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Welcome to the National Library of Nigeria Semantic Name Authority Repository (NLN SNAR)!
This Wikibase instance is part of the Integrating Wikimedia Projects into African Libraries’ Ecosystem project (IWIPALE Project) under AfLIA, supported by the Wikimedia Foundation’s Knowledge Equity Fund, and implemented in partnership with the National Library of Nigeria and Wikimedia Deutschland.

It serves as a semantic name authority control hub to connect information about Nigerian authors, editors, and in the near future, publishers, and cultural figures to their works, affiliations, and contributions in a structured, linked data environment.


This is what you will find here

  • Entities: Authors, Editors, Publishers, Institutions
  • Relationships: Authorship, editorial roles, publication info, affiliations
  • Identifiers: Local + global IDs (Wikidata, VIAF, ORCID, ISBN)
  • Labels and descriptions

Understanding the data model for NLN SNAR

The NLN SNAR is a structured Wikibase-powered authority file designed to catalogue and interlink authoritative name forms and associated metadata for individuals (primarily Nigerian authors). In the very near future, this Wikibase instance will expand focus to include Nigerian creative works etc. The data model below outlines the key properties in use, grouped by function, and provides clarity on the nature of their values, whether they link to external authorities (e.g., Wikidata, VIAF), and whether the values are unique to the NLN SNAR system. This guide helps cataloguers, developers, and researchers understand the structure and relationships governing NLN SNAR entities.

Data Model Category A: Identity and Classification

Property Label Expected Value New Entity? Wikidata Linked? Usage Note
P1 instance of Item No Yes Defines the class or type of the entity (e.g., human etc.)
P2 sex or gender Item No Yes Indicates gender classification
P3 given name Item No Yes May include middle names or initials
P4 family name Item No Yes Surname or last name
P40 NLN Authority Name Form string Yes No Standardized name form used in NLN records
P37 language of name Item Yes No Specifies the language origin of Nigerian names used in this instance

Data Model Category B: Biographical and Professional Information

Property Label Expected Value New Entity? Wikidata Linked? Usage Note
P5 image URL No Yes Link to an image or portrait of the person on WikiCommons
P6 country of citizenship Item No Yes National affiliation
P7 occupation Item No Yes Profession being practiced
P8 academic degree Item No Yes Educational qualification
P10 date of birth Date [point in time] No Yes Birthdate in any variation of the ISO format
P32 employer Item No Yes Organization where the person works/worked
P33 educated at Item No Yes Institutions where the person studied
P34 field of work Item No Yes Area of professional expertise/discipline
P23 member of Item No Yes Group or organization affiliations

Data Model Category C: Bibliographic and Authority Identifiers

Property Label Expected Value New Entity? Wikidata Linked? Usage Note
P11 reference URL URL No Yes Link to an external verifying source
P12 formatter URL String [hyperlinked] No Yes Used for generating external links
P13 ISNI Identifier No Yes International Standard Name Identifier
P14 ORCID Identifier No Yes ORCID researcher identifier
P15 VIAF ID Identifier No Yes Virtual International Authority File ID
P16 Open Library ID Identifier No Yes ID from Open Library database
P17 Wikidata Property ID Identifier No Yes Used when referencing Wikidata properties
P18 Library of Congress ID Identifier No Yes LC authority identifier
P19 Nigerian Legal Deposit Number Identifier Yes No Unique identifier for deposits in NLN
P20 Google Scholar Author ID Identifier No Yes GS Author Profile ID
P21 Goodreads Author ID Identifier No Yes Goodreads author record ID
P22 WorldCat Entities ID Identifier No Yes WorldCat entity linking
P39 Wikidata Item ID Identifier No Yes ID for linking to Wikidata items

Data Model Category D: Publication and Work Identifiers

Property Label Expected Value New Entity? Wikidata Linked? Usage Note
P24 SSRN Author ID Identifier No Yes SSRN profile for authors
P25 Official Website URL No Yes Website of the person or organization
P28 ISSN Identifier No Yes Serial publications ID
P29 ISAN Identifier No Yes Audiovisual content ID
P30 ISBN-10 Identifier No Yes 10-digit book identifier
P31 ISBN-13 Identifier No Yes 13-digit book identifier
P36 language Item Yes Yes Language associated with the person or work
P35 subclass of Item Yes Yes Used to define hierarchical relationships

Use this resource to?

  • Support library cataloguing and metadata management
  • Create or enrich Wikidata and Wikipedia profiles
  • Connect Nigerian knowledge to global knowledge graphs

Navigation hotspots

  1. List of items in this wikibase
  2. List of properties available in this wikibase
  3. Pages with most revisions
  4. Pages with most interwikis
  5. Pages with most categories

Project partners

  • African Library and Information Associations & Institutions (AfLIA)
  • National Library of Nigeria (NLN)
  • Wikimedia Deutschland (WMDE)
  • Wikimedia Foundation – Knowledge Equity Fund (KEF)

How to create items + properties + (what is a good property)

Create a new Item with Special:NewItem on the menu to the left. You will be taken to a page that asks you to give the new item a label and a description. When you're done, click "Create".

Create the property with Special:NewProperty. Property entities can be edited like item entities with labels, descriptions, aliases, and statements. Property labels should be as unambiguous as possible so that it is clear to a user which property is the correct one to use when editing items and adding statements. Properties rarely refer to commonly known concepts but they are more constructs of the Wikidata with specific meanings. Unlike items, property labels must be unique. Property descriptions are less relevant for disambiguation but they should provide enough information about the scope and context of the property so that users understand appropriate usage of the property without having to consult additional help. Property aliases should include all alternative ways of referring to the property.

Example: property: P161 label: cast member description: actor performing live for a camera or audience aliases: film starring; actor; actress; starring

To create and delete data using tools, have a look at this list in the documentation.

Another way is via the Wikibase API that allows querying, adding, removing and editing information on Wikidata or any other Wikibase instance. A new version of the API is in the works with the REST API.

Don’t panic -> links to help

This is a lot of information and possibilities and might seem daunting. Don’t panic. There’s a lot of documentation for you to read, many other Wikibases you can look at to get inspired, a community that is happy to help out with any questions, and the development team who’s happy to support you where needed.