Wikidata:Property proposal/scope note

scope note[edit]

Originally proposed at Wikidata:Property proposal/Authority control

Done: scope note (P9570) (Talk and documentation)

Description	note that describes what a term means in the context of a particular controlled subject vocabulary; use as a qualifier for identifier statements when a controlled vocabulary has a scope note
Represents	scope note (Q106480922)
Data type	Monolingual text
Domain	item; use as a qualifier with identifiers for subject headings
Example 1	firedamp (Q394497) → Library of Congress authority ID (P244) = sh85048469, qualified by subject named as (P1810) = Firedamp and scope note = Here are entered works on methane as a combustible gas formed in coal mines. Works on methane present in a stratum of coal are entered under Coalbed methane.
Example 2	firedamp (Q394497) → Bibliothèque nationale de France ID (P268) = 13335648k, qualified by subject named as (P1810) = Grisou and scope note = Sous cette vedette, on trouve les documents qui traitent du méthane comme gaz combustible formé dans les mines de charbon. Les documents qui traitent du méthane présent dans les filons de houille se trouvent sous Gaz de charbon.
Example 3	finial (Q1406758) → Art & Architecture Thesaurus ID (P1014) = 300002280, qualified by subject named as (P1810) = finials and scope note = Ornaments which terminate the point of a spire, pinnacle, or other vertical member; found on furniture as well as architecture.
Example 4	Laotians (Q99954730) → Library of Congress Demographic Group Terms ID (P4946) = dg2016060054, qualified by subject named as (P1810) = Laotians and scope note = Residents of Laos in general. For ethnic Lao see Lao (Asian people).
Example 5	diabetic ketoacidosis (Q877827) → MeSH descriptor ID (P486) = D016883, qualified by subject named as (P1810) = Diabetic Ketoacidosis and scope note = A life-threatening complication of diabetes mellitus, primarily of TYPE 1 DIABETES MELLITUS with severe INSULIN deficiency and extreme HYPERGLYCEMIA. It is characterized by KETOSIS; DEHYDRATION; and depressed consciousness leading to COMA.
Example 6	melodrama (Q191489) → Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms ID (P4953) = gf2014026432, qualified by subject named as (P1810) = Melodramas (Drama) and scope note = Plays that emphasize plot, action, and exaggerated emotion at the expense of characterization.
Example 7	poaching (Q34577) → Thesaurus for Graphic Materials ID (P5160) = tgm007939, qualified by subject named as (P1810) = Poaching and scope note = Taking or killing game or fish by illegal methods.
Example 8	prepared violin (Q106481397) → Library of Congress Medium of Performance Thesaurus ID (P8516) = mp2014015017, qualified by subject named as (P1810) = Prepared violin and scope note = A violin that has been altered by attaching wire or objects on and/or between the strings.
Example 9	Afrocentrism (Q1876790) → ERIC Thesaurus ID (P8539) = Afrocentrism, qualified by scope note = Political and educational movement stressing African cultural values and the achievements of African civilizations, aimed at increasing confidence, identity, and unity among African-Americans and others of African descent
Example 10	academic freedom (Q414706) → UNESCO Thesaurus ID (P3916) = concept1071, qualified by subject named as (P1810) = Academic freedom and scope note = Liberty of educational institutions to decide courses and research, and of teachers to teach subjects, without outside coercion.
Example 11	academic freedom (Q414706) → Library of Congress authority ID (P244) = sh85000300, qualified by subject named as (P1810) = Academic freedom and scope note = Here are entered comprehensive works on the freedom of the members of the academic community to carry on their functions, including the right to teach, learn, communicate, publish, conduct research, etc.
Example 12	aged (Q3540219) → MeSH descriptor ID (P486) = D000368, qualified by subject named as (P1810) = Aged and scope note = A person 65 through 79 years of age. For a person older than 79 years, AGED, 80 AND OVER is available.
Planned use	Will add scope notes from LCSH or other vocabularies when adding the identifier or modifying the item.
Expected completeness	always incomplete (Q21873886)

Motivation[edit]

Scope notes are part of subject authority records and serve to define the use of a term within the context of a particular controlled vocabulary. In addition to defining a term and how it is used, some scope notes compare and contrast two or more terms. They are commonly found in Library of Congress vocabularies, in the Getty's Art & Architecture Thesaurus, in MeSH, and in many other subject heading thesauri. Adding the qualifier scope note to identifiers for concepts in particular vocabularies that include a scope note will be useful to understand how the term is defined within that vocabulary. UWashPrincipalCataloger (talk) 01:56, 13 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion[edit]

Support this would be very helpful to be able to say how a thesaurus define a term Categerhart (talk) 03:30, 13 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Support Adding this information to Wikidata will be helpful not only to librarians but also to the general public, both defining what is being referred to in the item and making the scope notes more widely accessible. --AhavaCohen (talk) 05:28, 13 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Support Agree with all of the above zidmgmt (talk) 13:02, 13 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Support Agree. I have encountered a number of Wikidata entries where the scope was unclear. Such a note would be helpful Mvajen (talk) 13:44, 13 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Support --Emwille (talk) 13:58, 13 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Support Adding scope notes will be incredibly helpful.

Support --Jala360 14:35, 13 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Support This will be very useful, but one of the supporting comments above demonstrates the potential for confusion with Wikidata's own description field. Any ideas for making that distinction more clear? Not sure that it's possible to note this is "different from" "description"? Skvader (talk) 19:00, 13 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

And is there a way to denote multiple scope notes from multiple controlled vocabularies? Does each value in the scope note property need to be tied to a specific vocabulary? Skvader (talk) 21:40, 13 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, I think the only way for this to properly work is as a qualifier for an identifier for a particular vocabulary. Otherwise the scope note is untethered to the vocabulary to which it pertains. UWashPrincipalCataloger (talk) 21:52, 13 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Support --Uncommon fritillary (talk) 22:55, 13 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Support This would be very useful. Agree that scope notes should somehow be tethered to their related vocabularies. --Crystal Clements, University of Washington Libraries (talk) 15:04, 14 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Support Very useful property to qualify Identifiers for different controlled vocabularies. --GracianiPicardo (talk) 20:45, 14 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Support, an important property for dictionaries.--Arbnos (talk) 21:37, 22 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Support --Pteropotamus (talk) 09:55, 27 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Comment UWashPrincipalCataloger I do have copyright concerns, I don't assume we can just copy paste these notes and release them under CC0 ? --Hannes Röst (talk) 14:51, 30 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
@Hannes Röst: I think copying one small part of an authority record or entry for a controlled term would be completely fair use. Most of the use cases come from vocabularies created by national libraries (e.g., Library of Congress, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, U.S. National Library of Medicine) or IGOs (United Nations, Unesco, etc.). Getty vocabularies are available as linked open data. I honestly can't see any issue with reproducing one small bit of any given record. UWashPrincipalCataloger (talk) 15:57, 30 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]