Wikidata:WikiProject LD4 Wikidata Affinity Group/Affinity Group Calls/Meeting Notes/2021-10-05

Call details[edit]

Date: 2021-10-05
Topic: Unlocking the Airwaves
Presenter: Stephanie Sapienza and Emily Frazier
Link to original agenda with link to recording: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nWbej5udmkCWlNxALbs06PGjKMmnveGoyn9DinSVgbk/edit

Stephanie Sapienza (Principal investigator of grant; Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities)

Summary: White paper has everything included
- Good introduction to the project
- Appendices with extensive documentation
Is a virtual airwaves project. University of Maryland holds the files. 5 tenants/deliverables of project:
- Linked collection
- Online exhibits as showcase
- Three visualizations
- Search platform
- Framework
Object model: Summary/zoomed-out model in white paper as well as link to detailed object model
Website pages:
- Project intro on “about” page: https://www.unlockingtheairwaves.org/about/
- Four ways to explore collection: https://www.unlockingtheairwaves.org/explore/
- Exhibits themed around research interest of curators: https://www.unlockingtheairwaves.org/exhibits/
- Three visualizations: https://www.unlockingtheairwaves.org/visualizations/
- Webpages employ Q# as part of stable identifier
- Browse organizations: https://www.unlockingtheairwaves.org/organizations/
Displayed underlying database tables/fields, including tabs reconciling SNAC, Wikidata
- Used OpenRefine function to pull Wikidata data
- Had to use script to retrieve fields from SNAC since OpenRefine doesn’t have plug
A big push in development cycle is that they’re revising page for people, including data pulled and links to other identifiers, such as SNAC, LCNAF, VIAF
Awarded a new grant called “Broadcasting Audiovisual Data”: https://mith.umd.edu/research/broadcasting-av-data/

Emily Frazier (Research Assistant for both grant projects and graduate student at UMD)

Demo of OpenRefine workflow: When a Wikidata identifier is needed for brief records that will be expanded later: 15 steps total
- Faceting based on type and GREL expressions to format names in prep for reconciliation
- Lots of GREL expressions have helpful examples online, such as in Library Carpentries
- Demonstrates reconciliation process, including using schema.
- cell.recon.match.id: GREL expression that pulls newly created identifiers back into OpenRefine

Can you search your site by Q ID or SNAC ID?
- Good question: Never tried that: will need to see what happens. Search index does not include every piece of metadata due to limitations: a JSON file from Airtable that loads into your file. Need to check if it in that code.
Stephanie responded to comment about advanced Airtabling: she was an early adopter and evangelizer of Airtable.
Is Airtable common in day-to-day work?
- It’s the center of everything.
Do you have Airtable tutorials handy?
- Yes, Stephanie will track that down and copy it in resource links.
The painting of Elmer Carter in Wikidata is not linked to the Q item for Carter himself. Should it be? Is anyone responsible for that?
- They’ve determined the user base would probably tend not to go explore Wikidata, but instead gravitate toward Wikipedia. Do not link to the Q code. Might want to rethink about that for the next grant. Conceive of Wikidata more as a bridge between different identifier organizations (LC, etc.)
- Still puzzling out linking people to stuff from people (painters to paintings)
Wondering how much time is invested in this, number of employees, etc.
- Total trajectory of project is 5 years (one year overdue because of pandemic). There was a version of it up about 1 ½ years ago that was very similar. Six advisors and five advisory members on team (11 total). Stephanie is only supposed to be on it about 20%, but that can be variable depending upon need.