DOPHEDA Overview

A-Z Diagram A-Z Diagram

The interactive version can be viewed here. Disclaimer: This is an English-only diagram.

DOPHEDA is currently developed by CHIN to represent Canadian institutions heritage data and documentation. Although CHIN is the custodian of the data that will be submitted in DOPHEDA, this data will be provided by outside contributors exclusively (museums, libraries, researchers, etc.). DOPHEDA will include at least two major facets (Actors and Objects) along with multiple views (Creators in Canada, Artefacts Canada). These will be interrelated and offer the environment necessary to better display Canadian heritage and content online through custom websites, platforms, and applications.

DOPHEDA is a complex project that will involve redesigning CHIN’s offering online according to LOD principles as well as rethinking its scope, purpose and functionalities. It will also involve the development of an entirely new facet pertaining to persons (the Actors facet, along with a view focused on Canadian creators, titled Creators in Canada). This latest facet will eventually be linked to objects records (in the Objects facet, with a view dedicated to objects based on the current Artefacts Canada).

The Actors and Objects facets will be equal and interrelated. The only reason they are currently differentiated is to allow for an incremental development of DOPHEDA (the Actors facet being smaller in scope). DOPHEDA will involve many complex fields relevant to objects (such as techniques, materials, mediums, etc.) as well as to actors (persons and groups). It will thus be ambitious both in terms of development and of execution.

The documentation hereby accessible is a collection of working documents. As such, although it is publically released, it does not constitute an official publication and changes are made on an ongoing basis. Because of these regular modifications, the majority of this content is presented in English and will only be translated once a stable and official publication occurs.

State of the Project

Up to Now

  • Modelization and description of patterns and nodes necessary to the identification and description of heritage-relevant people and groups, the main events that typically punctuate their lives, and their relationships to one-another;
  • Initial research and reports on the use of named graphs in a heritage aggregation context, and URI structure in the DOPHEDA environment;
  • Resources about the use of the base ontology CIDOC CRM documentation, the benefits and challenges of linked open data in a heritage context, the terms necessary to understanding, and the use of available tools.
  • In-depth documentation of modelized Actors facet patterns and nodes with added information as to their contextual meaning and framework;
  • Documentation of URI governance principles and decisions made in the context of DOPHEDA.