Guidelines for Using Wikidata to Mobilize Information about People in Collections: A Paleontology Perspective

instance of (P31)

That class of which this subject is a particular example and member.

Always include this statement when creating a new item about a person.

human (Q5)

sex or gender (P21)*

Sex or gender identity of the human.

We typically assume gender for deceased people based on their titles (e.g., “Mr.” for a male or “Ms.” for a female).

male (Q6581097), female (Q6581072), non-binary (Q48270), intersex (Q1097630), transgender female (Q1052281), transgender male (Q2449503), agender (Q505371)

birth name (P1477)*

Full name of a person at birth, if different from their current, generally used name (e.g., maiden names).

This property is helpful when disambiguating people who share similar names or have changed their name over time.

given name (P735)*

First name or another given name of this person (e.g., first and middle name).

series ordinal (P1545) with values of 1, 2, 3, etc. - used to indicate which name comes first, second, third, etc. in a person’s name

family name (P734)*

Part of full name of person (e.g., last name or surname).

Add multiple statements using this property for people who have changed their last name (e.g., after marriage).

object has role (P3831) with the value of the type of name it is - used to indicate the kind of name this value represents (e.g., maiden name, married name, etc.)

married name (P2562)*

Name or surname adopted by a person upon marriage.

generational suffix (P8017)*

Suffix used in name

Jr. (Q19838175), Sr. (Q19838176), III (L615860), IV (L642454)

date of birth (P569)*

Date on which the subject was born (year-month-day, year-month, or year are acceptable).

place of birth (P19)*

Most specific known birth location of a person (e.g., city, country, hospital, etc.).

country of citizenship (P27)*

The object is a country that recognizes the subject as its citizen

United States of America (Q30), Canada (Q16), United Kingdom (Q145)

date of death (P570)

Date on which the subject died (year-month-day, year-month, or year are acceptable).

place of death (P20)

Most specific known death location of a person (e.g., city, country, hospital, etc.)

place of burial (P119)

Location of grave, resting place, place of ash-scattering, etc. for a person (e.g., town, city, cemetery, etc.).

employer (P108)

Person or organization for which the subject works or worked.

This is often a university or museum for paleontological professionals. Use multiple instances of this statement to record multiple employers.

University of Colorado Museum of Natural History (Q4306263); Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (Q2502709); Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (Q148554)

start time (P580) and end time (P582) with a date as the value (year-month-day, year-month, or year are acceptable) - used to indicate when the person started and stopped working for that employer

occupation (P106)

Occupation of a person.

This field can be used for professional roles, any affiliation or volunteer roles, or amateur roles the person may have had.

curator (Q674426), professor (Q121594), collection manager (Q3029418), director (Q1162163), head of department (Q4182948), fossil collector (Q18624170), paleontologist (Q1662561), botanist (Q2374149), entomologist (Q3055126), university teacher (Q1622272)

affiliation (P1416)

Organization that a person is (or was) affiliated with (not necessarily a member of or employed by).

Other museums or institutions that the person was affiliated with, but never worked for (e.g., research associates, adjoint curators, or other volunteer-type status)

New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science (Q3329691); Museum of Comparative Zoology (Q1420782); Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History (Q122945)

field of work (P101)

Specialization of a person.

The field of study, discipline, subject, or area the person is/was considered to be an expert in.

paleontology (Q7205), vertebrate paleontology (Q36334677), invertebrate paleontology (Q6060491), paleobotany (Q192694)

educated at (P69)

Educational institution attended by subject.

University or college the person attended (whether a degree was awarded or not).

University of Oklahoma (Q640652), University of Wisconsin-Madison (Q838330), University of Iowa (Q182973)

academic degree (P512); point in time (P585) with a date as the value (year-month-day, year-month, or year are acceptable) - used to indicate when the degree was awarded or when the person attended the university; start time (P580) and end time (P582) with a date as the value (year-month-day, year-month, or year are acceptable) - used to indicate when the person started and stopped going to school here

academic degree (P512)

Academic degree that the person holds.

See also the “award received” property (below) for recording honorary degrees.

Doctor of Philosophy (Q752297), master’s degree (Q183816), Master of Science (Q950900), bachelor’s degree (Q163727), Bachelor of Science (Q787674)

student of (P1066)

Person who has taught this person.

An individual the person studied under.

has works in the collection (P6379)

Collection that has works of this person.

The museum(s) or institution(s) that has fossils collected by this person.

American Museum of Natural History (Q217717), Denver Museum of Nature and Science (Q3330052), Field Museum of Natural History (Q1122595)

floruit (P1317)

Date when the person was known to be active or alive.

Dates that the person was actively collecting fossils.

archives at (P485)

The institution holding the subject’s archives.

The museum(s) or institution(s) that has this person’s field notes, research notes, correspondence, or other works.

Carnegie Museum of Natural History (Q1043983), University of California Museum of Paleontology (Q1312268), North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (Q2483656)

member of (P463)

Organization, club, or group to which the subject belongs. Do not use for membership in ethnic or social groups, nor for holding a political position.

Professional organizations or societies that the person is (was) a member of.

Geological Society of America (Q1503216), Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (Q1638588), Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (Q7552298)

position held (P39)

Subject currently or formerly holds the object position.

The position(s) or office(s) held while the person was a member of a professional organization or society.

president (Q1255921), vice president (Q42178), secretary (Q319544), treasurer (Q388338)

award received (P166)

Award or recognition received by a person.

This can be an award given by the person’s employer, university, or professional organization they are a member of.

Penrose Medal (Q1630682), Paleontological Society Medal (Q8047718), Romer-Simpson Medal (Q1659894), honorary doctorate from Harvard University (Q39384825)

point in time (P585) with a date as the value (year-month-day, year-month, or year are acceptable) - used to indicate the year the award was received

spouse (P26)*

The subject has the object as their spouse (e.g., husbands, wives, partners, etc.).

different from (P1889)

Item that is different from another item, with which it may be confused.

To be used to differentiate two people on Wikidata that have the similar names, e.g., Paleontologist Alfred Romer (Q688766) vs. Painter Alfred Isidore Romer (Q1255520).

languages spoken, written, or signed (P1412)

Language(s) that a person speaks, writes, or signs, including the native language(s).

English (Q1680), French (Q150), Spanish (Q1321)