Knowledge Organization And Cultural Heritge(2019/2020)
Linked Open Data Project
ChernobLOD
Discover The Project

Chernobyl disaster

Linked open data project

The Project

Chenobyl Disaster is a project realized by Amanda Culoma, Arianna Moretti, Ariele Santello and Benedetta Togni for the Knowledge Organization and Digital Methods in the Cultural Heritage Domain course held by Francesca Tomasi within the Digital Humanities and Digital Knowledge master course (University of Bologna).

The Idea

The catastrophe of Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the April of 1986 represents a tragedy from a historical, environmental, human and political point of view. Thirty-four years later, the disaster and its consequences are still so impressed in the collective memory to be evoked in tributes and creative works (such as the miniseries “Chernobyl”, produced in 2019 by HBO). Further, the disaster of Fukushima, the debates related to nuclear energy in Italy, and the more recent forest fires around Chernobyl rose attention on the topic that we selected as the core of our knowledge model. In the development of the project, we decided to examine the phenomenon starting from the artefacts which took inspiration form it, either in direct or indirect way. We implemented a knowledge system starting from the central event and taking into consideration people, places, events, concepts and items related to it. In the implementation of the project, we operated a progressive abstraction of the model through various steps, in order to make it available for possible further representations of similar topics.

Items' choice

We selected twelve items described by referenced cultural institutions, in order to build a knowledge model in which they could be related to the core topic.

  • We variated as much as possible in the choice of both types and contents. Accordingly, we included: books (both eBooks and printed publications), a journal article, movies, audio files, photos, a painting and a videogame.
  • As for the content, some of the items have their focus on the event itself, while others represent it indirectly, revisiting it (e.g.: “Grebeny- The burning village after Borsch”) or taking inspiration from it (e.g.: “Time will crawl”, song). Further, we included also artefacts freely inspired by the post-apocalyptic places abandoned after the event, or by further concepts and events related to the accident. In particular, some of them are connected to the long-term consequences of the explosion or to the legal process for the attribution of responsibilities.
  • For this reason, not all of the items included in the model are structurally connected to the central event, since some of them are indirectly linked with it through other entities.

Items

12 selected items
“Chernobyl 01:23:40"
The incredible true story of the world's worst nuclear disaster - E-book
“Time will crawl”
(single version) - Song
“Chernobyl”
Miniseries
“S.T.A.L.K.E.R.”
Shadow of Chernobyl - Videogame
“Chernobyl 'Elephant’s foot'”
Elephant’s foot picture
“Grebeny- The Burning Village after Borsch”
Painting
“EM30H Memorial ‘Chernobyl-30’”
Morse audio file
“Chernobyl – The real story”
Documentary movie
“Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster”
Surviving Disaster - Series documentary episode
“Chromosomal Dosimetry”
Chromosomal Dosimetry for Some Groups of Evacuees from Pripyat and Ukrainian Liquidators at Chernobyl - Journal article
“Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant”
Satellite picture
“The lessons of Chernobyl are important for all”
Legasov's book

Entities

People, Places, Dates, Events, Concepts

People

Places

Dates

Events

Concepts

ER Model

In this step of the project we organized our knowledge system as an Entity-Relationship model. Our aim was to give a first graphic rendering of the project in natural language, improving its comprehensibility and readability both at generic and specific level. In order to represent the interconnections between the main event and other entities and item related to it, we developed two distinct models:

  • For the first one, we kept a generic description-line, in order to represent the minimum units included in our extended model, i.e.: dates, events, places, people and artefacts. Entities and items are linked through arrows, which represent the connections through generic but significant properties. This first version is meant to clearly represent our workflow in a comprehensive and easily-readable way. Further, it’s intended to be reused as a tool by those who may wish to face the implementation of a more specific E/R model for a topic similar to the one we chose.
  • The second version of the E/R model is more detailed. Here, we nominally represented all twelve selected items and the six entities chosen to connect them within the knowledge system. This version allowed us to represent interconnections with accuracy and terminological variety.

First Entity-Relationship model

Final Entity-Relationship model

Map Legend

Metadata Alignment

In the selection of our items, as stated above, we tried to variate as much as possible both in contents and in types. Hence, for the metadata analysis oriented to the alignment, we selected a wide range of standards, vocabularies and ontologies, choosing each one of them in accordance with the type of the object to be described. In the cases in which we had more than one object of the same type (such as for the images), we decided to exploit the opportunity to take into consideration more than one standard, in order to make comparisons between them, studying their completeness, readability and usability. In fact, the three main purposes we tried to achieve in this passage were:

  • Comprehension of the degree of fitness of a specific standard or ontology for the description of a type of item;
  • Understanding of pros and cons of the selected standards through their direct comparison in the alignment;
  • Analysis of the overall nature of the standards, in order to recognise their potential usability in the following steps of the project, such as the conceptual model.

The set of metadata chosen to align the standards was thought to be comprehensive of both generic information, supposed to be present for almost all of the items (such as Title, Author, Year of creation), and more specific data, related to the nature of a class of items. In addition, we created a reduced version of the alignment table, in order to give an overview also of the main standards used by the institutions from which we took the items we included in our knowledge model.

With our-choice Standards

WHERE
WHERE?QuestionCIDOCMMDEBUSCHEMAIPTCEDMPBFABIOEADRDADC
Creationcrm:E12_Production/P7_took_place_at/E53_place------ebucore:Locationschema:locationCreatedIPTC:10.19. Location Createdskos:prefLabel------------EAD:geognameRDA:2.7.2 Place of Productiondc:coverage
Publication------------ebucore:hasPublicationRegionschema:location Organization------skos:prefLabel------fabio:has_place_of_publicationEAD:geognameRDA:2.8.2 Place of Publication------
Currently crm:P55_has_current_location------ebucore:Locationschema:itemLocation------edm:currentLocation------------EAD:physloc------dc:spatial
Locationcrm:E44_Place_Appellation------ebucore:Locationschema:contentLocation/spatialCoverageIPTC:10.20. Location Shown in the Imagedcterms:spatialpbCore:Coverage------------------dc:spatial
WHEN
WHEN?QuestionCIDOCMMDEBUSCHEMAIPTCEDMPBFABIOEADRDADC
Creationcrm:E12_Production/P4_has_time-span/E52_Time-Span------ebucore:idDateOfCreationschema:dateCreatedIPTC:6.9. Date Createddcterms:createdpbcore:AssetDatefabio:has_creation_dateunitdate------dc:date
Publicationcrm:E12_Production/P4_has_time-span/E52_Time-SpanMMD:<release> <date>ebucore:publishedStartDateTimeschema:datePublished------dcterms:issuedpbcore:AssetDatefabio:has_publication_dateunitdate2.8.6 Date of Publicationdc:date
WHO
WHO?QuestionCIDOCMMDEBUSCHEMAIPTCEDMPBFABIOEADRDADC
Creatorcrm:P94_has_creatorMMD:<artist> <name>dc:agentschema:authorIPTC:6.5_Creatordc:creatorpbcore:Creatorfabio:has_creatorEAD:authorRDA:19.2_Creatordc:creator
Publishercrm:P108_has_producedMMD:<label-info>ebucore:Organisationschema:publisher------dc:publisherpbcore:Publisherfabio:has_publisherEAD:publisherRDA:2.8.4_Publisher's namedc:publisher
WHAT
WHAT?QuestionCIDOCMMDEBUSCHEMAIPTCEDMPBFABIOEADRDADC
Titlecrm:P102_has_titleMMD:<title>ebucore:Titleschema:nameIPTC:6.23. Titledc:titlepbcoreTitlehas titleunittitle2.3.2 Title Properdc:title
Descriptioncrm:E1_Entity/P3_has_note/E62_string------ebucore:Descriptionschema:descriptionIPTC:6.10. Descriptiondc:descriptionpbcoreDescriptionhas keywordabstract------dc:description
Typecrm:P2_has_type------ebucore:Typeschema:genreIPTC:10.7. Digital Source Typedc:typepbcoreGenre------------------dc:type
Materialcrm:E18_Physical_Thing/P45_consists_of/E57_Material------ebucore:Formatschema:materialIPTC:11.1.12. Physical Descriptiondc:mediumpbcoreInstantiationPhysical------materialspec3.6 Base materialdc:Physical Medium
Format ------MMD:<medium><format>ebucore:Format------------dc:formatpbcoreInstantiationMediaTypehas format------3.2 Media typedc:hasFormat
Subjectcrm:P129_is_about------ebucore:Subjectschema:aboutIPTC:6.21. Subject Codedc:subjectpbcore:Subjectfabio:has_primary_subject termEAD:subject------dc:subject
Languagecrm:P72_has_language------ebucore:languageschema:inLanguage;schema: availableLanguage------dc:languagepbcore:Languagefabio:has_languageEAD:LanguageRDA:6.11 Language of expression
Identifiercrm:P37_assigned/E42_Identifier------ebucore:Identifierschema:identifierIPTC:11.4.1. Identifierdc:identifierpbcore:Identifierfabio:has_identifierEAD:recordidRDA:2.15 Identifier for the manifestation (ISBN)dc:identifier
Rightscrm:E72_Legal_Object/P105_right_held_by/E39_ActorMMD:<artist><label>ebucore:Rightsschema:copyrightHolderIPTC:6.2 Copyright notice 6.8 Credit lineedm:rightspbcore:RightsSummaryfabio:has_rightsEAD:rightsdeclarationRDA:2.4.2 Statement of responsibility relating to title proper 2.5.4 Statement of responsibility relating to the editiondc:rights dcterms:rightsHolder

With Standards adopted by the Institutions

WHERE?QuestionGOOGLEMARC21MOVIE ONTOLOGYCIDOCMMDSCHEMA
Creationgoogle:locationCreatedmarc:25X-28X Edition, Imprint, Etc - 260 Publication, Distribution,etc.(imprint) - $a Place of publication, distribution - $e Place of manufacturemovie:hasCompanyLocation; movie:hasFilmLocationcrm:E12_Production/P7_took_place_at/E53_place------schema:locationCreated
WHEN?QuestionGOOGLEMARC21MOVIE ONTOLOGYCIDOCMMDSCHEMA
Creationgoogle:date; google:dateCreatedmarc:25X-28X Edition, Imprint, Etc - 260 Publication, Distribution,etc.(imprint) - $c Date of publication, distribution, etc. - $g Date of manufacture dc:datecrm:E12_Production/P4_has_time-span/E52_Time-SpanMMD:<release> <date>schema:dateCreated
WHO?QuestionGOOGLEMARC21MOVIE ONTOLOGYCIDOCMMDSCHEMA
Creatorgoogle:creatormarc:1XX Main Entry - 100 Personal Name - $a Personal namedc:publishercrm:P 108_has_producedMMD:<label-info>schema:publisher
WHAT?QuestionGOOGLEMARC21MOVIE ONTOLOGYCIDOCMMDSCHEMA
Titlegoogle:titlemarc:20X-24X Title and Title - Related Fields - 240 Uniform Tilte - $a Uniform Titlemovie:titlecrm:P102_has_titleMMD:<title>schema:name; schema:about

Theoretical Model

This theoretical model was developed following some macro questions intended to describe people, places, dates, events and concepts. This passage is meant to mediate between the E/R and the conceptual model, in a path of growing abstraction.

We subdivided the description of the entities in four macro categories, associating each one of them to a specific w-question:

  1. Who: for the description of people
  2. When : for the description of dates
  3. Where: for the description of places
  4. What: for the description of concepts and events (+ items)

For completeness, Taking inspiration form the alignment, we inserted in the “what” area a special section to offer a schematic representations also for the items.

We provided both a textual description and a conceptual map expressed in natural language, in which we substituted specific names of entities and items with generic ones, representing their type.

Who

Accordingly with the nature of the focal topic of our project, we decided to maintain the main focus on events, places and dates rather than on people.

The perspective used to describe the concept of people is based on the decision to highlight the structurally relevant role of Valerij Alekseevič Legasov, the chemist who investigated the causes of the disaster. He is depicted in this linked open data project as the author of one of the 12 items, and as the person conceptually related to some of the others, which are directly or indirectly inspired by him.

Further, we mainly took in consideration people as participants in the process of realisation of the artefacts, either in their creative development, as authors or creators, or in their public disclosure, as publishers.

Where

The conceptual starting point of our project is the physical place of Pripyat, Ukraine, where the disaster of Chernobyl took place. The extent of its immediate consequences on the environment forced people to abandon the physical location around the nuclear power plant. For this reason, Pripyat – and in particular its exclusion zone – suddenly became an inaccessible dystopic area which inspired different kind of artefacts.

The place has relevant connections with most of our items, either as location of their content or as place of their creation. Our effort was oriented to describe the area from different perspectives: for this reason, we included both items which depicted the location directly (e.g. the satellite picture) and which indirectly took inspiration from it (e.g. Wiley's painting ).

Furthermore, in the description of the artefacts, we tried to give relevance also to the technical data related to the current location of the items and to their places of creation and publication.

When

The day of the disaster represents a historical landmark: in fact, the explosion and the subsequent abandon of the radioactive red zone stopped the flow of human life in the area, in a sort of ever-lasting 26th of April 1986.

Because of this assumption, we tried to focus on the date both as historical milestone and – consequently – as structural linker between the event and its representations. However, because of the lack in many metadata standards of a property clearly addressing the time represented in the items, we didn’t manage this specific aspect in the description of the artefacts.

Instead, we mainly focused on the dates of creation and publication of the selected items, highlighting both the immediate impact of the disaster on the social perception and its long-lasting echo.

What

We considered the artefacts as the main focus of our project, highlighting their strong connections with the central event and between each other. The followed approach was to start from the items for the development of the connections, and to come back to them as a concrete manifestation of the main topic. In the selection, we tried to variate as much as possible both in the nature of the objects and in their content, in order to offer a materially and conceptually rich and complete panorama.

Further, the choice of the artefacts was oriented to give an overview both of the event itself and of its material and legal consequences (e.g.: the long-term effects of the disaster and the related trial).

Conceptual map


Conceptual Model

In this step, we translated the theoretical model into formal language, using existing ontologies, standards, vocabularies. In view of the subsequent creation of the data description and RDF models, we structured our data by organising in triples the answers to the questions about the entities. In particular, entities and items were expressed as classes (either subject or objects), while their relationships as properties.

For interoperability purposes, we preferred to avoid the creation of a new specific ontology for the conceptual rendering of our knowledge model. Also, in this section we followed the macro subdivision adopted in the theoretical model, in order to describe each entity with appropriate and targeted questions, remarking the previously only hinted distinction between concepts and events.

A reduced version of the items’ description was included for completeness purposes. We decided to divide and describe them accordingly with their own type, choosing a limited number of representative metadata from the alignment to be expressed through suitable standards and ontologies.

Among the ontologies, standards and vocabulary analysed in the metadata alignment, we decided to reuse in this step the ones that we found more efficient, clear, readable, and complete (such as schemaorg, EDM, CIDOC, DC, FaBio). Meanwhile, in order to give account of the specific nature of the entity to be described, we introduced some other targeted standards and ontologies:

  1. Time Ontology: to describe dates and express other idea related to time.
  2. Person Core, FOAF, CWRC: to describe people and their relations.
  3. Geonames Ontology: to describe places with a high degree of accuracy.

People

QuestionsSubjectPredicateOntologyObjectOntology
which is the given name?foaf:Person foaf:givenNameFOAF Vocabulary Specification cwrc:PersonalName cwrc ontology
what is the surname?foaf:Personfoaf:surname FOAF Vocabulary Specification cwrc:Surname cwrc ontology
what is the gender?foaf:Personfoaf:genderFOAF Vocabulary Specification cwrc:Gender cwrc ontology
what is the place of birth?foaf:Personschema:birthPlace Schema.org crm:E53_PlaceCIDOC crm
in which country was the person born?foaf:Person person:countryOfBirth Person Core Vocabulary schema:CountrySchema.org
which is the nationality of the person?foaf:Person schema:nationalitySchema.org cwrc:NationalIdentity cwrc ontology
What is the place of death?foaf:Person schema:deathPlace Schema.org crm:E53_PlaceCIDOC crm
In which country did the person die?foaf:Person person:countryOfDeath Person Core Vocabularyschema:CountrySchema.org
where is the burial place?foaf:Person cwrc:hasBurialPlace cwrc ontology crm:E53_PlaceCIDOC crm
what is the date of birth?foaf:Person schema:birthDateSchema.org crm:E50_DateCIDOC crm
what is the date of death?foaf:Person schema:deathDateSchema.org crm:E50_DateCIDOC crm
which are the causes of death?foaf:Personcwrc:hasCauseOfDeath cwrc ontology cwrc:HealthEvent cwrc ontology
what is the relation with concept/entities?foaf:Person cwrc:hasRole cwrc ontology cwrc:Role cwrc ontology
what is the person creator of?foaf:Person schema:creatorSchema.org fabio:BookCIDOC crm
for which institutions/agency/group did the person work?foaf:Person schema:memberOfSchema.orgcwrc:OccupationContext cwrc ontology
what was the job of the person?foaf:Personschema:hasOccupationSchema.org cwrc:Occupation cwrc ontology
which languages does the person knows?foaf:Personschema:knowsLanguageSchema.org crm:E6_LanguangeCIDOC crm
which award has the person won?foaf:Person schema:awardSchema.orgcwrc:Awardcwrc ontology
Which is the biography of the person?foaf:Person fabio:BiographyFaBioschema:TextSchema.org
Of which artefact is the person subject offoaf:Person schema:subjectOfSchema.orgfabio:Item FaBio

Places

QuestionsSubjectPredicateOntologyObjectOntology
What is the name of the place? crm:E53_ Place crm:P87_is_ identified_by CIDOC crm crm:E44_Place_Appellation CIDOC crm
which events are associated to the place? crm:E53_ Place schema:event Schema.orgcwrc:Event Schema.org
What is the postal code of the place? crm:E53_ Place gn:postalCodeGeoNames schema:Number Schema.org
which is the name of the area of interest/common name of the place/ further definitions to refer to the place? crm:E53_ Place gn:alternateName GeoNames ontology crm:E44_Place_Appellation CIDOC crm
what are the geographical coordinates? crm:E53_ Place schema:geo Schema.orgschema:GeoCoordinates Schema.org
which is the longitude? crm:E53_ Place gn:long GeoNames ontologyschema:GeoCoordinates Schema.org
which is the latitude? crm:E53_ Place gn:lat GeoNames ontology schema:GeoCoordinates Schema.org
what is the country in which the place is located? crm:E53_ Place schema:addressCountry Schema.org schema:Country Schema.org
what is the map of the place? crm:E53_ Place schema:hasMap Schema.org gn:Map GeoNames ontology
of which artefact is the place subject of? crm:E53_ Place schema:subjectOf Schema.org fabio:ItemFaBio
whic artefact are inspired by the place? crm:E53_ Place crm:P15_was_influenced_by (influenced) CIDOC crmfabio:itemFaBio

Date

Questions SubjectPredicateOntologyObjectOntology
which is the format of the date? crm:E50_date fabio:hasdateFaBio schema:Date Schema.org
at what hour? crm:E50_date time:hour Time Ontology time:TimePosition Time Ontology
in which season? crm:E50_datetime:month/monthOfYea Time Ontology time:TemporalUnit Time Ontology
in which century? crm:E50_date crm:P78_is_ identified _by /E49 Time_ AppellationCIDOC crm time:TemporalUnit Time Ontology
in which historical period? crm:E50_datecrm:P78_is_identified_by /E49_Time_AppellationCIDOC crm time:TemporalUnit Time Ontology
which is the year? crm:E50_date time:year Time Ontology time:TemporalUnit Time Ontology
in which time zone? crm:E50_date time:timeZone Time Ontology time:TimeZone Time Ontology
which is the description of the date? crm:E50_date time:hasDateTimeDescription Time Ontology time:DateTimeDescription Time Ontology
in which artefact is the date depicted? crm:E50_date schema:subjectOfSchema.orgfabio:itemFaBio

Concepts

QuestionsSubjectPredicate Ontology Object Ontology
which is the name of te concept? skos:Concept skos:prefLabelEDM crm:E41_AppellationCIDOC crm
People related to the concept? skos:Conceptcrm:P11_had_participantCIDOC crmfoaf:Person FOAF Vocabulary Specification
which are the places related to the concept? skos:Concept schema:location Schema.org crm:E53_PlaceCIDOC crm
which is the type? skos:Concept dc:typeDublin Core skos:ConceptEDM
of which artefact is the concept subject of? skos:Conceptschema:SubjectO Schema.orgfabio:itemFaBio
which is the description of the concept? skos:Concept schema:description Schema.org schema:Text Schema.org

Events

QuestionsSubjectPredicateOntologyObjectOntology
which is the name of the event?cwrc:Event skos:prefLabel EDM crm:E41_AppellationCIDOC crm
which other event did the event cause?cwrc:Event crm:P17_was motivated_ by(motivated) CIDOC crm cwrc:Event cwrc ontology
which other event caused the event ?cwrc:Event crm:P17_was motivated_ by(motivated)CIDOC crmcwrc:Eventcwrc ontology
what does the event influencecwrc:Event crm:P15 _was influenced_ by(influenced)CIDOC crm fabio:item FaBio
in which artefact is the event depicted?cwrc:Event schema:subjectOf Schema.orgfabio:item FaBio
People related to the event?cwrc:Eventcrm:P11_had_participantCIDOC crmfoaf:Person FOAF Vocabulary Specification
date related to the Event?cwrc:Eventtime:dayTime Ontology crm:E50_Date CIDOC crm
when doeas the event start?cwrc:Event time:hasBeginningTime Ontology time:TimePositionTime Ontology
when does the event end?cwrc:Event time:hasEndTime Ontology time:TimePositionTime Ontology
which are the places related to the event?cwrc:Event schema:location Schema.org crm:E53_Place CIDOC crm
which is the type?cwrc:Eventdc:typeDublin Corecwrc:Eventcwrc ontology
which is the duration?cwrc:Event time:hasTemporalDurationTime Ontology time:DurationTime ontology
which is the time-span which separates two events or concepts?cwrc:Event time:afterTime Ontology time:DurationTime ontology
which are the possible risks related to the subject/content?cwrc:Event schema:increasesRiskOf Schema.org skos:ConceptEDM
which is the description of the event? cwrc:Event schema:description Schema.orgschema:Text Schema.org

Items

QuestionsSubjectPredicate Ontology Object Ontology
Which is the title?fabio:JournalArticle; fabio:Bookfabio:hasTitleFaBioschema:TextSchema.Org
Who is the creator?fabio:JournalArticle; fabio:Bookfabio:hasCreatorFaBiofoaf:PersonFOAF
When was it created?fabio:JournalArticle; fabio:Bookfabio:hasCreationDateFaBiocrm:E50_DateCIDOC
Which is the subject?fabio:JournalArticle; fabio:Bookfabio:hasPrimarySubjectFaBiocrm:E53_Place; crm:E50_Date; cwrc:Event; foaf:Person; skos:Concept; schema:TextSchema.Org; CIDOC; CWRC; SKOS
Which is the location of the content?fabio:JournalArticle; fabio:Bookschema:contentLocationSchema.orgcrm:E53_PlaceCIDOC
Who is the publisher?fabio:JournalArticle; fabio:Bookfabio:hasPublisherFaBiofoaf:Person; schema:OrganizationFOAF; Schema.org
QuestionsSubjectPredicate Ontology Object Ontology
Which is the title?fabio:Movie; fabio:AudioDocumentpbcore:TitlePBcoreschema:TextSchema.org
Who is the creator?fabio:Movie; fabio:AudioDocumentpbcore:AssetDatePBcorefoaf:Person; schema:OrganizationFOAF; schema.org
When was it created?fabio:Movie; fabio:AudioDocumentpbcore:AssetDatePBcorecrm:E53_PlaceCIDOC
Which is the location of the subject?fabio:Movie; fabio:AudioDocumentpbcore:SubjectPBcorecrm:E53_Place; crm:E50_Date; cwrc:Event; foaf:Person; skos:Concept; schema:TextCIDOC; CWRC; FOAF; SKOS; Schema.org
Which is the location of the content?fabio:Movie; fabio:AudioDocumentpbcore:CoveragePBcorecrm:E53_PlaceCIDOC
Which is the description of the itemfabio:Movie; fabio:AudioDocument pbcore:DescriptionPBcoreschema:TextSchema.org
QuestionsSubjectPredicate Ontology Object Ontology
Which is the title?schema:Paintingdc:titleDCschema:TextSchema.org
Who is the creator?schema:Paintingdc:creatorDCfoaf:PersonFOAF
When was it created?schema:Paintingdc:dateDCcrm:E53_DateCIDOC
Which is the subject?schema:Paintingdc:subjectDCcrm:E53_Place; crm:E50_Date; cwrc:Event; foaf:Person; skos:Concept; schema:TextCIDOC; CWRC; FOAF; SKOS; Schema.org
Which is the location of the content?schema:Paintingdc:spatialDCcrm:E53_PlaceCIDOC
Which is the material?schema:Paintingdc:PhysicalMediumDCschema:TextSchema.org
QuestionsSubjectPredicate Ontology Object Ontology
Which is the title?fabio:Song<title>MMDschema:TextSchema.org
Who is the creator?fabio:Song<artist><name>MMDfoaf:PersonFOAF
When was it created?fabio:Song<release><date>MMDcrm:E50_DateCIDOC
Which is the subject?fabio:Songschema:aboutSchema.orgcrm:E53_Place; crm:E50_Date; cwrc:Event; foaf:Person; skos:Concept; schema:TextCIDOC; FOAF; SKOS; Schema.org
Who is the publisher?fabio:Song<label><info>MMDschema:OrganizationSchema.org
QuestionsSubjectPredicate Ontology Object Ontology
Which is the title?fabio:StillImmage6.23.TitleIPTCschema:TextSchema.org
Who is the creator?fabio:StillImmage6.5.CreatorIPTCfoaf:Person; schema:OrganizationFOAF; Schema.org
When was it created?fabio:StillImmage6.9.Date_CreatedIPTCcrm:E50_DateCIDOC
Which is the subject?fabio:StillImmage6.21.Subject_CodeIPTCcrm:E53_Place; crm:E50_Date; cwrc:Event; foaf:Person; skos:Concept; schema:TextCIDOC; CWRC; FOAF; SKOS; Schema.org
Which is the location of the content?fabio:StillImmage10.20.Location_Shown_in_the_ImageIPTCcrm:E53_PlaceCIDOC
Which is the description?fabio:StillImmage6.10.DescriptionIPTCschema:TextSchema.org
QuestionsSubjectPredicate Ontology Object Ontology
Which is the title?schema:VideoGameschema:nameSchema.orgschema:TextSchema.org
Who is the creator?schema:VideoGameschema:authorSchema.orgschema:OrganizationSchema.org
When was it created?schema:VideoGameschema:dateCreatedSchema.orgcrm:E50_DateCIDOC
Which is the subject?schema:VideoGameschema:aboutSchema.orgcrm:E53_Place; crm:E50_Date; cwrc:Event; foaf:Person; skos:Concept; schema:TextCIDOC; CWRC; FOAF; SKOS;
Which is the location of the content?schema:VideoGameschema:contentLocationSchema.orgcrm:E53_PlaceCIDOC
Which is the description?schema:VideoGameschema:descriptionSchema.orgschema:TextSchema.org

Conceptual map


Description of Data

In this step we used the structure of our conceptual model in order to build a dataset with the information related to our knowledge system. Accordingly, for each entity, we answered to the questions related to its own specific type (i.e.: person, place, date, event or concept).

Following the structure of the triples, in which a subject is related to an object through a predicate, we represented each one of our six entities’ datasets. We used tables traced on the model given by the conceptual and adapted to the specific entity itself. For this reason, we selected the final set of questions for each entity:

  • With respect to its own type: in order to give a clear characterisation of its nature
  • With respect to its specific role, in relation with the other items and entities of our knowledge model.

In order to complete the data description with the information required by the conceptual model, we made some searches about the entities using referenced sources.

PEOPLE: Valerij Alekseevič Legasov

QuestionsSubjectPredicateObject
which is the given name?Valerij Alekseevič Legasov foaf:givenNameValerij Alekseevič (Валерий Алексеевич)
what is the surname?Valerij Alekseevič Legasovfoaf:surname Legasov (Легасов)
what is the gender?Valerij Alekseevič Legasovfoaf:gender Male
what is the place of birth?Valerij Alekseevič Legasovschema:birthPlaceTula
in which country was the person born?Valerij Alekseevič Legasov person:countryOfBirthRussian SFSR
which is the nationality of the person?Valerij Alekseevič Legasov schema:nationality Russian
What is the place of death?Valerij Alekseevič Legasov schema:deathPlaceMoscow
In which country did the person die?Valerij Alekseevič Legasov person:countryOfDeathRussian SFSR
where is the burial place?Valerij Alekseevič Legasov cwrc:hasBurialPlaceNovodevichy Cemetery, Moscow
what is the date of birth?Valerij Alekseevič Legasov schema:birthDate01 September 193
what is the date of death?Valerij Alekseevič Legasov schema:deathDate27 April 1988
which are the causes of death?Valerij Alekseevič Legasovcwrc:hasCauseOfDeathsuicide by hanging
what is the relation with concept/entities?Valerij Alekseevič Legasov cwrc:hasRole Chief of the commission investigating the Chernobyl disaster
what is the person creator of?Valerij Alekseevič Legasov schema:creatorLessons of Chernobyl (book)
for which institutions/agency/group did the person work?Valerij Alekseevič Legasov schema:memberOfMendeleev Moscow Institute of Chemical Technology Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology Academy of Sciences of the USSR Faculty of Chemistry at Moscow State University, Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy
what was the job of the person?Valerij Alekseevič Legasovschema:hasOccupation Chemist, Nuclear Physicist
which languages does the person knows?Valerij Alekseevič Legasovschema:knowsLanguage Russian
which award has the person won?Valerij Alekseevič Legasov schema:awardHero of the Russian Federation ;Order of Lenin;Order of the Red Banner of Labour
Which is the biography of the person?Valerij Alekseevič Legasov fabio:BiographyThe person we chose to focus on is Valerij Alekseevič Legasov (1936-1988), who had a leading role both in the investigation and in the legal process related to the Chernobyl disaster. Awarded chemist and physicist, Legasov spent his last two years of life investigating the causes of Chernobyl meltdown. Unfortunately, the deep emotional involvement led him to the decision to end his life the day after the second anniversary of the explosion. He left some tapes in which voiced the strong disillusionment with his government and some written notes. We decided to insert among our items his book, titled “The lessons of Chernobyl are important for all”.
Of which artefact is the person subject of?Valerij Alekseevič Legasov schema:subjectOfChernobyl Nuclear Disaster (Surviving disaster) (documentary episode)

PLACES: Pripyat

QuestionsSubjectPredicateObject
What is the name of the place?Pripyatcrm:P87_is_ identified_by Pripyat, Oblast' di Kiev, Ukraine
which events are associated to the place?Pripyatschema:event Chernobyl disaster
What is the postal code of the place?Pripyat gn:postalCode none (formerly 01196)
which is the name of the area of interest/common name of the place/ further definitions to refer to the place?Pripyat gn:alternateNameExclusion zone
what are the geographical coordinates?Pripyatschema:geo51°’24’N 30°03’E
which is the longitude?Pripyatgn:longLongitude 30° E
which is the latitude?Pripyat gn:lat Latitude 51° N
what is the country in which the place is located?Pripyat schema:addressCountry Ukraine (Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic)
what is the map of the place?Pripyat schema:hasMaphttps://artsandculture.google.com/asset/1AG0q4L-OknvyQ
of which artefact is the place subject of?Pripyat schema:subjectOfChernobyl Elephant's foot (photograph) Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (satellite picture) Chernobyl 01:23:40 (eBook)
whic artefact are inspired by the place?Pripyat P15_was_influenced_by (influenced) S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl (videogame)

DATE: 26 April 1986

Questions SubjectPredicateObject
which is the format of the date?26 April 1986 fabio:hasdate1986-04-26
at what hour?26 April 1986 time:hour01:23:40
in which season?26 April 1986time:month/monthOfYeaSpring
in which century?26 April 1986 crm:P78_is_ identified _by /E49 Time_ Appellation20th century
in which historical period?26 April 1986crm:P78_is_identified_by /E49_Time_Appellation Late years of the Cold War period.
which is the year?26 April 1986 time:year 1986
in which time zone?26 April 1986 time:timeZone MSD (UTC+04:00)
which is the description of the date?26 April 1986 time:hasDateTimeDescription In this date the fourth reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear power plant exploded causing the disaster
in which artefact is the date depicted?26 April 1986 schema:subjectOf Chernobyl 01:23:40 (ebook)

EVENT: Legal process

QuestionsSubjectPredicateObject
which is the name of the event? Legal process skos:prefLabel Soviet Criminal trial for the disaster of Chernobyl
which other event did the event cause? Legal process crm:P17_was motivated_ by(motivated)Chernobyl disaster
in which artefact is the event depicted? Legal process schema:subjectOf Chernobyl(mini series) Surviving disaster (documentary)
People related to the event? Legal processcrm:P11_had_participant Valerij Alekseevič Legasov, as chief Anatoly S. Dyatlov(former plant director)Viktor P. Bryukhanov ( plant employee)Nikolai M. Fomin (plant employee)Boris V. Rogozhin (plant employee) Aleksandr P. Kovalenko (plant employee) Yuri A. Laushkin (Gosatomenergonadzor inspector)
date related to the Event? Legal processtime:day26 April 1986 (date of the disaster)
when doeas the event start? Legal process time:hasBeginning 7 July 1987 (start of the trial)
when does the event end? Legal process time:hasEnd30 July 1987 (end of the trial)
which are the places related to the event? Legal process schema:location House of Culture in Chernobyl, Ukraine -- Chernobyl, Prypyat (Exclusion Zone), Ukraine
which is the type? Legal processdc:typetrial- legal process
which is the duration? Legal process time:hasTemporalDuration 24 days
which is the time-span which separates two events or concepts? Legal process time:after 1 year, 2 months, 10 days
which are the possible risks related to the subject/content? Legal process schema:increasesRiskOf Legasov death (The involvement in the process and the related irregularities in the attribution of responsibilities contributed to Legasov’s suicide, according to our resources).
which is the description of the event? Legal process schema:descriptionThe trial of the men accused of responsibility for the world’s worst nuclear accident opened Monday in a makeshift courtroom in the Ukrainian town of Chernobyl.

EVENT: Chernobyl disaster

QuestionsSubjectPredicateObject
which is the name of the event?Chernobyl disaster skos:prefLabelChernobyl disaster
which other event did the event cause?Chernobyl disaster crm:P17_was motivated_ by(motivated)Legal process
what does the event influenceChernobyl disaster crm:P15 _was influenced_ by(influenced)Time will crawl (song) The burning village after Borsh (painting) The lessons of Chernobyl are important for all (book)
in which artefact is the event depicted?Chernobyl disaster schema:subjectOf Chernobyl 01:23:40 (ebook) EM30H Memorial “CHERNOBYL 30” (Morse audiofile)
People related to the event?Chernobyl disasterP11_had_participant People who worked in the nuclear plant, people who lived in the local area
date related to the Event?Chernobyl disastertime:day 26 April 1986
which are the places related to the event?Chernobyl disaster schema:location Kernkraftwerk Tschernobyl Block 4, Pryp'yat', Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine
which is the type?Chernobyl disasterdc:type Event (nuclear explosion)
which are the possible risks related to the event?Chernobyl disaster schema:increasesRiskOf Long-term consequences
which is the description?Chernobyl disaster schema:description in the night of 26 of april 1986 a human error committed during a safety test lead to the explosion of the fourth reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, casing the disaster.

CONCEPT: Long-term consequences

QuestionsSubjectPredicate Object
which is the name of te concept? Long-term consequences skos:prefLabel Long-term consequences
People related to the concept? Long-term consequencescrm:P11_had_participant Around 4000 people died due to the long term consequences
which are the places related to the concept? Long-term consequences schema:location Pripyat, Chernobyl, Ukraine
which is the type? Long-term consequences dc:type Environmental effects and genetic mutations (cancers, diseases, foetus deformity)
of which artefact is the concept subject of? Long-term consequencesschema:SubjectO Chromosomal Dosimetry (journal article) Chernobyl the real story (documentary) The lessons of Chernobyl are important for all (book)
which is the description of the concept? Long-term consequences schema:description From the day of the explosion until today the radioactive contamination caused many effects on human health and on the environment.

RDF/XML

In this last step, we organised our datasets in Resource Description Frameworks, which give to the description a shape that makes it suitable for the Sematic web. So, we used the idea of Linked Open Data in order to express the knowledge of our data as triples.

We developed three different types of RDF files, in particular: a turtle serialization, an xml, and a graphical rendering. In our files, after the formal declaration of standards namespaces, we have organized data in order to express both:

  • the subject and its internal relationships in our knowledge model, following the data description
  • the subject and its relationships with external resources, that we expressed with ontologies like, OWL, FOAF and SKOS. Further, we linked our project to external databases such as Wikidata, DBpedia etc.

Further, we created the URIs of our entities (subjects of the triples of the RDFs) with the purpose to make them identifiable on the web. In the end, we displayed our RDF files as graphs, in order to visualise them as node and directed-arc diagrams, in which each triple is represented as a node-arc-node link.


PRIPYAT


26 April 1986


Legal Process


Valerij Alekseevič Legasov

Chernoblod Team

Digital Humanities and Digital Knowledge Master Degree Course Students

Amanda Culoma

Born and raised in Pantelleria, graduated in Classical Studies at the University of Bologna. She Is now attending the Master Degree in Digital Humanities and Digital Knowledge at the same universities.

amanda.culoma@studio.unibo.it

Arianna Moretti

In 2019 Arianna got her bachelor's degree in Anthropology and she regretted it almost immediately. Then she repented and she enroled to Digital Humanities and Digital Knowledge Master Degree Course at the University of Bologna, where she is currently studying. She realized too late that she wanted to be a Doctor, so she recently found a compromise solution in being interested in Digital Health studies and -in particular- in Artificial Intelligence applications to biomedical research. She insanely prefers cats over dogs and Python over JavaScript.

arianna.moretti2@studio.unibo.it

Ariele Santello

Graduated in Modern Literature at the University of Bologna with a thesis about Weblogs. She is now attending the Digital Humanities and Digital Knowledge Master at the University of Bologna. She has always been in love with culture and art and she is now trying to exploit technologies as a mean to spread cultural issues over an audience as wide as possible. She loves everything related to Japan and she finds happiness in good weather and great food with good company.

ariele.santello@studio.unibo.it

Benedetta Togni

Graduated in Languages and Cultures for the Publishing Industry at the University of Verona where she cultivated her intersts in german linguistic and literature. She is now a student of Digital Humanities and Digital Knowledge in Bologna. She has a troubled and unrequited love with both German language and Python programming. She is interested in data analysis and data visualization. Her free time passions are martial arts, every shade of rock music and good movies.

benedetta.togni@studio.unibo.it