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Authority Vocabularies

Support through TEI Publisher annotation

  • Airtable: Project-specific database
  • Anton: Project-specific database
  • Custom: Project-specific XML data Suitable for retro-digitisation, for example, where a register already exists
  • Geonames: Places International and with coordinates, search for names preferably in English
  • GND: Common authority file Standard in German-speaking countries, good for historical data and alternative spellings
  • KBGA: Karl Barth Complete Edition
  • Metagrid Connection with Swiss data sources
  • Reconciliation: Internal data?

Out of the box, GND or Metagrid (with GND and Helveticat) can be used for the annotation of persons.

Internal and external ID

Annotations can theoretically also consist of web links directly to authority data, but the standard is the aggregation of a local directory. A local directory protects against the loss of authority data and also makes an edition readable offline.

An example from a letter by Gaston Paris:

The reference in the text refers to an internal ID, but this is based on the GND number and is therefore unique.

<closer facs="#facs_1_TextRegion_1701785821837_2221" xml:space="preserve">
    <signed><lb facs="#facs_1_tr_1_tl_16" n="N001"/><rs type="person" ref="gnd-118789627">GParis</rs></signed>
</closer>

The index entry generated by TEI-Publisher with GND data links to the GND entry. Further standardisation data can be integrated at this point. The data in the index entry can be displayed on the person's page or in a dropdown in the annotation.

<person xml:id="gnd-118789627" when="2024-04-29" resp="p4de">
    <persName type="main">Paris, Gaston</persName>
    <persName type="sort">Paris, Gaston</persName>
    <gender value="M">male</gender>
    <birth>
        <date when="1839-08-09"/>
    </birth>
    <death>
        <date when="1903-03-05"/>
        <placeName ref="https://d-nb.info/gnd/4009413-3">Cannes</placeName>
    </death>
    <note type="bio">philologue et linguiste français</note>
    <occupation ref="https://d-nb.info/gnd/4199236-2">philologist</occupation>
    <occupation ref="https://d-nb.info/gnd/4219681-4">Romanist</occupation>
</person>

Mapping to further norm files

VIAF can be used to map standards data from different sources to each other. A mapping can be downloaded from VIAF Dataset can be downloaded. Der GND-Nummer 118789627 corresponds to the VIAF ID 39382261, which in turn leads to the IdRef 027058352 is accessed.

The easiest way to enrich an index that has already been enriched with GND data is with a Python script. Entries for which no identifiers are found can be edited manually.

Ideas for ensuring data quality:

  • Non-unique entries (GND to VIAF, VIAF to GND, IdRef to VIAF etc.) can be added manually.
  • Mappings with brief views of the linked entries make checking easier