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talk · Tuesday 22 September · 14:15–⁠14:30 · SAL B

Type specimens in Wikidata

Siobhan Leachman · Responsible AI, Open Digital Curation, and Round-Tripping for Biodiversity Data

Recording time 5:44:56–5:56:58Open on Vimeo ↗

Summaries and key moments are machine-produced. Check the recording for the speaker’s exact words.

The short versionA consistent Wikidata type specimen model lets anyone link type specimens to collectors, publications, taxa and identifiers as a transparent finding aid.

Overview

What this was about

Siobhan Leachman presented a proposed Wikidata data model for type specimens, developed with Auckland Museum, Te Papa, the Bioeconomy Science Institute and Wikidata editors to fix inconsistent modelling. Wikidata is intended as a non-canonical finding aid bridging sources and identifiers, with references and edit history supporting transparent reuse by AI applications. The model was built from existing items, likely queries and a crosswalk to Darwin Core; new properties (collector, specimen classifier, collection date, location collected) were proposed, and a trial batch of New Zealand Arthropod Collection holotypes was uploaded via OpenRefine from GBIF data. Documentation is on a WikiProject, Wikimedia Commons and a Zenodo community; future work includes GBIF occurrence ID, basis of record, preservation method and biocultural notice properties.

Why it matters. Improves findability and interoperability of type specimens and gives AI applications a well-referenced, provenance-rich source.

Key ideas

In the room

  • Motivation: inconsistent modelling of existing type specimen items; helping institutions translate Darwin Core data into Wikidata; supporting the digital extended specimen.
  • Wikidata tracks references per statement and all edits, supporting transparency and provenance for AI reuse.
  • Wikidata data are not canonical; they are a finding aid linking to the holding institution's data.
  • Approach: compare existing items, review standards including Darwin Core, design for likely queries, be pragmatic for institutions already publishing to GBIF.
  • New properties proposed for collector, specimen classifier, collection date and location collected.
  • Trial batch: holotypes of the New Zealand Arthropod Collection extracted from GBIF, cleaned and reconciled in OpenRefine, uploaded to Wikidata.
  • Documentation on a WikiProject, Wikimedia Commons and Zenodo (including the OpenRefine spreadsheet); exemplar items include a holotype first observed on iNaturalist and one linked to a DiSSCo DOI.
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Programme abstract

Type specimens in Wikidata

Siobhan Leachman

Type specimens play a vital role in ensuring the correct application of scientific names. Recently a type specimen data model has been created for Wikidata. This data model results from work undertaken by participants of the [Wikidata:WikiProject Natural History Specimen Data Mode](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:WikiProject_Natural_History_Specimen_Data_Model)l. The data model encourages the creation of type specimen Wikidata items that link to appropriately structured data. Several Wikidata properties were proposed and accepted by the Wikidata community to facilitate the formation of this data model. The data model also encourages the linking of institutional identifiers to appropriate type specimen items.

Documentation was produced to guide editors in the creation and linking of type specimen Wikidata items. This included an exemplar spreadsheet generated from an OpenRefine project creating Wikidata items for holotype specimens held in the New Zealand Arthropod Collection.

A data model for structured data on Wikimedian Commons was also proposed by the WikiProject. This is intended to apply to natural history specimen media files added to Wikimedia Commons. Again documentation was produced to assist editors to create or add appropriate structured data to natural history specimen image files.

One of the core aims of the WikiProject was to align specimen and type-material modelling across Wikimedia projects with existing biodiversity informatics standards. As a result crosswalk documentation was produced to illustrate the mapping between fields of the Wikidata type specimen data model and Darwin Core. Crosswalk documentation was also produced mapping Wikidata properties used to add structured data on Wikimedia Commons to media files and equivalent Darwin Core terms.

Submitted to the conference programme before the talk, so the talk itself may differ.