# BHL Day 2026 - University of Cambridge's Darwin Correspondence Project **URL:** \ **Category:** Wikis\ **Tags:** bhlday2026\ **Created:** [April 29, 2026, 7:52pm UTC](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/t/bhl-day-2026-university-of-cambridges-darwin-correspondence-project/103 "2026-04-29T19:52:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ambrosia10](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex033/user_avatar/forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/ambrosia10/32/18_2.png) [@Ambrosia10](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/u/Ambrosia10)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2026, 7:52pm UTC](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/t/bhl-day-2026-university-of-cambridges-darwin-correspondence-project/103/1 "2026-04-29T19:52:38Z")
During the BHL Day 2026 a lightning talk was delivered by representatives of the University of Cambridge’s Darwin Correspondence Project. In that presentation the presenters mentioned that they had a database of people related to that project but that they had yet to create authority files or structured data about those people. I immediately thought of Wikidata and asked the question whether they had thought of using Wikidata as a question at the end of their presentation. Yes they said but that this was on their “to do” list. ![IMG_2367](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex033/uploads/biodivlibrary/original/1X/821ffb7101c0e9e028a957f9bf5c959e8e5fa53f.jpeg) As luck would have it @Pigsonthewing was watching these presentations online and left [messages on Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/pigsonthewing.org.uk/post/3mknblgsq2c2q) suggesting a Wikidata property be proposed for the Darwin Correspondence Project person identifier. Below is a link to the property proposal he has subsequently created! > **[Wikidata:Property proposal/Darwin Correspondence person ID - Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Property_proposal/Darwin_Correspondence_person_ID)** ---
**Author:** ![rdmpage](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex033/user_avatar/forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/rdmpage/32/8_2.png) [@rdmpage](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/u/rdmpage)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 1:26am UTC](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/t/bhl-day-2026-university-of-cambridges-darwin-correspondence-project/103/2 "2026-04-30T01:26:14Z")
“Greatness lies in the agency of others”. A nice example of how Wikidata enables people to help create knowledge without (too much) friction. ---
**Author:** ![Ambrosia10](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex033/user_avatar/forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/ambrosia10/32/18_2.png) [@Ambrosia10](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/u/Ambrosia10)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 5:50am UTC](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/t/bhl-day-2026-university-of-cambridges-darwin-correspondence-project/103/3 "2026-04-30T05:50:29Z")
I so agree and the two folk from the Darwin Correspondence Project were thrilled. “A fabulous result from a 5 min presentation”. ---
**Author:** ![rdmpage](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex033/user_avatar/forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/rdmpage/32/8_2.png) [@rdmpage](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/u/rdmpage)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2026, 12:16pm UTC](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/t/bhl-day-2026-university-of-cambridges-darwin-correspondence-project/103/4 "2026-05-07T12:16:55Z")
@Ambrosia10 @Pigsonthewing Just noticed that the property proposal has been accepted! ---
**Author:** ![Ambrosia10](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex033/user_avatar/forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/ambrosia10/32/18_2.png) [@Ambrosia10](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/u/Ambrosia10)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2026, 5:59pm UTC](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/t/bhl-day-2026-university-of-cambridges-darwin-correspondence-project/103/5 "2026-05-07T17:59:24Z")
Thanks for letting us know Rod! @Pigsonthewing - just to let you know I’ve emailed Liz Smith at the Cambridge University Library and Archives to tell her the property has been accepted. ---
**Author:** ![Pigsonthewing](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex033/user_avatar/forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/pigsonthewing/32/50_2.png) [@Pigsonthewing](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/u/Pigsonthewing)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2026, 7:05pm UTC](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/t/bhl-day-2026-university-of-cambridges-darwin-correspondence-project/103/6 "2026-05-08T19:05:32Z")
I’ve heard back from them and should be getting a data dump (to add go Mix’n’Match) next week. ---
**Author:** ![Ambrosia10](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex033/user_avatar/forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/ambrosia10/32/18_2.png) [@Ambrosia10](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/u/Ambrosia10)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2026, 7:59pm UTC](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/t/bhl-day-2026-university-of-cambridges-darwin-correspondence-project/103/7 "2026-05-08T19:59:30Z")
Fantastic @Pigsonthewing Thanks for leading the charge on this! ---
**Author:** ![Pigsonthewing](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex033/user_avatar/forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/pigsonthewing/32/50_2.png) [@Pigsonthewing](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/u/Pigsonthewing)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 5:45pm UTC](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/t/bhl-day-2026-university-of-cambridges-darwin-correspondence-project/103/8 "2026-05-19T17:45:01Z")
Data (9144 rows of it) now loaded into Mix’n’Match - maybe I’m impatient, but I’m not seeing any automated or preliminary matches, after an hour or so. It turns out that there are also a small number of entries for organisations, and publications. [https://mix-n-match.toolforge.org/#/catalog/7918](https://mix-n-match.toolforge.org/#/catalog/7918) ---
**Author:** ![rdmpage](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex033/user_avatar/forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/rdmpage/32/8_2.png) [@rdmpage](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/u/rdmpage)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 6:10pm UTC](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/t/bhl-day-2026-university-of-cambridges-darwin-correspondence-project/103/9 "2026-05-19T18:10:14Z")
@Pigsonthewing I don’t use Mix n Match but I wonder if there’s an error in the data. For example Charles Lawford Acland has a search link [Search results for "Charles Lawford Acland haswbstatement:P31=Q5" - Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?button=&search=Charles%20Lawford%20Acland%20haswbstatement%3AP31%3DQ5&title=Special%3ASearch) rather than what I expected [Search results for "Charles Lawford Acland" - Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?button=&search=Charles%20Lawford%20Acland). Maybe a parsing issue? ---
**Author:** ![Pigsonthewing](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex033/user_avatar/forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/pigsonthewing/32/50_2.png) [@Pigsonthewing](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/u/Pigsonthewing)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 7:54pm UTC](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/t/bhl-day-2026-university-of-cambridges-darwin-correspondence-project/103/10 "2026-05-19T19:54:10Z")
“haswbstatement:P31=Q5” specifies that the search is for an instance (P31) of a human (Q5). ---
**Author:** ![rdmpage](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex033/user_avatar/forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/rdmpage/32/8_2.png) [@rdmpage](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/u/rdmpage)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 7:56pm UTC](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/t/bhl-day-2026-university-of-cambridges-darwin-correspondence-project/103/11 "2026-05-19T19:56:42Z")
But it appears in the search box, is that really the expected behaviour? ![IMG0914](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex033/uploads/biodivlibrary/original/1X/eebee04070c213bbf68500108494a28ebae9a9f9.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![rdmpage](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex033/user_avatar/forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/rdmpage/32/8_2.png) [@rdmpage](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/u/rdmpage)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 8:08pm UTC](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/t/bhl-day-2026-university-of-cambridges-darwin-correspondence-project/103/12 "2026-05-19T20:08:02Z")
Not sure a restriction to people is always best approach. For example, searching for Oliver Alexander Ainslie in Wikidata the first hit is a record in a database that looks like it is for the same person, but person themselves isn’t in Wikidata. ---
**Author:** ![Pigsonthewing](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex033/user_avatar/forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/pigsonthewing/32/50_2.png) [@Pigsonthewing](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/u/Pigsonthewing)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 9:28pm UTC](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/t/bhl-day-2026-university-of-cambridges-darwin-correspondence-project/103/13 "2026-05-19T21:28:51Z")
How would relaxing the restriction to only search for people resolve that issue? And yes, having it appear in the search box is the intended behaviour. ---
**Author:** ![rdmpage](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex033/user_avatar/forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/rdmpage/32/8_2.png) [@rdmpage](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/u/rdmpage)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 1:46am UTC](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/t/bhl-day-2026-university-of-cambridges-darwin-correspondence-project/103/14 "2026-05-20T01:46:17Z")
I didn’t realise that you could add parameters to the search in the actual search box. One reason this feels hacky is that if you find nothing Wikidata invites you to create an item whose name includes those parameters! ![IMG_0915](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex033/uploads/biodivlibrary/original/1X/7eebdb5b59e89828c47430eae0144520aee6fd25.jpeg) There are a couple of reasons for not having those parameters. For “Oliver Alexander Ainslie” I get no hits in Mix n Match, but if I trim the parameters I get: ![IMG_0916](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex033/uploads/biodivlibrary/original/1X/ea6ad867ff15754a8b92eeb37897f5dd346c3240.jpeg) which is the example of a person that is mentioned in an entry but not having an item themselves. Lastly, many of these entities in the list aren’t people, so restricting the search to people misses the match, for example “Accademia dei Lincei”. As I said, this aspect of Wikidata isn’t my area, but you noted that > maybe I’m impatient, but I’m not seeing any automated or preliminary matches, after an hour or so. and I’m wondering whether these examples might explain why? 🤷‍♂️ ---
**Author:** ![Pigsonthewing](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex033/user_avatar/forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/pigsonthewing/32/50_2.png) [@Pigsonthewing](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/u/Pigsonthewing)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 10:19am UTC](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/t/bhl-day-2026-university-of-cambridges-darwin-correspondence-project/103/15 "2026-05-20T10:19:04Z")
The item your revised search found, Q98840143, is about a biographical article, not the person, so should not be matched to the DCP ID. \<300 of the \>9K entries are not about people, so defaulting to a search for Q5 is sensible. As I hypothesised, I was being impatient - 42% of the entries are now matched, the vast majority automatically., and the count is still rising. ---
**Author:** ![rdmpage](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex033/user_avatar/forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/rdmpage/32/8_2.png) [@rdmpage](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/u/rdmpage)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 10:33am UTC](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/t/bhl-day-2026-university-of-cambridges-darwin-correspondence-project/103/16 "2026-05-20T10:33:02Z")
> [@Pigsonthewing](#): > > The item your revised search found, Q98840143, is about a biographical article, not the person, so should not be matched to the DCP ID. Understood, but to a casual user clicking on individual records, finding [Q98840143](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98840143) might then be inspired to create a Wikidata item for Oliver Alexander Ainslie, using Men-at-the-Bar as a source. > [@Pigsonthewing](#): > > \<300 of the \>9K entries are not about people, so defaulting to a search for Q5 is sensible. Understood, but if you know that some entities aren’t people, wouldn’t make sense not to use the default Q5 for those records? > [@Pigsonthewing](#): > > As I hypothesised, I was being impatient - 42% of the entries are now matched, the vast majority automatically., and the count is still rising. Cool! Anyway @Pigsonthewing thanks for your patience with my ignorance, I was simply curious about the matches I was (or wasn’t) seeing by idly clicking on the Wikidata button. ---
**Author:** ![Pigsonthewing](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex033/user_avatar/forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/pigsonthewing/32/50_2.png) [@Pigsonthewing](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/u/Pigsonthewing)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 12:52pm UTC](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/t/bhl-day-2026-university-of-cambridges-darwin-correspondence-project/103/17 "2026-05-20T12:52:40Z")
> if you know that some entities aren’t people, wouldn’t make sense not to use the default Q5 for those records? Yes, if there was a 50/50 (or even, say 70/30) split. But when its \<300 vs. \>9K, it reduces the efficacy of \<300 searches, while greatly increasing the efficacy of \>8700. In my view (as the person setting up and wanting to use the catalogue) that’s a price worth paying. ---
**Author:** ![Ambrosia10](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex033/user_avatar/forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/ambrosia10/32/18_2.png) [@Ambrosia10](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/u/Ambrosia10)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 5:38pm UTC](https://forum.biodiversitylibrary.org/t/bhl-day-2026-university-of-cambridges-darwin-correspondence-project/103/18 "2026-05-20T17:38:42Z")
This is great news! Thanks again for doing this work - you are a star!