How to use this guide
This is a complete list of metadata fields for Places.
You can add notes, citations, and dates to most of these fields. Learn more at Using Notes, Using Dates, Using Citations.
General Information
This contains the identifier for the Knowledge Map, and lets you make the place private or public.
Field label | Definition | Type |
---|---|---|
Place ID | A unique identifier assigned to the place. The place ID can't be changed: it helps you distinguish the place from others with the same name. | short text (cannot be changed) |
Public? | Sets whether the places is visible to the public. You can check this box if you aren't ready to share the place. | checkbox |
Names
Names for the Knowledge Map. The name of a place can change across languages or time: you can track those changes here. You can also list popular names for a place, like "C'ville" for "Charlottesville." Learn more about this feature with Add Alternate KMap Names.
Field label | Definition | Type |
---|---|---|
Place | An alternate name for the place. | short text |
Name Type | This sets whether the name is official or popular. | checkbox |
Language | The language of the name. This is independent from the 'writing system,' which you can learn more about below. | controlled vocabulary |
Writing System | The alphabet or symbol system used to represent the language. For example, English uses the Latin script. | controlled vocabulary |
Etymology | The etymological origin of the alternate name. | WYSIWYG |
Primary for Popular Romanization View? | Popular romanization is an easy-to-pronounce version of names in roman script, which is intended for audiences around the world. | checkbox |
Caption
A brief, "tweet-sized" description for the KMap. This appears in KMap previews throughout Mandala. The caption should be under 140 characters. Make sure it's general and clear enough to identify the feature from a list.
Field label | Definition | Type |
---|---|---|
Language | The language of the caption. Each caption should only have one language. If you need to include a translation, add a new caption. | controlled vocabulary |
Caption | The text of the caption. This should be shorter than 140 characters. Make sure it's general and clear enough to identify the feature from a list. | checkbox |
Author | The author of the summary. By default, this is set to your username. | controlled vocabulary |
Summaries
A summary of the important aspects of the place. This should be less than 750 characters long. If you want to translate your summary into multiple languages, each language needs its own summary. You can add more than one summary.
Field label | Definition | Type |
---|---|---|
Language | The language of the summary. Each summary should only have one language. If you need to include a translation, add a new summary. | controlled vocabulary |
Caption | The text of the summary. This should be shorter than 750 characters. | checkbox |
Author | The author of the summary. By default, this is set to your username. | controlled vocabulary |
Illustration
A single image that is representative of the subject or place. It appears next to the summary on the main page for the Knowledge Map. Other images, including those that relate to the subject or place but do not illustrate it, can be added using Images in Mandala. Learn more about this feature with Add Illustrations to KMaps.
Field label | Definition | Type |
---|---|---|
Language | The language of the caption. Each caption should only have one language. If you need to include a translation, add a new caption. | controlled vocabulary |
Caption | The text of the caption. This should be shorter than 140 characters. Make sure it's general and clear enough to identify the feature from a list. | checkbox |
Author | The author of the summary. By default, this is set to your username. | controlled vocabulary |
Feature Types
This section lets you define the type of place you're creating -- for example, a village, a mountain, etc.
Field label | Definition | Type |
---|---|---|
Category | The feature type. This is a subject Knowledge Map. For example, "street" (subject id: S3501) | kmap |
Numeric Value | A number associated with the feature type. | short text |
Show master subject | This option lets you display the topmost ancestor of the feature type. For example, for 'Street' this would be 'Geographical Feature' | checkbox |
Show subject's immediate parent | This option lets you display the parent of the feature type. For example, for 'Street' this would be 'Transportation Routes' | checkbox |
Text Value | Short text associated with the feature type. |
Subjects
Assigns related subjects to a place. Each subject can also have a value.
Definition | Type | |
---|---|---|
Category | The subject you want to connect to the Knowledge Map. | kmap |
Numeric Value | A number associated with the subject. For example, 'Population' could be associated with the actual population of the place. | short text |
Show master subject | This option lets you display the topmost ancestor of the related subject. | checkbox |
Show subject's immediate parent | This option lets you display the parent of the feature type. For example, you could display Population > Children, then enter the child population for the place in the 'numeric value' field. | checkbox |
Text Value | Short text associated with the subject. | short text |
Geocode
Codes or identifiers that refer to this place.
Field label | Definition | Type |
---|---|---|
Geocode Type | The type of geocode. For example, 'Zip Code.' | controlled vocabulary |
Value | The value of the geocode. For example, for Zip Code the value might be '22903.' | short text |
Locations
The latitude and longitude of the place. This is a single point which represents your Place on a map. If you have a GIS shapefile which represents your place, contact mandala@virginia.edu.
Field label | Definition | Type |
---|---|---|
Latitude | The longitude of the place. Use decimal degrees for this field: for example, 36.134. You can convert degrees, minutes, and seconds to decimal degrees here. | short text |
Longitude | The longitude of the place. Use decimal degrees for this field: for example, 36.134. You can convert degrees, minutes, and seconds to decimal degrees here. | short text |
Altitude | The altitude of the place. This is the altitude of a single point to mark the altitude correctly on Google Maps. For more general altitudes, see the Altitude section. | short text |
Altitudes
The general elevation of the place.
Field label | Definition | Type |
---|---|---|
Average | The average altitude for the place. Don't include units, which you should choose in the "Unit" field. | short text |
Estimate | An estimated altitude for the place. Don't include the unit, which you can define using the "Unit" field. | short text |
Minimum | A minimum altitude for the place. Don't include the unit, which you can define using the "Unit" field. | short text |
Maximum | The maximum altitude for the place. Don't include the unit, which you can define using the "Unit" field. | short text |
Unit | The unit for the average altitude, estimate altitude, minimum altitude, and/or maximum altitude of the place. You should enter these numbers in this section's corresponding fields. | controlled vocabulary |
Feature Relations
You can assign related places here. This is also used to create child KMaps for a place. Learn more about adding children at Add a New KMap.
To assign an existing related place:
- In the "Feature Relations" metadata section, click New Place Relation
A list of places will appear
- Click Select next to the place you want to connect to the original place
New fields will open
- Fill out the form using the table below to guide you
- Click Create
Definition | Type | |
---|---|---|
Place | The name of the new place you're creating, or the existing place you're relating to the current place. | |
Feature relation type | The type of relationship between the original place and the related place. | controlled vocabulary |
Perspective | The perspective for the relationship. Perspectives let you display faceted understandings of a place. They let you switch between different place trees, each with a different "perspective" or focus. You can learn more at Perspectives. | controlled vocabulary |
Essay
This is a legacy option. You should use Texts in Mandala if you want to add a longer essay to your Knowledge Map.
Homepage Texts
Homepage Texts are featured on the overview page for your place. This lets you add longer content than summaries or captions. To add a homepage text, you'll first work in Mandala Texts:
- Create your content in Mandala Texts: use this guide for help. You can also use an existing Mandala Text.
- Tag your text with the place: use this guide for help. For example, if I wanted the text to appear on the Lhasa overview page, I would tag it with Lhasa.
- Return to the Places editorial interface to add your Homepage Text
In the Homepage Texts section:
- Click New Homepage Text
- Choose your text
- If you don't see the text, make sure you tagged it with the appropriate place (see above)
- Choose the language of the text
- Click Create
Controlled Vocabularies
Name Type
Value | Definition |
---|---|
Official | The government name for the place. For example, "New York." |
Popular | A popular name for the place, used in speech or non-official documents. For example. "The Big Apple." |
Language
- Arabic
- Burmese
- Chinese
- Dzongkha
- English
- French
- German
- Hindi
- Italian
- Japanese
- Korean
- Latin
- Mongolian
- Nepali
- Pali
- Polish
- Prakrit
- Russian
- Sanskrit
- Sinhalese
- Spanish
- Thai
- Tibetan
- Unknown
- Urdu
- Vietnamese
Writing System
- Cyrillic
- Devanagari Script
- Latin Script
- Simplified Chinese Characters
- Tibetan Script
- Traditional Chinese Characters
Unit
- Feet
- Meters
Feature Relation Type
Relationship | Definition | Category |
---|---|---|
| Two features that are located in the same place. | location-based |
| A geographical relationship where one feature contains the other feature in its entirety. | location-based |
|
If a place is entirely contained by another feature, use the is entirely located in relationship. You might be unsure if the place is wholly contained in another place. This might happen for historical units, where you're uncertain about boundaries. In this case, use 'partially located in' to show this uncertainty. Example: A historical polity covers a geographical area within part of four contemporary counties. This historical polity's area doesn't completely cover any of the counties. The historical polity is partially located in each of these four counties. | location-based |
intersects with | Two features that overlap. You may not be sure about the exact relationship between two regions, but know that they overlap in geographical territory at least partially. In this case, we recommend is the partial location of, not intersects with. If you think intersects with is preferable in your case, let us know. We'll include your case as an example in this documentation. Example: A natural area, river, or mountain which spans multiple administrative units, all of which it intersects with. | location-based |
is adjacent to | Two places which share a border. If they're close to each other but don't share an edge, use is near. | location-based |
is near | Two features near to each other. Example: A tourist site may be near to another tourist site. By including this relationship, you can help viewers plan trips. | location-based |
is centered in has centered in it | A place centrally located in another place. This is independent of whether or not a place is partially located in another place. Example:
| location-based |
has as an instantiation is an instantiation of | An instantiation of a metaphysical feature. Examples:
| cultural |
has as a part is part of | A relationship where one place is part of another, but not hierarchically or administratively. Places with this relationship usually (but not always) have the same feature type. If one place is part of another hierarchically or administratively, use has entirely located within it/is entirely located in. Example:
| cultural |
administers is administered by | An administrative relationship between two places. Examples:
| cultural |
has as an administrative seat is the administrative seat of | The relationship a nation, historical polity, or political administrative unit has with its capitals or seats. | cultural |
administrative headquarters of has as an administrative headquarters | The relationship between an entity (corporation, school district, or other) and its headquarters. | cultural |
is mother of is child of | A generic, hierarchical relationship between places. | cultural |
is succeeded by succeeds | Use this relationship when a place succeeds another place. Succession implies both a fundamental difference and a fundamental continuity. Succession also implies that the one feature has supplanted the previous feature. In many cases:
The 'is succeeded by/succeeds' relationship is independant of location. This means the geographical areacoveredbythe two places can vary. Here are some possibilities :
You can use other relationships to describe the geographical location relation between the original place and the successor. Example:
| cultural |
is owner of owned by | A relationship of ownership or property Example:
| cultural |
is affiliated with | A non-hierarchal relationship between two places. In this relationship, neither place is 'subordonate' to the other. Example:
| cultural |
is in conflict with | A relationship of conflict. Example:
| cultural |
is related to | This is a generic expression of the relationship between two places. Use this when none of the other more specific relationship types apply. | cultural |
Geocode Types
You can find codes for your area by sorting the table by Region.
Value | Definition | Region |
---|---|---|
Postal Code | A postal code (as assigned by a government) for an area. Use this regardless of the terminology used by the government. Use the specific "zip code" geocode type for US postal codes. | Global |
Zip Code | The official postal code assigned to districts by the US government. Zip Codes are included in addresses for mail delivery. They are all numerical and five digits in length. | United States |
ISO 3166-1 Alpha-2 | Two-letter country codes published by the International Organization of Standardization. Learn more about this code. | |
ISO 3166-1 Alpha-3 | Three-letter country codes published by the International Organization of Standardization. Learn more about this code. | Global |
ISO 3166-1 Numeric | Three-digit country codes published by the International Organization of Standardization. Learn more about this code. | Global |
GB Code | Guobiao codes are official geocodes assigned to administrative units in contemporary China by the Chinese government. Learn more about this code. | China |
TBRC Geocode | Codes used by the Buddhist Digital Resource Center (formerly Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center) for places. | Global |
Bellezza Site ID | The Tibetan and Himalayan Library (THL) uses this code. | |
Royal Government Of Bhutan Code | The Tibetan and Himalayan Library (THL) uses this code. | Bhutan |
THL Extended GB Code | The Tibetan and Himalayan Library (THL) uses these codes. They are based upon the Chinese government GB codes, but have four additional digits at the end, for ten digits total. THL has added these additional digits. | China |
GB Code - Ryavec | The Tibetan and Himalayan Library (THL) uses this code. There are two types, both developed by Karl Ryavec:
| China (Tibet) |
Aufschnaiter Lhasa Map ID | The Tibetan and Himalayan Library (THL) uses this code. | Lhasa |
Tibet Heritage Fund Lhasa Building ID | Codes used by the Tibetan Heritage Fund to identify important buildings in Lhasa. Learn more about the code. Find a code. | Lhasa |
Lhasa Atlas ID | The Tibetan and Himalayan Library (THL) uses this code. | Lhasa |
FlashMap ID | Project-specific geocode. This code stores the FlashMap ID from Sera, Drepung, Meru Nyingpa, Barkhor, Lhasa Neighborhoods, TU map, and UVa map (and any other FlashMaps). This data doesn't show up in public view. | - |
US 2-Character State FIPS Code | Two-letter alphabetical and numerical codes to identify US states. The US government no longer uses it. Learn more about this code. Find a code. | United States |
US 8-Character National Standard ANSI Code | Learn more about this code. | United States |
Official United States Postal Service State Abbreviations | Abbreviations used by USPS for states. These codes are used in mailing addresses. Find a code. | United States |
US 2-Character 113th Congressional District FIPS Code | Find a code. | United States |
US Geographic ID | Learn more about this code. | United States |
US AFF Summary Level Code | Codes used by American FactFinder, the United States Census Bureau website for data distribution. Learn more about this code. | United States |
US 3-Character County FIPS Code | Learn more about this code. | United States |
US 8-Character National Standard ANSI Code | Learn more about this code. | United States |
Perspectives
Get the full list at Using Perspectives.