In this post, we will introduce you to Work Package 5, the data group, highlighting their role in the CANON II-project and sharing what they have been working on over the past few months. Written by Emma Reynders.

First of all, what exactly is Work Package 5? 

Work Package 5 – also referred to as the ‘data group’ – is a group of people who focus on the development and use of Canonbase. Canonbase is the database of the project, that maps and visualises the history of technical theatre in a new and innovative way; it is the main engine behind the CANON II project.  
The database currently contains sources, historical events, people, theatres, equipment, manufacturers, methods and collections, and links them to each other and to other existing information sources.  

Now let us explain the role of the data group within CANON II 

By the end of Canon II, the data group’s main goal is to have an updated and tested data structure in Canonbase. By doing so, contributors can document lighting design, set design and lighting technology in the database, while also linking them to related lighting/setdesigners, productions, theatres etc. 

Along with a new structure, the data group will develop new help pages, guidelines, tools and training materials or update existing ones to ensure users are well supported when contributing to the database. Finally, the data group will also work on elaborating queries, layouts, end-user tools and visualizations within Canonbase.  

Our progress in the past months  – A new and updated structure 

The further development of the Canonbase structure is based on the input from the other Work Packages. They define what kind of information they want to capture in the database and the data group translates this into a new structure. This results in new items, properties and value lists in Canonbase. During and between meetings, the new proposed structure is discussed and further worked on. Simultaneously the data group checks the existing structure and improves it where needed.  

Over the past few months, the data group been working on developing a new structure for documenting scenography and lighting design in the database. As a result, new items, properties and value lists related to these fields have been created. So far, the main focus of the new structure has been on the relationship between a design and its designer, the production and other designs.  

While updating and expanding the structure of Canonbase, the data group creates new help pages and guidelines on how to put things in the database and update existing ones. For example, the structure on documenting people (designers, architects, authors, etc.) was completely checked, this resulted in an updated help page on how to document people in Canonbase. 
New help pages for documenting designs and productions were created (and are still being further developed).  

Picture: Structure_brainstorm: a snippet from the online brainstorm board of the data group, where we try to pin down the new elements (items, properties and value lists) in the Canonbase structure. 

Picture: Canon_image_ID: a snippet of the Canonbase page on the Taras Shevchenko Ukraine National Opera in Kiev (Q34041). The images showed are stored in the new repository and added to the page of the item via the property ‘Canon image ID’

A new repository and  interface 

Since the start of CANON II, the data group has been working on a new repository. Previously, images, videos, documents etc. were stored directly in Canonbase. However, due to some limitations, a decision was made to move them to a separate repository in WordPress. This new repository allows for larger amounts of storage and ensures that Canonbase continues to run smoothly (which could previously be a problem). After testing and writing guidelines, Chris van Goethem introduced the repository during the online project meeting in March. Now, the other project team members started uploading documents to the repository. 

Picture: Canonbase_current_view: the current view of the Canonbase website of the National Theatre in Prague (Q12648). 

Picture: Canonbase_new_view: a first look of a draft version for the new view of the website for the same item, the National Theatre in Prague (Q12648). 

Finally, the data group has been working on a new block-based view of the Canonbase website. This redesigned structure aims to make the platform more visually attractive and significantly easier to read, especially for users who are less familiar with the Wikidata-structure on which Canonbase is built. In this new layout, related information is grouped into clear, coherent blocks. This allows to structure the diverse information in a more user-friendly way.  

Upcoming progress 

In the near future, the data group will continue to work on the new structure for documenting lighting design, set design, historical stock sets and lighting technology in Canonbase. Meanwhile, project team members from the other Work Packages will start testing theparts of the new structure that are already created in Canonbase. Aside from this, the data group is continuously improving the help pages, cleaning up the database, etc. 

The data group members 

The members of the data group are Chris Van Goethem (RITCS, Belgium), Nick Hunt (Rose Bruford College, UK), Ondrej Svoboda (Czech Cultural Institute, Czech Republic), Jan Purkert (Czech Republic) and Emma Reynders (EhB, Belgium).