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Semantic Name Authority Repository Cymru

Linked database of authority records and related data for people and places in Welsh archives

134,688 Items.

 Introduction

The Semantic Name Authority Repository Cymru (SNARC) was established in order to provide a central hub for name authority records relating to Wales and in the Welsh language. The authority records related to people, places or social constructs such as organisations or businesses. The database also includes all the additional data needed to describe these things, such as occupations, places of education, language and nationality. Based on Wikidata, but using a simplified and customized ontology, the data is presented as Linked Open Data and this makes it easier for us to define relationships between entities in our collections. All the data is bilingual and available on an Open Licence. The dataset can be explored using the search box on this page, the links below or using the API or Query Service. Our goal is to grow the dataset using data from Welsh cultural organizations, connecting our heritage in one central hub. It will also act as an important bridge between 3rd party linked open data from Wikidata and other sources, and data curated by GLAM professionals around the world.

 Explore People

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Useful queries and data visualisations for exploring the data

Explore People

• Image Gallery of People in our collections
• Keeping up with the Joneses; all known family of people with the surname Jones
• Interactive map of birth places of people in our archives
• Graph of Welsh estates, houses and their owners
• Timeline of Aberystwyth University Alumni

Featured Family Trees (Uses Wikidata)

• Augustus John
• Charlotte Guest
• Owain Glyndwr
• Megan Lloyd George

Search People

• NLW Images of People
• Dictionary of Welsh Biography people with Archives at NLW
• Pseudonyms and Bardic Names

 Places

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Useful queries and data visualisations for exploring the data

Maps

• Simple World Map of places in the dataset
• Interactive map of Welsh place data
• Welsh Ecclesiastical Parishes
• Map of Welsh hills and mountains

Search places

• NLW Images of places
• Standardised Welsh Place Names
• CADW Listed Buildings
• Chapels with related archives at NLW

 Reusing this data

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The data in SNARC along with all associated documentation and queries are freely available for reuse with no requirement for attribution under a CC-0 licence. In return, we would greatly appreciate it if, in your project, you mention The National Library of Wales and Wikidata as the origin of your data. In so doing you help ensure that we can monitor reuse and justify the continued development of this resource.

 Data hierarchy

As structured data, all entities in the dataset should form part of a hierarchy. This dataset uses the bespoke high level hierarchy below, which simplifies the class system imported with items from Wikidata. Click on the items below to see subclasses of each type.

Guidelines on the data structure can be found here

Place

Any place whether natural or human made

Concept

Semantic unit understood in different ways

Life

Any living physical entity such as an animal, plant, fungus, or bacterium

Creation

Intentional intellectual or artistic creation