New EntitySchema data type is ready for testing on Test Wikidata - Wikidata

13 Jun 2023

Hello,

As many of you may already know, we have been working on introducing a
new Wikidata
data type <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Help:Data_type> that will make it
easier to find EntitySchemas
<https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Schemas> and use them to connect to
other Wikibase Entities. This will allow editors to refer to existing
EntitySchemas in statements to indicate what class of Items, Lexemes etc.
are governed by an EntitySchema. This new EntitySchema datatype is now live
on Test Wikidata <https://test.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Main_Page> for
testing and your feedback.

Background

EntitySchemas were first introduced in 2019 as a way to model the structure
of Wikidata Items and validate data against those specifications. There are
a number of shortcomings with EntitySchemas still, which means they are not
as useful and used as much as they should be. We are now addressing a
number of those issues, starting with this new data type.

In 2019, we built the first version of the EntitySchema datatype, but it
was eventually rolled back based on your feedback. We have made a lot of
progress since then and take your feedback into account when developing
this new iteration.

The main goal of this development is to help editors model data more
consistently by making EntitySchemas more visible and integrated into
day-to-day editing work. The new EntitySchema data type offers the
following features:

   -

   A new data type that allows making statements that take an EntitySchema
   ID as a value
   -

   A canonical URI scheme for EntitySchemas has been developed that matches
   prefixes of other Semantic Entities (Items, Lexemes, and Properties) to
   identify them as concepts and access them when they are referred to in
   statements in various formats such as RDF
   -

   "What Links Here" now enables you to see what Items, Lexemes, and
   Properties link to an EntitySchema in a statement
   -

   A “Concept URI” link has also been added to the EntitySchema’s sidebar,
   mirroring the same format as Items

What will come next for EntitySchemas:

   -

   Displaying EntitySchemas linked in statements by their labels instead of
   their IDs, making them more readable and easier to understand.
   -

   Support for language fallback to make EntitySchemas legible across
   languages.
   -

   An updated termbox (the table with labels, descriptions and aliases) to
   provide a more consistent experience between Items, Properties and
   EntitySchemas in the future.

Testing and Feedback

Today, we’d love for you to explore EntitySchemas on Test Wikidata
<https://test.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Main_Page> and provide feedback.

We hope that the new EntitySchema data type will increase centralized
discussions around the modelling of specific classes in Wikidata. This new
visibility will allow for more integration of EntitySchemas into the
ecosystem, leading to improved data quality through more consistent
modelling. Ultimately making the reuse of our data easier, especially for
small to medium-sized reusers.

Here is an example we prepared earlier Q497
<https://test.wikidata.org/wiki/Q497>.

If you encounter any issues, have questions or concerns, or want to provide
feedback, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us on Wikidata talk:Schemas
<https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata_talk:Schemas#New_EntitySchema_data_type_is_ready_for_testing_on_Test_Wikidata>
or
leave a comment on this ticket phab:T332724
<https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T332724>.

Thanks so much,

Arian

-- 

Arian Bozorg (he/him)Junior Product Manager Wikidata

Wikimedia Deutschland e. V. | Tempelhofer Ufer 23-24 | 10963 Berlin
Phone: +49 (0)30-577 11 62-230https://wikimedia.de

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