Materiel
Warning
This is a draft claim field set currently in development. The format described in this documentation is a proposed format which may change with further research and development.
The Materiel claim type describes basic identifying information about Materiel: name, aliases, classifications, and associated time ranges with them. Claims of this type are grouped together with Equipment which links a Unit to the Materiel it uses. Component captures how Materiel may include other Materiel, for example the targeting system in a particular type of aircraft.
Materiel: Summary of claim attributes
The table below summarizes the following dimensions of Materiel claims:
Attribute label: a human readable label for the attribute
Status: whether the attribute is optional or required in a claim
Data type: the sort of data that can be entered into the attribute
Key name: a standardized name that simplifies attribute use in SFM databases
Attribute label |
Status |
Data type |
Key name |
|---|---|---|---|
type:claim |
required |
string |
|
status:meta |
required |
string |
|
researcher:meta |
required |
string |
|
internal_comments:meta |
optional |
string |
|
citation:refs:claim |
required |
strings<->uuids |
|
about_entity:ref:claim |
required |
string<->uuid |
|
about_entity:name:qa |
optional |
string |
n/a |
name:annotation |
optional |
string |
|
materiel:names:assertion |
required |
string |
proposed |
materiel:classifications:assertion |
optional |
cell-list |
proposed |
materiel:media_description:annotation |
optional |
string |
proposed |
materiel:roles:assertion |
optional |
string |
proposed |
first_precise:range |
optional |
string-date |
|
last_precise:range |
optional |
string-date |
|
first_imprecise:range |
optional |
string-date |
|
last_imprecise:range |
optional |
string-date |
|
starting:range |
required |
YN<->bool |
|
ending:range |
required |
YN<->bool |
|
starting_context:range |
optional |
string |
|
ending_context:range |
optional |
string |
|
public_notes:meta |
optional |
string |
|
type:entity |
required |
string |
|
Materiel: Details of claim attributes
This section contains further information about each attribute, including descriptions, examples of use, and Guidance on use.
type:claim
Description
A field that defines what type of claim is being made.
Attribute type
Text string
Status
This attribute is required.
Key name
:claim/type
Example of use
materiel, equipment, component
Guidance on use
Entering materiel defines the claim and defines the relevant fields to be used in further data entry about a Materiel. For quality assurance purposes, entering materiel should create an error if there is any entry for fields tied to other claim types, such as Equipment or Component.
status:meta
Description
A field that classifies the data in the claim.
Attribute type
Text string
Status
This attribute is required.
Key name
:claim/statuses
Example of use
accepted, conflict, work_needed, issue
Guidance on use
Claims are marked accepted when all of the data can be entered in accordance with the guidance of this handbook. The conflict flag is used whenever a claim conflicts with another claim (or claims) and a review of citations show it to be the incorrect or false claim (see Citations with both Accepted and Conflicted Information for guidance when one claim from a citation contains both accepted and conflict information). A public_notes:meta should always accompany any conflict claim.
If the data itself cannot be brought into the SFM standard the flag issue should be used. Finally, if the current citations cannot establish whether a claim should be flagged as accepted or conflict then the flag work_needed should be used as additional research is needed.
researcher:meta
Description
Field for initials or other identifier of researcher who last entered data for the claim.
Attribute type
Text string
Status
This attribute is required.
Key name
:meta/researchers
Example of use
TW, Jane_Doe, G1
Guidance on use
Every researcher should use this field to mark the claims that they have entered. Anytime a researcher modifies any data for an existing claim they should update this field so that any questions can be directed to the right person and the flow of work can be better tracked.
internal_comments:meta
Description
A field for temporary comments or notes for the researcher or research team working on the claim.
Attribute type
Text string
Status
This attribute is optional.
Key name
:meta/internal-comments
Example of use
Come back to this to determine date for claim
Guidance on use
Researchers may use this field to make temporary notes or leave temporary comments intended for others in the research team about a claim. These should eventually be addressed and the field cleared by the researcher or research team. If the claim needs an explanatory note or comment to be better understood, then that should be entered in the public_notes:meta field.
citation:refs:claim
Description
Field unique 32 character code assigned to citation(s) evidencing the claim.
Attribute type
String in UUID format
Status
This attribute is required.
Key name
:claim/citation:refs
Example of use
69dba35b-2b70-47cf-bfda-f80225f652c6, 4e99308c-f9c0-49e8-b97b-14c1e7bcb99d;bedf57b2-c20b-41e3-9dcf-b7b065eaa3b7
Guidance on use
Every claim must have at least one citation to evidence the data in the claim. When two or more citations are needed to evidence a claim then a corresponding explanatory note should be entered in the public_notes:meta field. This field is for the Universally Unique Identifier (UUID) for each citation, found in the source:access_point_id:admin field in the Sources sheet. When multiple citations are needed every UUID should be semi-colon separated.
about_entity:ref:claim
Description
A unique 32 character code assigned to each entity in the dataset.
Attribute type
String in UUID format
Status
This attribute is required.
Key name
:claim/about-entity:ref
Example of use
521ebf18-f161-4ac9-8c72-5a246efa0458
Guidance on use
Every entity has a Universally Unique Identifier (UUID) to distinguish it from any other entity. For Materiel this UUID distinguishes them from any other Materiel in the dataset. This UUID is used in other fields to tie Materiel to a specific Unit as Equipment or as a Component (or part) of other Materiel.
about_entity:name:qa
Description
Field that provides human readable name for entity.
Attribute type
Text string
Status
This attribute is optional.
Key name
n/a
Example of use
MiG-21UM
Guidance on use
This field provides a human readable counterpart to the about_entity:ref:claim which combines the various elements of the claim into a single text field. This field can be manually added by a researcher or automatically populated by the system after import. For Materiel best practice is to use the name:annotation in this field.
name:annotation
Description
Fullest name of the materiel as evidenced by citations.
Attribute type
String
Status
This attribute is optional.
Key name
:annotation/name
Example of use
MiG-21UM, Universal Water Activated Release System
Guidance on use
As with all annotation fields, this field is the singular display name for the entity. For Materiel this field is only used if the citation evidences the fullest name of the Materiel which is defined as the name with the highest number of characters.
materiel:names:assertion
Description
Any name given for the materiel from citation.
Attribute type
String
Status
This attribute is required.
Key name
n/a - proposed field
Example of use
MiG, UWARS
Guidance on use
Any name for Materiel used in the citation should be entered in this field. While the name:annotation field is only used for a single, most complex value, this field is used for any name a citation uses for Materiel. Thus, this field serves to capture “aliases” of the Materiel, which also includes any typos or misspellings that may exist in the citation.
materiel:classifications:assertion
Description
A general descriptor for the materiel.
Attribute type
Text, controlled vocabulary.
Status
This attribute is optional.
Key name
n/a - proposed field
Example of use
aircraft, radar
Guidance on use
We use classifications to describe the basic nature of specific materiel to assist investigations of potential linkages between reports of human rights abuses and the Security Force Monitor’s dataset.
materiel:media_description:annotation
Description
Short textual description of material found in a media resource that provides information about how the materiel looks or sounds.
Attribute type
Text, controlled vocabulary.
Status
This attribute is optional.
Key name
n/a - proposed field
Example of use
side of aircraft
Guidance on use
This attribute is used to store a brief description of the content of external media. The description should be sufficient for the analyst to quickly appraise what they can expect to find in the media about what the person looks or sounds like. A new row is created for each distinct media item about the materiel.
materiel:roles:assertion
Description
An attribute for how the materiel is used.
Attribute type
Text, controlled vocabulary.
Status
This attribute is optional.
Key name
n/a - proposed field
Example of use
close air support, transport
Guidance on use
This field is used to capture a descriptor for how the materiel is used.
first_precise:range
Full guidance on rationale for and differences between precise and imprecise date ranges, the use of this attribute can be found in the Handbook page How Dates Work.
last_precise:range
Full guidance on rationale for and differences between precise and imprecise date ranges, the use of this attribute can be found in the Handbook page How Dates Work.
first_imprecise:range
Full guidance on rationale for and differences between precise and imprecise date ranges, the use of this attribute can be found in the Handbook page How Dates Work.
last_imprecise:range
Full guidance on rationale for and differences between precise and imprecise date ranges, the use of this attribute can be found in the Handbook page How Dates Work.
starting:range
Full guidance on rationale for and differences between precise and imprecise date ranges, the use of this attribute can be found in the Handbook page How Dates Work.
ending:range
Full guidance on rationale for and differences between precise and imprecise date ranges, the use of this attribute can be found in the Handbook page How Dates Work.
starting_context:range
Full guidance on rationale for and differences between precise and imprecise date ranges, the use of this attribute can be found in the Handbook page How Dates Work.
ending_context:range
Full guidance on rationale for and differences between precise and imprecise date ranges, the use of this attribute can be found in the Handbook page How Dates Work.
public_notes:meta
Description
Additional context or details about the claim for a public audience.
Attribute type
String
Status
This attribute is optional.
Key name
:meta/public-notes
Example of use
Citation @3c981094-fb7b-4b78-b8f6-b525a03f72b5, published on 15 July 2019, states that numerous military appointments occurred "last week". This is understood to mean the week starting the previous Sunday 7 July 2019 through Saturday 13 July 2019.
Guidance on use
This field should be used whenever any claim requires additional explanation because for a general reader the claim is not clearly and directly stated in the citation. For the example of use above a citation published on 15 July 2019 refers to something happening “last week” and as a result a researcher has determined the previous Sunday 7 July 2019 through Saturday 13 July 2019 should be entered into the appropriate fields of first_imprecise:range and last_imprecise:range. That range would not be immediately clear to a public audience since neither date is directly referenced in the text of the citation. As a result, the researcher should explain how that date range was evidenced by the citation.
type:entity
Description
Specifies the type of entity.
Attribute type
Text, controlled vocabulary.
Status
This field is required.
Key name
:entity/type
Example of use
claim
Guidance on use
For Materiel the only allowed entry for this field is claim.