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Choose Text, URI, or Resource Values for Omeka Photo Descriptions

By ImgHeal · Updated

A plain name, a web identifier, and a link to another Omeka resource are different kinds of values. Choose the one that expresses the evidence you have. A typed surname should not become a verified linked identity merely because a matching name appears in an external vocabulary.

Explore this topic: Organize a photo archive

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Write the intended claim in ordinary language

For each field, state what it asserts. A literal caption can preserve the wording Springfield without choosing a modern jurisdiction. A URI can identify a particular concept or authority record. A resource link can connect a photo to a person record maintained in your installation. Record uncertainty before choosing the data type. If several people or places share a name, keep the source wording and research alternatives separate until the evidence supports one target.

Use the template's supported data types

Omeka S resource templates document literal, URI, and internal resource values, while vocabularies define the properties used to express relationships. Inspect the selected property and its meaning, not only its displayed label. Add a human-readable label for linked values where your workflow supports it, and check that it describes the actual target. Avoid pasting an unrelated URL into a creator field simply to make the record look richer. Keep the source citation supporting the link in the research notes.

Test both reading and export

Review the public item and follow the link as a visitor. Confirm that it leads to the intended person, place, or source and that the page's wording does not overstate certainty. Inspect a supported structured-data export when interoperability matters, so a useful display label is not your only evidence of the stored relationship. Keep corrections traceable if a target identity changes. For restored photos, distinguish a generated visual interpretation from the historical entity being described; linked-data structure can clarify a record but cannot authenticate the pixels of a reconstructed image.

Check this workflow

  • State the claim before choosing its type.
  • Inspect the target behind a linked label.
  • Test public reading and structured export.

Sources and further reading

Questions about this restoration task

Is a text name the same as a linked authority identity?

No. Text preserves wording; a linked identifier selects a particular resource. Use a link only when the evidence supports that selection.

Continue with a related guide

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