Certain digital tools are frequently needed when working with collection data. In our Data Management Lab, we develop and test solutions that can be used across the board, regardless of the specific infrastructural requirements.
We use these tools for our own work with the Berlin university collections, make them available to the collections for independent use, and publish them on GitHub.
Tools that have already been developed
Lookup Tool for Anatomical Reference Data
As an offshoot of a project to digitize the index cards of the pathological specimen collection of the Berlin Museum of Medical History (Charité), we developed an online application that efficiently determines standard data references for anatomical terms. An autosuggest input field quickly and reliably finds the correct scientific term for the anatomical parts of the human body. The data basis is a pre-aggregated dataset that includes Wikidata. Currently, the search works with both technical and general terms (in German and English). After selecting the appropriate term, the identifiers from the anatomical ontology UBERON and Terminologia Anatomica 2 from the International Anatomical Nomenclature Federation (IAF) can be copied to the clipboard for further use, together with the Wikidata ID.
The tool is available for free on GitHub at https://github.com/bua-dns/anatomy-terms-lookup-tool. An online demonstrator can already be used to look up anatomical terms.
Lookup Tool for Geographical Reference Data
This tool combines reference data from Wikidata and GeoNames for geographic entities. An autosuggest field makes it possible to search for places, countries, region names, etc. Leveraging Wikidata allows users to find terms across a broad spectrum of local-language variants (Vienna—Vídeň—Viena—Wien).
The results view can be used to copy the corresponding reference-data URIs from GeoNames, Wikidata, GND, Mindat Location, and the Dewey Decimal Classification for integration into users’ own data. If desired, the identifier can be copied without the base URL.
To make it easier to work with larger batches of terms, results can be added to a list and downloaded at the end in CSV format for (machine) processing.
The tool is available for free on GitHub at https://github.com/bua-dns/geographical-terms-lookup-tool. It is already possible to use an online demonstrator to look up geographic terms.
External Identifier Finder for Wikidata Items
This tool streamlines the use of Wikidata as a reference-data hub. When users enter a Wikidata ID into the tool, it returns external identifiers from a defined list of authority repositories. These can then be copied to the clipboard—either as complete URIs or as plain IDs—via a button. This makes it much simpler to retrieve the identifiers stored in Wikidata, prevents users from having to scroll through long property lists, and shows at a glance which predefined identifiers exist for the item.
The tool is available for free on GitHub at https://github.com/bua-dns/wikidata-items-identificator-lookup. An online demonstrator can already be used to lookup and copy URIs and IDs.