Help:Creating items: special cases

Help index

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On this page you'll find some information about some special cases when creating items.

Adding pictures and videos: as a property or as an item?

When pictures are uploaded, they can be added to an item in several ways. How they are added, depends on the number of items the picture will be linked to.

• If pictures are documenting only on specific item and will be linked to only one item (the item itself): they can be added to the item itself, using the correct property.

For example: pictures of a piece of equipment, a portret of a person, a picture of a theatre, … will be added directly to the item itself. 
For example: a video about one certain set designer can be added to the item-page of this designer using the Youtube video (P116)-property.

• If pictures will be linked to multiple items, a separate source is created. Pictures of the same series can be grouped in the same source (item). To link the pictures to an item, use the mentions-property.

For example: we have pictures of the historic plans and documentation of the Bourla theatre. This information need to be linked to the theatre, the collection, archive they're kept in, the the draftsman, with a specific date. 
A separate item is created: “documentation about the Bourla theatre”, with [type of information] = source. With the [mentions]-property the item is linked to the collection, the theatre, the date they are taken, etc. 

In both cases, we make a featured picture that will be shown in the linked items.

Possibility to show area in picture? In that case, separate source, area in mentions. For example group picture linking to multiple people.

In short:

• If only about one item (example equipment, a portrait of a person, …) add to item
• If need to be linked to multiple items, separate source (ex historic plans and documentation of a theatre, linked to the draftsman, the theatre, a collection, with a specific date) make source with title what, who, date.
• Pictures of the same series can be grouped in the same source.
• Use mentions to link to the separate items

An item with two types of information?

Generally speaking, we avoid to add two [types of information] to one item.

Let's look at the following case:

Hugo Bahr was a German glass painter, lighting designer and manufacturer of lights. We want to add Hugo Bahr to CanonBase and register following information about him: his date of birth, his occupation, his country of citizenship. We also want to link him to a projector stand that he manufactured.  

Looking at the information above, Hugo Bahr has two [types of information]: person and business. This is because a manufacturer is a type of business.

Recommendation: create two different items:

• one with [type of information] = person,
  • This item will have properties such as: his date of birth, occupation, country of citizenship.
• one with [type of information] = business
  • This item will have properties sush as: the type of business (= manufacturer), the address where the manufacturer was based, a link to the item that is the projector stand he manufactured.

In case of Hugo Bahr, there exist now two items in CanonBase: Hugo Bahr (the person) and Hugo Bahr (the manufacturer).

It is recommended to create two different items, in case they refer to:

• both a person and a business
• both an organisation/business and a building
• both a organisation/business and a collection

Exception

There are two exceptions on this rule:

• In case of organisations and businesses (or vice versa). CanonBase defines an organisation as an entity undertaking non-profit activitits, and a business as an enitity undertaking commercial, industrial and/or professional activities. In some cases however an entity can undertake both non-profit and commercial/industrial/professional activities. The recommendation is to keep them as one item, because properties as the field, address, people who worked here, etc. will be the same.
  • This is mainly in cases where an organisation also publishes something. A publisher is a type of business.

See for example  RITCS which is a educational organisation that also puslished some works, so it has two types of information, i.e. organisation and business.

• In case of digital collections and webpages (as a type of source). In this case the webpage (source) refers to the samen digitale collection, so there is no need to create a different item.

See for example Kunstenpunt.