DS Catalog:SPARQL Query Service/example queries

Using the SPARQL Query Service for the DS Catalog

This page provides basic example queries for exploring the DS Wikibase using SPARQL, a query language designed for RDF-encoded linked datasets. Familiarity with the properties used in the DS Data Model is helpful for understanding how the queries operate, but the queries also contain comments (noted by the use of hash character "#") to direct users to the individual steps taken to better understand how the query is constructed to derive a solution.

Manuscripts and DS Records

TBD. Discuss the difference between the manuscript object and the DS 2.0 record.

Prefix Declarations

Why are they used?

Prefix declarations made at the beginning of a SPARQL query tell you which namespaces (ontologies, data models, or other specifications) will be used by the query to construct its triples. Rather than having to write out a long URI every time an entity is referenced, by declaring prefixes, you can shorthand the URIs used later in the query.

For instance, by declaring the following prefixes at the beginning of the query,

PREFIX wd: <https://catalog.digital-scriptorium.org/entity/>
PREFIX wdt: <https://catalog.digital-scriptorium.org/prop/direct/>

instead of having to type out

<https://catalog.digital-scriptorium.org/entity/Q88> <https://catalog.digital-scriptorium.org/prop/direct/P16> <https://catalog.digital-scriptorium.org/entity/Q13> .

after declaring prefixes, you can type out

wd:Q88 wdt:P16 wd:Q13 .

As you can see, the Q and P values are appended to the end of the base URIs, so that you only need to know the prefix (e.g., wd, wdt) and the appropriate Q or P number to construct the triple pattern you want to use. This makes SPARQL queries much more readable and editable by human beings.

Which prefix declarations will I need to use to query the DS Wikibase?

The following prefix declarations should be at the beginning of any SPARQL query made at the DS Wikibase Query Service endpoint.

PREFIX wd: <https://catalog.digital-scriptorium.org/entity/>
PREFIX wds: <https://catalog.digital-scriptorium.org/entity/statement/>
PREFIX wdv: <https://catalog.digital-scriptorium.org/value/>
PREFIX wdt: <https://catalog.digital-scriptorium.org/prop/direct/>
PREFIX p: <https://catalog.digital-scriptorium.org/prop/>
PREFIX ps: <https://catalog.digital-scriptorium.org/prop/statement/>
PREFIX pq: <https://catalog.digital-scriptorium.org/prop/qualifier/>
PREFIX wikibase: <http://wikiba.se/ontology#>
PREFIX rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#>

Basic Example Queries

Below is a taxonomy of two types of basic queries based on whether the records in the DS Catalog are described by a particular data element in general (e.g., have any author, any assigned genre, or any place of production) or whether the records meet certain criteria (e.g., were produced by a specific author, were assigned a specific genre, or identified as produced in a particular place). The following queries were originally developed by L.P. Coladangelo (DS Catalog and Data Manager) for prototype testing, and adapted by LEADING Fellows Mace Jones and Jade Snelling as part of their fellowship research.

All manuscripts and their DS records

These queries will return lists of manuscript records and the associated data values, including both the string value as recorded in the original catalog record (the as_recorded value) and the authority value from a Linked Open Vocabulary to which the as_recorded value has been linked (the authority value). You should expect to see a list of all records and manuscripts in the DS Catalog which have values for the below data types.

Specific manuscripts and their DS records

These queries will return lists of manuscript records based on or limited by a specific value from an associated DS authority record, including both the string value as recorded in the original catalog record (the as_recorded value) and the authority value from a Linked Open Vocabulary to which the as_recorded value has been linked (the authority value). You should expect to see a list of all records and manuscripts in the DS Catalog which meet the conditions of having a specific value for the below data types.

Find all DS records describing manuscripts by a specific...

Date of Production

• Start date
• End date
• Date range
  • Inside date range
  • Outside date range

Dated status

• Dated
  
• Non-dated