|
Wikidata Schemas provide a way to check how the data on a particular type of item should be structured. For example, there is a schema for a person which defines the statements expected for an item about a person on Wikidata.
Wikidata Schemas can be based on other Wikidata Schemas, for example, a simple “author” Wikidata Schema can be created by referencing the existing “human” schema, along with extra statements like “occupation = author”. This process of referencing other schemas has some major benefits:
- Saves time when creating new schemas
- Avoids having to repeat community discussions about data structures that have already been “agreed”
- Reduces the chance that different groups of editors make different choices about structure for similar items, increasing data consistency
- Defines a hierarchy of schemas that can be used to help editors explore and discover the correct one to use. For example, a user might want to see all schemas that are based on the “human” schema to check if there is one available for a “chemist”, or further expand “chemist” to see if a “biochemist” is available.
- Can be used with automated tools for generating reports on a list of items. The report will inform you which statements do not conform to the schema you are checking against.
The schemas are linked to the Wikidata item for that class by a statement (e.g. human (Q5) → EntitySchema for this class (P12861) → E10).
|
Find a Wikidata Schema[edit]There are several ways to find Wikidata Schemas
- (Coming soon) Look on the subject item Use the search box to find the Wikidata item for the subject you want to work on, e.g if you want to create an item for a playwright look at playwright (Q214917). On this item you will find a property called Wikidata Schema, click on the schema to see the schema for the item. If you have questions about the schema or how to follow it please ask on Wikidata:Project Chat.
- Wikidata:List of schemas has a full list of schemas to search and explore.
- Wikidata:WikiProjects is a list of Wikiprojects which often have a list of relevant schemas they use.
If you’re unable to find a schema you can:
- Search for a more generic term e.g ‘writers’ instead of ‘playwrights’.
- Ask on Wikidata:Project chat for help.
- Consider proposing a schema.
|
|
- Use the schema to understand the kinds of statements that can be made about the subject and the best way to model the information.
- Add as many statements (with references) as you can that appear in the schema to the items you want to create or improve.
- When you can, add information to other related items which will improve them e.g. when adding information about plays to an item by a playwright (Q214917) go to the items for those plays and add the author.
|
|
Wikidata Schemas provide the structure needed to find a type of item using a Wikidata Query. Anyone who is familiar with the SPARQL query language should be able to read the Schema conditions easily as there are many distinct similarities in the syntax.
You can’t guarantee you will find all items on Wikidata using a query based on a Schema, but it will give you a list of results with the “recommended” structure. If you need to find as much data as possible, you may need to expand your query to include other ways the data has been modelled.
|
|
Check data consistency[edit]One of the most common uses for Wikidata Schemas is to check items for data quality e.g by generating reports showing which items need fixing, or statistics to indicate how complete the list of items is. There are many more uses for Wikidata Schemas, and they will get significantly more powerful as more tools are developed to make use of them.
|
|
