND, Wikidata, etc., using External Standard Identifier (saflux:ExternalStandardIdentifier).
  • Internal Standard Identifiers (crm:P67i_is_refered_to_by): We also assign our own Internal Standard Identifiers (saflux:InternalStandardIdentifier) from various Luxembourgish institutions (e.g., LU-BIBNET, LUDAP-ID).

Sources of Information (crm:P70i_is_documented_in):

For many of these properties, we record the Source of Information (saflux:SourceOfInformation) that provided the data. A source can have a URL (saflux:SourceOfInformationURL), a Textual Citation (saflux:SourceOfInformationText), and a Type (saflux:SourceOfInformationType) (e.g., "Primary Source," "Secondary Source"). We can also record when a URL source was Last Changed (saflux:sourceOfInformationLastChangeLabel) and Last Visited (saflux:sourceOfInformationLastVisitedLabel).

Religious Orders (crm:P107i_has_current_or_former_member)

If applicable, we can link a person to Religious Orders (saflux:ReligiousOrder) they were a member of.

Administrative Information (saflux:E89_Propositional_object)

While the saflux:Person is the main focus, we also record administrative information about the data itself:

  • Creation Information: We track who (crm:P14_carried_out_by) created a specific piece of information and when (crm:P4_has_time-span).
  • Modification Information: We record who (crm:P14_carried_out_by) last modified the information and when (crm:P4_has_time-span).
  • Data Status (crm:P2_has_type): Each piece of information has a Status (saflux:CL9_status) indicating its current state (e.g., "Draft," "Validated," "Published").

Controlled Vocabularies

To ensure consistency, we use controlled vocabularies for certain types of information. These are predefined lists of terms:

  • saflux:CL2_Notes: For different types of notes (internal, public).
  • saflux:CL3_Name_Format: For specifying the order of names (direct, indirect).
  • saflux:CL4_Gender: For recording gender (male, female, not known, not applicable).
  • saflux:CL6_TypeOfSource: For classifying the type of information source (primary, secondary).
  • saflux:CL7_ExternalStandardIdentifier: For listing the external identifier systems we use (ISNI, VIAF, GND, etc.).
  • saflux:CL8_InternalStandardIdentifier: For listing the internal identifier prefixes used by different Luxembourgish institutions.
  • saflux:CL9_status: For indicating the status of the data record.