Help:Properties

Concept

The underlaying structure of the Competencebase is a triplet database, similar to and built with Wikidata software. It consists of items that are connected with properties through statements. We can also add properties to an item that just describe the item in detail. In human language, we have a large box of “things” that have properties and are connected to each other by relations.

Statements can connect two “things”, for example a competence "read plans" [has a learning unit] "lines and symbols". Statements always have three elements, an item, a property and a value, therefore we call them triplets.

Each item has it’s own page, defined by a Q-number. So when we add a statement to an item, we only need to add two things: the property and a value.

Items

Items are concepts, things in the widest sense of the word. The concepts are language independent. A competence is a concept that exists in many languages, expressed by many different words, but it will always have the same meaning.

Each concept / item has its unique Q number; this is the number of the page and also appears in the URL.

The concept is defined in the header by a label, a description and one or more also known as labels.

* Label is the most common name for the concept in a specific language .
* Description is a statement that describes the concept so that there can be no misunderstanding about the meaning and that the difference with other concepts is clear.
* Also known as, also called alternative label gives alternative names for the concept. 

Labels and descriptions of a concept occur in as many languages as the system knows and that have been added.

Properties

Properties can link or contain information.

In case of a link inside the competencebase the information expected is “item”.

Otherwise the property expects a specific type of information.

* Monolingual information (can be filled in multiple languages)
* Language independent information.
* Value, amount, number
* External identifier (a URI, code part of a URL)

Qualifiers

In some cases a triplet is not enough to make a relation sufficiently specific.

For example a ESCO description has several versions. We want to add both versions. So we need to add extra information to the [ESCO descriptopn] property about the version.

In this case, we use qualifiers. We add the a version number as extra information to a triplet. This is done by adding a qualifier.

Inverse property labels

If a competence "read plans" [has a learning unit] "lines and symbols", this also means that the "lines and symbols" [is used by] "read plans". So [is used by] is an inverse property of [has a learning unit].

Wikidata does not know this concept in it’s representation. In Competencebase, we added the representation. If an item is mentioned in a property, this will be visible in the item as a inverse property label. But if you want to change it, you have to edit in the related item.

Language

Even if concepts are language independent, we need language to express them. We use English as the root language, so in theory every item should exist at least in English.

When you go to the website, it will automatically switch to the language in your browser or to English if your language is not (yet) supported. The interface, the properties and the most important items will be in that language, but you will also see the other languages.

If you prefer another language as the basic language, you can always adapt the setting, clicking the icon top-left of the page.

Names of persons, sources, etc. are not translated, so you will find them in English.

types of properties and values

you can see the type of property when you click on the property when logged in.

a property can be used multiple times, for exaple I can add a text in multiple languages, or I can add multiple texts for the same vallue. This is done by using the add value button that occurs under the property, once it is created. You will see in the definition of a specific property if multiple values are allowed.

A list of properties can be found in the special page list properties

We list the most important propety types below

item

an item property refers to a page descibing a concept. It links the item/page you are working in to another item/page. Because the items are language idependant, they will change the language of the text to your set language (if it is available). When you start typing the name, you will get proposals that fit your input, based on the labels and alternative labels in the target items.

values can be described as

• "text" (Qnr) this specific value is obligatory for this type of page
• a value list, a range of values that are listed in a specific page

monolingual

Monolingual properties are expecting a value in one specific language. The language is noted in the property through a drop down menu.

Syntax (the value) can be described as

• a specific way of writing, for example "noun" or "verb - noun"
• a specific text, for example "copy of the ESCO title"
• open text, any text is allowed.

string

a string property expects a language independant text. This can be for example a code or a reference.

URL

a URL property expects a full URL, including the prefix (for example https://)

External identifier

An external identifier is a part of a URL that references to a specific page in a wabsite of data structure. The formatter URL described in the property will add this unique part to the rest of the URL and create a link. This ensures that if the URL is changed, the links stay active.

This is used for example to refer to documents or wikipages in the competencebase server.