Wikidata:WikiProject Organizations/Ontology
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This page is about the ontology of organizations.
Many discussions show that the ontology of organizations in Wikidata is messy and unclear.
Back to 2014, a discussion suggest that nobody is able to explain the difference between business (Q4830453), enterprise (Q6881511) and company (Q783794).[1] During Data Modelling Days 2023, there have been some discussions during the simplification of the ontology. This discussion is still ongoing.[2]
A radical proposal would be to use only organization (Q43229) for all kind of organizations (exactly like the choice of human (Q5) for all humans. This would suppose to find good solutions to discriminate between businesses, NGOs, non profits organizations, public agencies using other properties.
At the opposite, the status quo would be to let the entropy create a wide variety of values for P31.
An intermediate proposal would be to define a finite number of recommended values for P31.
Before taking any radical decision, this page documents all existing issues about ontology of organizations.
At this stage, it is recommended to use general categories for P31 and avoid very narrow categories.
Properties to describe organization items
[edit]| Title | ID | Data type | Description | Examples | Inverse |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| instance of | P31 | Item | instance of: that class of which this subject is a particular example and member; different from P279 (subclass of); for example: K2 is an instance of mountain; volcano is a subclass of mountain (and an instance of volcanic landform) | Konzert Theater Bern <instance of> organization | - |
| country | P17 | Item | historical country, state and sovereign state: sovereign state that this item is in (not to be used for human beings) | National Arts Centre <country> Canada | - |
| official name | P1448 | Monolingual text | official name: official name of the subject in its official language(s) | Edmonton Jazz Society <official name> "THE EDMONTON JAZZ SOCIETY (1973)" | - |
| has subsidiary | P355 | Item | subsidiary: subsidiary of a company or organization; generally a fully owned separate corporation. Compare with "business division" (P199). Opposite of parent organization (P749). | The Walt Disney Company <has subsidiary> Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and Walt Disney Animation Studios | parent organization |
| parent organization | P749 | Item | parent company: parent organization of an organization, opposite of subsidiaries (P355) | Landeshauptstadt München <parent organization> Munich Kammerspiele | has subsidiary |
| business division | P199 | Item | division: organizational divisions of this organization (which are not independent legal entities) | National Arts Centre <business division> NAC Indigenous Theatre | - |
| part of | P361 | Item | part: object of which the subject is a part (if this subject is already part of object A which is a part of object B, then please only make the subject part of object A), inverse property of "has part" (P527, see also "has parts of the class" (P2670)) | NAC Indigenous Theatre <part of> National Arts Centre | has part(s) |
| has part(s) | P527 | Item | has part, consist of and meronymy: part of this subject; inverse property of "part of" (P361). See also "has parts of the class" (P2670). | Konzert Theater Bern <has part(s)> Bern Symphony Orchestra | part of |
| legal form | P1454 | Item | legal form: legal form of an entity | Konzert Theater Bern <legal form> foundation | - |
| field of work | P101 | Item | field of work: specialization of a person or organization; see P106 for the occupation | Konzert Theater Bern <field of work> performing arts | - |
| inception | P571 | Point in time | date of establishment, founding and date of the first award: time when an entity begins to exist; for date of official opening use P1619 | Konzert Theater Bern <inception> 2011 | - |
| dissolved, abolished or demolished date | P576 | Point in time | date of dissolution, abolition or demolition: point in time at which the subject (organisation, building) ceased to exist; see "date of official closure" (P3999) for closing a facility, "service retirement" (P730) for retiring equipment, "discontinued date" (P2669) for stopping a product | Team Bath F.C. <dissolved, abolished or demolished date> | - |
| founded by | P112 | Item | organizational founder: founder or co-founder of this organization, religion, place or entity | Théâtre de l'Œil <founded by> André Laliberté | - |
| item operated | P121 | Item | operator: equipment, installation or service operated by the subject | Palais Montcalm - Maison de la musique <item operated> Palais Montcalm | operator |
| headquarters location | P159 | Item | headquarters, siège social réel, seat, episcopal see and titular see: city or town where an organization's headquarters is or has been situated. Use P276 qualifier for specific building | Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries <headquarters location> Vienna | - |
| industry | P452 | Item | industry and economic sector: specific industry of company or organization | Red Hat <industry> software industry | - |
Notes
[edit]- The two top level classes for instance of (P31) are organization (Q43229) and organizational subdivision (Q9261468) (which is said to be the same as division (Q334453)).
- legal form (P1454) is recommended as an alternative to instance of (P31) for documenting subclasses of organization (Q43229) (such as company (Q783794), business (Q4830453) or enterprise (Q6881511)).
- official name (P1448) can be used to state the legal name of an organization. Legal name statements should be referenced. Business registers or charities directorates are good references for legal name and other legal information.
- There are different ways of stating parent-child relationships between organizations and sub-organizations:
- parent organization (P749) (and has subsidiary (P355)) should be used when the child organization exists as a distinct juridical person from the parent organization.
- business division (P199) should be used when the child organization is not incorporated or registered as a distinct juridical person.
- In doubt, it is also possible to use has part(s) (P527) / part of (P361).
- In the Identifiers section, it is a good practice to state the national business or enterprise number for the organization (for example, New Zealand Business Number (P5687), Swiss Enterprise Identification Number (P4829) or Canada Business Number (P8860), SIREN number (P1616) for France (Q142)).
- industry (P452) is also widely used for organizations. However, neither Wikidata ontology nor the usage offer clarity as to what constitutes a proper value for P452.
- See International Standard Industrial Classification (Q1666934) and its country-specific implementations for suitable values.
Overly specific values of instance of (P31)
[edit]As of usage in 2024
- Values pertaining to legal form (P1454)
- company (Q783794) : ~ 7 000 direct instances of Q783794 (query)
- enterprise (Q6881511)
- business (Q4830453)
- juridical person (Q155076)
- intergovernmental organization (Q245065) : ~ 270 direct instances of Q245065 (query)
- nonprofit organization (Q163740)
- association (Q15911314)
- public company (Q891723)
- voluntary association (Q48204)
- non-governmental organization (Q79913)
- government agency (Q327333)
- international organization (Q484652)
- foundation (Q157031)
- government organization (Q2659904)
- international non-governmental organization (Q1194093)
- public institution (Q294163)
- S.A. (Q166280)
- privately held company (Q1589009)
- ...
- Values pertaining to industry (P452) (or field of work (P101))
- publishing company (Q2085381)
- bank (Q22687)
- embassy (Q3917681)
- educational institution (Q2385804)
- medical organization (Q4287745)
- transport company (Q740752)
- media company (Q1331793)
- video game developer (Q210167)
- environmental organization (Q1785733)
- research institute (Q31855)
- open-access publisher (Q45400320)
- sports organization (Q4438121)
- production company (Q11396960)
- scientific society (Q748019)
- opera company (Q20819922)
- boat manufacturing company (Q73126803)
- copyright collective (Q1047437)
- charitable organization (Q708676)
- art institution (Q20897549)
- aid agency (Q336473)
- ...
- Values describing organizational goals
- holding company (Q219577)
- umbrella organization (Q1156831)
- regulatory college (Q1110684)
- criminal organization (Q1788992)
- subsidiary (Q658255)
- syndicate (Q681615)
- think tank (Q155271)
- institute (Q1664720)
- pressure group (Q1666019)
- corporate spin-off (Q1186164)
- political party (Q7278)
- alumni association (Q447877)
- corporate group (Q197952)
- learned society (Q955824)
- professional society (Q1391145)
- startup company (Q129238)
- secretariat (Q859482)
- club (Q988108)
- Q3356049
- multinational corporation (Q161726)
- ...
Properties using organization items
[edit]Propriétés dont la valeur peut être, ou devrait être, une organisation
Properties which value can be, or should be, an organization
| Title | ID | Data type | Description | Examples | Inverse |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| author | P50 | Item | author, writer and creator: main creator(s) of a written work (use on works, not humans); use P2093 (author name string) when Wikidata item is unknown or does not exist | Pride and Prejudice <author> Jane Austen | - |
| employer | P108 | Item | employer: person or organization for which the subject works or worked | Albert Verlinde <employer> Stage Entertainment Germany | - |
| owned by | P127 | Item | proprietor, property and owned by: owner of the subject | Choupette <owned by> Karl Lagerfeld | owner of |
| operator | P137 | Item | operator: person, profession, organization or entity that operates the equipment, facility, or service | Yamanote Line <operator> East Japan Railway Company | item operated |
| has subsidiary | P355 | Item | subsidiary: subsidiary of a company or organization; generally a fully owned separate corporation. Compare with "business division" (P199). Opposite of parent organization (P749). | The Walt Disney Company <has subsidiary> Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and Walt Disney Animation Studios | parent organization |
| parent organization | P749 | Item | parent company: parent organization of an organization, opposite of subsidiaries (P355) | Airbus Commercial Aircraft <parent organization> Airbus Group | has subsidiary |
| organization directed by the office or position | P2389 | Item | organization: organization which is directed by this office | Chief Justice of the United States <organization directed by the office or position> Supreme Court of the United States | office held by head of the organization |
Not organizations
[edit]Ce qui ne doit pas être confondu avec une organisation
What should not be confused with an organization
- Buildings - building (Q41176), architectural structure (Q811979), mill building (Q56822897), police station (Q861951) ...
- Facilities - museum (Q33506), hotel (Q27686), factory (Q83405), shop (Q213441), railway station (Q55488), sports venue (Q1076486), educational facility (Q20860083), hospital (Q16917) ...
- Brands - brand (Q431289), retail chain (Q507619), restaurant chain (Q18534542), ...
- Products and works - newspaper (Q11032), website (Q35127), television channel (Q2001305), magazine (Q41298), transport network (Q924286), software (Q7397), online service (Q19967801), music festival (Q868557) ...
- Geographic entities - administrative territorial entity (Q56061), municipality (Q15284), country (Q6256), ...
Study of organisations
[edit]Wikidata:WikiProject Wikidata for research/Data models/Social science results