Wikidata:Property proposal/database contains records about
database contains records about edit
Originally proposed at Wikidata:Property proposal/Generic
Not done
| Description | Indicate the types of items that the database has records about |
|---|---|
| Data type | Item |
| Domain | item |
| Allowed values | Q8513 |
| Example 1 | INKR Comics (Q115633593)database contains records aboutcomics (Q1004) |
| Example 2 | MyAnimeList (Q4044680)database contains records aboutmanga (Q8274) |
| Example 3 | Internet Movie Database (Q37312)database contains records aboutfilm (Q11424) |
| Planned use | Replace instance of (P31)online database (Q7094076) |
| See also | of (P642), main subject (P921) |
Motivation edit
Property of (P642) is deprecated and main subject (P921) doesn't really make sense in terms of databases so this is a more specialized property. RPI2026F1 (talk) 13:38, 21 January 2023 (UTC)
Discussion edit
Weak support Class items such as video game database (Q55341040) will also benefit from this. —Dexxor (talk) 09:44, 22 January 2023 (UTC)
- I'm mixed between expanding that class system and making specialized properties. I think ultimately it's easier to query a property, and it's much easier to add more values of this property than make new classes. RPI2026F1 (talk) 20:33, 22 January 2023 (UTC)
- Undecided. (Not yet ready to support without some further working out). Looking at query https://w.wiki/6Fis for the properties most commonly used on items in the class online database (Q7094076), it seems main subject (P921) is not unknown, with about 1900 uses of of 10,000 instances, ie almost 20%. Looking deeper with query https://w.wiki/6Fiu to see what these uses are, they do seem to make sense. So I'm not sure I buy into the blanket statement that main subject (P921) doesn't really make sense in terms of databases, so I think there's a case for thinking more deeply about what this new property would give us, as against more systematic and comprehensive use of main subject (P921).
- Furthermore for eg an online art history database, one might have distinct tables for eg creators, works, places, movements -- there might be IDs and online pages for all of these. I think it is worth thinking more deeply about how this proposed property should be used in such cases, what sort of values it should take (or should it not take) - eg should values be generic classes such as human (Q5) or more detailed ones such as comics artist (Q715301) ?; and how ought it all to play with main subject (P921) ? Jheald (talk) 17:30, 23 January 2023 (UTC)
- I was intending for it to be more specific. That was my main goal. RPI2026F1 (talk) 15:47, 24 January 2023 (UTC)
Oppose in this form. I don’t see a need for this property to imply so many facets of the items that appear as subjects in statements. The part about a “database” and “records” can be inferred, should that be of interest, from whether the items in subject position are instance of (P31)online database (Q7094076) or instance of (P31)database (Q8513) or similar. This property would seem to be much more useful with the greatest generality possible while preserving the intended structure: The thing characterized by such a property contains elements (of whatever kind) that describe other things that are of a certain class. Generalized thusly, an appropriate label might be something like “describes items of class” or “described items have class”. (For example, an exhibition catalog might describe paintings.) With that in mind, a search for whether such a property already exists might be in order. If fruitless, a modified proposal would be worth considering. ―BlaueBlüte (talk) 11:18, 30 January 2023 (UTC)
Comment @Jheald: good point about main subject (P921). But I think it would take this proposal in a different direction than how I read the intention based on the examples given. Using main subject (P921) on a database would take as a statement object not a class of works, but something like a genre or field of art, discipline of scholarship or sport, etc.: Internet Movie Database (Q37312)main subject (P921)cinematography (Q590870) ―BlaueBlüte (talk) 11:28, 30 January 2023 (UTC)
- Oppose i don't see why main subject doesn't work BrokenSegue (talk) 00:42, 31 January 2023 (UTC)
- The problem is that not all records in a database are really "main". For example, let's consider a music database that has really detailed information. Now let's say they store original concert hall data for music pieces in concerts. Now that database wants to make it searchable by concert hall, so now that database is storing concert hall records, but it wouldn't necessarily be a "main" subject. RPI2026F1 (talk) 15:56, 31 January 2023 (UTC)
Not done, no consensus of proposed property at this time based on the above discussion. Regards, ZI Jony (Talk) 12:39, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
