DESIGN.md

Public Art Database

By Gerard Bul-lalayao

Video overview: [removed]

Scope

The database for Public Art includes all entities necessary to faciliate the documentation of public artworks. As such, included in the database's scope is:

• Objects, including information on works of art that meet the definition of "public art"
• Installations, including information on the placement of an object on at least one location
• Agents, including information on individuals or groups of individuals that have a relationship to at least one record in at least one entity
• Objects-Agents, including information on the association between object(s) and agent(s)
• Role Types, including information characterizing an object-agent association
• Incriptions, including information on intentional textual inscription(s) on an object
• Locations, including information on physical places that have a relationship to at least one record in at least one entity
• Assets, including information on digitized media associated with at least one object
• Asset Types, including information characterizing an asset
• Assets-Objects, including information on the association between asset(s) and object(s)
• Databases, including information on databases where assets are stored
• Assets-Databases, including information on the storage location of digitized copy of an asset
• Rows, including information on a record from select entities
• Attributes, including information on an attribute in a row entity
• Verifications, including information on verification of an attribute entity
• References, including information on sources of information used in a verification entity
• Users, including information on users who can perform CRUD operations on the database

At least in the initial iterations of the database, the following are out of scope:

• The actual assets themselves, since they are to be stored in NoSQL databases.
• Non-factual information about the objects, such as art criticisms, aesthetic interpretations and other forms of opinion writing.
• An object's full provenance. Some objects are temporary installations. The database will only concern itself with information about the installation immediately before and after the current installation, with "current" referring to the installation at the time of its record entry in the database.
• Attributes not selected to undergo a verification process.

Functional Requirements

This database will support:

• CRUD operations by users
• Tracking assets stored in other databases
• Implementing principle of least privilege
• Verifying select attributes from select entities

Note that the database will not support CRUD operations on the assets, which are saved on other data stores, except on the metadata saved on the database.

Representation

Entities are captured in Postgres tables with the following schema.

Entities

The database includes the following entities:

Objects

The objects table includes:

Attribute	Key	Data Type	Description	Default value	Value range	Example
id	PK	SERIAL	Unique identifier of this object record	''	> 0	1
api_id		VARCHAR(13)	Public facing unique identifier of this object	''	> "PADAPI-000000"	"PADAPI-000001"
title		VARCHAR(256)	Official name of this object	''	''	"Flamingo"
title_display		VARCHAR(256)	Public facing name of this object	null	''	"Flamingo"
title_alt		VARCHAR(256)	Documented alternative name(s) of this objects	null	''	null
date_display		DATE	Public facing year to date this object	null	-9999 - 9999	1974
medium		TEXT	Description of construction material	null	''	"Sculpture: steel plates, painted; Base pads: granite."
dimensions		VARCHAR(256)	Non-standardized text description of the physical dimensions of this object	null	''	"1,620 cm (636 in)"
has_inscriptions		BOOL	Whether object has inscriptions or not	False	"True, False"	True
description		TEXT	General description of this object	null	''	"Three quarter-inch-thick steel plates..."
date_commission		DATE	Year when order for or authorization for production of object was given	null	-9999 - 9999	null
date_fabrication_start		DATE	Year when production of object started	null	-9999 - 9999	1973
date_fabrication_end		DATE	Year when production of object ended	null	-9999 - 9999	1973
record_remarks		TEXT	Remarks associated with the record	null	-9999 - 9999	null
record_date_created		TIMESTAMP	Date and time the record was created	''	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00
record_date_updated		TIMESTAMP	Date and time the record was edited	null	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00

Installations

The installations table includes:

Attribute	Key	Data Type	Description	Value range	Default range	Example
id	PK	SERIAL	Unique identifier of the installation	''	> 0	1
object_id	FK	INTEGER	Unique identifier of the object associated with the installation	''	> "PADAPI-000000"	"PADAPI-000001"
latitude		NUMERIC	Latitude coordinate of the centroid of the installation	null	-90 to 90	41.878809
longitude		NUMERIC	Longitude coordinate of the centroid of the installation	null	-90 to 90	-87.62968
location_id	FK	INTEGER	Unique identifier of the location of the the installation	''	> 0	1
is_permanent		VARCHAR(8)	Whether the installation is permanent or temporary	"Tbd"	"Yes, No, Tbd"	Yes
description		TEXT	Description of spatial setting of object at location	null	''	"Located on the middle south edge of a plaza fronting the post office."
commissioning_entity	FK	INTEGER	Unique identifier of agent who commissioned the installation v. commissioning agent for object	null	> 0	2
date_assembly_start		DATE	Start date of post-production assembly for the installation	null	-9999 - 9999	1974
data_assembly_end		DATE	End date of post-production assembly for the installation	null	-9999 - 9999	1974
date_display_start_official		DATE	Start date of the installation usually refers to official public dedication	null	-9999 - 9999	1974
date_display_end_official		DATE	End date of this installation usually refers to total removal of object from location	null	-9999 - 9999	null
installation_pre	FK	INTEGER	Unique identifier of installation immediately prior to the installation associated with the record	null	> 0	null
installation_post	FK	INTEGER	Unique identifier of installation immediately after the installation associated with the record	null	> 0	null
record_remarks		TEXT	Remarks associated with the record	null	''	null
record_date_created		TIMESTAMP	Date and time the record was created	''	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00
record_date_updated		TIMESTAMP	Date and time the record was edited	null	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00

Agents

The agents table includes:

Attribute	Key	Data Type	Description	Default value	Value range	Example
id	PK	SERIAL	Unique identifier of the agent	''	> 0	1
agent_type		VARCHAR(16)	Name of type of agent	"Tbd"	"Individual, Couple, Group, Tbd"	"Individual"
name_display		VARCHAR(128)	Pubic facing name of the agent	''	''	"Alexander Calder"
name_first		VARCHAR(128)	First name of agent if type is individual	null	''	"Alexander"
name_middle		VARCHAR(128)	Middle name of agent if type is individual	null	''	null
name_last		VARCHAR(128)	Last name of agent if type is individual	null	''	"Calder"
name_alt		VARCHAR(128)	Alternative name(s) of the agent	null	''	null
nationality		VARCHAR(128)	Nationality associated with the agent	null	''	"United States"
city		VARCHAR(128)	Full name of the city associated with the agent	null	''	"New York"
country		VARCHAR(128)	Full name of the country associated with the agent	null	''	"United States"
address		VARCHAR(128)	Full postal physical address associated with the agent	null	''	null
date_begin		DATE	Year of start of a time period	null	-9999 - 9999	1898
date_end		DATE	Year of end of a time period	null	-9999 - 9999	1976
record_remarks		TEXT	Remarks associated with the record	null	''	null
record_date_created		TIMESTAMP	Date and time the record was created	''	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00
record_date_updated		TIMESTAMP	Date and time the record was edited	null	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00

Role Types

The role_types table includes:

Attribute	Key	Data Type	Description	Default value	Value range	Example
id	PK	SERIAL	Unique identifier of the agent type	''	> 0	1
name		VARCHAR(32)	Name of the agent type	''	''	"artist"
description		VARCHAR(128)	Description of the agent type	null	''	"Lead artistic creator of object"
record_remarks		TEXT	Remarks associated with the record	null	''	null
record_date_created		TIMESTAMP	Date and time the record was created	''	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00
record_date_updated		TIMESTAMP	Date and time the record was edited	null	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00

Agent-Object Relationships

The r_agents_objects table includes:

Attribute	Key	Data Type	Description	Value range	Default range	Example
id	PK	SERIAL	Unique identifier of the object-agent relationship	''	> 0	1
object_id	FK	INTEGER	Unique identifier of object associated with the object-agent relationship	''	> 0	1
agent_id	FK	INTEGER	Unique identifier of agent associated with the object-agent relationship	''	> 0	1
role_id	FK	INTEGER	Unique identifier of the agent role associated with the object-agent relationship	''	> 0	1
record_remarks		TEXT	Remarks associated with the record	null	''	null
record_date_created		TIMESTAMP	Date and time the record was created	''	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00
record_date_updated		TIMESTAMP	Date and time the record was edited	null	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00

Inscriptions

The inscriptions table includes:

Attribute	Key	Data Type	Description	Default value	Value range	Example
id	PK	SERIAL	Unique identifier of this inscription record	''	> 0	1
object_id	FK	INTEGER	Unique identifier of agent who conducted audit	''	> 0	1
inscription		TEXT	Transcription of text intended to be integral part of the object	''	''	"(artist monogram)\n73"
inscription_visual	FK	INTEGER	Unique identifier of the asset documenting the inscription in situ	''	> 0	1
is_signature		VARCHAR(8)	Whether or not inscription is the artist signature	"Tbd"	"Yes, No, Tbd"	"Yes"
dimension_width		INTEGER	Width of the inscription area	null	''	null
dimension_height		INTEGER	Height of the inscription area	null	''	null
dimension_label		VARCHAR(16)	Unit of measure of dimensions	null	''	null
location		TEXT	Text describing the location of the inscription	null	''	"Center left of north west side"
record_remarks		TEXT	Remarks associated with the record	null	''	null
record_date_created		TIMESTAMP	Date and time the record was created	''	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00
record_date_updated		TIMESTAMP	Date and time the record was edited	null	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00

Locations

The locations table includes:

Attribute	Key	Data Type	Description	Default value	Value range	Example
id	PK	SERIAL	Unique identifier of the location	''	> 0	1
name		VARCHAR(128)	Official full name of the location	''	''	"Chicago Federal Center"
name_display		VARCHAR(128)	Public facing name of the location	''	''	"Chicago Federal Center"
name_alt		VARCHAR(128)	Alternative name of the location	null	''	null
centroid_lat		NUMERIC	Latitude coordinate of the polygon shapefile centroid of the location	null	-90 to 90	41.879057
centroid_lng		NUMERIC	Longitude coordinate of the polygon shapefile centroid of the location	null	-90 to 90	-87.62965
city		VARCHAR(128)	Full name of the city of the location	null	''	"Chicago"
country		VARCHAR(128)	Full name of the country of the location	null	''	"United States"
address		VARCHAR(128)	Full physical address of the location	null	''	"219 S Dearborn St Chicago IL USA"
owner_id	FK	INTEGER	Unique identifier of agent who is the owner on record of this location	''	> 0	2
record_remarks		TEXT	Remarks associated with the record	null	''	null
record_date_created		TIMESTAMP	Date and time the record was created	''	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00
record_date_updated		TIMESTAMP	Date and time the record was edited	null	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00

Assets

The assets table includes:

Attribute	Key	Data Type	Description	Default value	Value range	Example
id	PK	SERIAL	Unique identifier of the asset	''	> 0	1
asset_name		VARCHAR(128)	File name of the asset	''	''	"calder_flamingo.png"
asset_name_display		VARCHAR(128)	Public facing display name of the asset	null	''	"Flamingo"
asset_label		TEXT	Public facing display label of the asset	null	''	"Flamingo by Alexander Calder"
asset_type	FK	INTEGER	Unique identifier of the type of the asset	''	> 0	"image"
asset_type_sub	FK	INTEGER	Unique identifier of the type format of the asset	''	> 0	"png"
asset_description		TEXT	Text description of the asset	null	''	"An image of Flamingo by Alexander Calder"
asset_content		TEXT	Text to describe content of the asset to people with low or no vision	null	''	null
asset_agent_id	FK	INTEGER	Unique identifier of agent who created the asset	''	> 0	3
asset_copyright		VARCHAR(128)	Public facing copyright notice of the asset	null	''	"CC BY-NC-SA 4.0"
asset_date_created		DATE	Date the asset was created	null	-9999 - 9999	2024-01-01
asset_date_acquired		DATE	Date the asset was acquired from source agent	null	-9999 - 9999	2024-01-01
asset_size		VARCHAR(16)	Description of the size of the digitized on the database	null	''	"100 MB"
record_remarks		TEXT	Remarks associated with the record	null	''	null
record_date_created		TIMESTAMP	Date and time the record was created	''	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00
record_date_updated		TIMESTAMP	Date and time the record was edited	null	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00

Asset Types

The asset_type table includes:

Attribute	Key	Data Type	Description	Default value	Value range	Example
id	PK	SERIAL	Unique identifier of the asset type	''	> 0	1
name		VARCHAR(128)	Name of the asset type	''	''	"image"
description		VARCHAR(128)	Description of the asset type	''	''	"Photograph"
is_subtype_of	FK	INTEGER	Unique identifier of the asset type to which it is a child of	''	> 0	1
record_remarks		TEXT	Remarks associated with the record	null	''	null
record_date_created		TIMESTAMP	Date and time the record was created	''	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00
record_date_updated		TIMESTAMP	Date and time the record was edited	null	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00

Asset-Object Relationships

The r_assets_objects table includes:

Attribute	Key	Data Type	Description	Default value	Value range	Example
id	PK	SERIAL	Unique identifier of the asset-object relationship	''	> 0	1
asset_id	FK	INTEGER	Unique identifier of the asset in the asset-object relationship	''	> 0	1
object_id	FK	INTEGER	Unique identifier of the object in the asset-object relationship	''	> 0	1
record_remarks		TEXT	Remarks associated with the record	null	''	null
record_date_created		TIMESTAMP	Date and time the record was created	''	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00
record_date_updated		TIMESTAMP	Date and time the record was edited	null	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00

Databases

The databases table includes:

Attribute	Key	Data Type	Description	Default value	Value range	Example
id	PK	SERIAL	Unique identifier of this entity	''	> 0	1
name		VARCHAR(32)	Name of the database instance	''	''	"padapi"
host		VARCHAR(32)	Name of the provider of the database	''	''	"AWS"
type		VARCHAR(32)	Type of the database	''	''	"Relational"
type_sub		VARCHAR(32)	Subtype of the database	''	''	"PostgreSQL"
record_remarks		TEXT	Remarks associated with the record	null	''	null
record_date_created		TIMESTAMP	Date and time the record was created	''	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00
record_date_updated		TIMESTAMP	Date and time the record was edited	null	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00

Asset-Database Relationships

The r_assets_databases table includes:

Attribute	Key	Data Type	Description	Default value	Value range	Example
id	PK	SERIAL	Unique identifier of the document-database relationship	''	> 0	1
document_id	FK	INTEGER	Unique identifier of the document in the document-database relationship	''	> 0	1
database_id	FK	INTEGER	Unique identifier of the database in the document-database relationship	''	> 0	1
record_remarks		TEXT	Remarks associated with the record	null	''	null
record_date_created		TIMESTAMP	Date and time the record was created	''	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00
record_date_updated		TIMESTAMP	Date and time the record was edited	null	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00

Rows

Attribute	Key	Data Type	Description	Default value	Value range	Example
id	PK	SERIAL	Unique identifier of the row	''	> 0	1
table		VARCHAR(32)	Name of the source table of the row	''	''	"objects"
table_row	FK	INTEGER	Unique identifier of the row at the source table	''	> 0	1
record_date_created		TIMESTAMP	Date and time the record was created	''	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00
record_date_updated		TIMESTAMP	Date and time the record was edited	null	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00

Attributes

Attribute	Key	Data Type	Description	Default value	Value range	Example
id	PK	SERIAL	Unique identifier of the attribute	''	> 0	1
column_name		VARCHAR(32)	Name of the attribute	''	''	"dimensions"
column_type		VARCHAR(32)	Date type of attribute	''	''	"VARCHAR(256)"
column_value		TEXT	Value of the attribute	''	''	"1,620 cm (636 in)"
record_date_created		TIMESTAMP	Date and time the record was created	''	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00
record_date_updated		TIMESTAMP	Date and time the record was edited	null	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00

Verifications

Attribute	Key	Data Type	Description	Default value	Value range	Example
id	PK	SERIAL	Unique identifier of the verification	''	> 0	1
column_id	FK	INTEGER	Unique identifier of column	''	> 0	1
reference_id	FK	INTEGER	Unique identifier of the reference associated with the verification	''	> 0	1
reference_page		VARCHAR(16)	Page(s) of the reference used for the verification	null	''	"54-55"
user_id	FK	INTEGER	Unique identifier of the user who conducted verification	''	> 0	1
date_verification		TIMESTAMP	Public facing date when verification was conducted	''	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01
record_remarks		TEXT	Remarks associated with the record	null	''	null
record_date_created		TIMESTAMP	Date and time the record was created	''	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00
record_date_updated		TIMESTAMP	Date and time the record was edited	null	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00

References

Attribute	Key	Data Type	Description	Default value	Value range	Example
id	PK	SERIAL	Unique identifier of the reference	''	> 0	1
citation		TEXT	Full citation of the reference in the APA format	''	''	"Bach, I. J., & Gray, M. L. (1983). A Guide to Chicago's Public Sculpture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press."
isbn		VARCHAR(16)	13-digit identifier of the reference	null	''	"9780226033983"
asset_id	FK	INTEGER	Unique identifier of asset associated with the reference	null	> 0	null
record_remarks		TEXT	Remarks associated with the record	null	''	null
record_date_created		TIMESTAMP	Date and time the record was created	''	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00
record_date_updated		TIMESTAMP	Date and time the record was edited	null	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00

Users

Attribute	Key	Data Type	Description	Default value	Value range	Example
id	PK	SERIAL	Unique identifier of the user	''	> 0	1
name_first		VARCHAR(64)	First name of the user	null	''	"Alex"
name_last		VARCHAR(64)	Last name of the user	null	''	"Colder"
username		VARCHAR(16)	Username of the user	''	''	"alex"
hash		VARCHAR(128)	Hashed password	''	''	"##########"
role		VARCHAR(16)	Name of user role	"default"	"admin, curator, default"	"admin"
agent_id	FK	INTEGER	Unique identifier of agent if user is also an agent	null	> 0	3
record_date_created		ISO 8601 date and time	Date and time the record was created	''	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00
record_date_updated		ISO 8601 date and time	Date and time the record was edited	null	> 2024-01-01 12:00:00	2024-01-01 12:00:00

Relationships

The below entity relationship diagram describes the relationships among the entities in the database.

As detailed by the diagram, here are the most important relationships:

• One object, which refers to a work of art, including all its constituent parts, is part of one to many installations. An installation is comprised of one and only one object.
• An installation is installed in one and only one location. A location contains zero to many installations.
• An installation is preceded by zero to one installation. Similarly, an installation is proceded by zero to one installation.
• An object is part of one to many object-agent relationship. Similarly, an agent is part of one to many object-agent relationship. An example object-agent relationship is an agent being the lead artistic creator of an object. Another example is an agent being the owner of record for an object.
• An object contains zero to many inscriptions. An inscription is contained in one and only one object.
• An asset is in one to many asset-object relationships. Similarly, an object is in zero to many asset-object relationships. An example asset-object is a video showing an object at an installation.
• The entities object, installation, inscription and object-agent relationship has one to many rows. In practical terms, this means that all their rows have metada saved on the rows entity.
• A row contains one to many attributes. An attribute is in one and only one row.
• A verification verifies one and only one attribute. An attribute is verified by one and only one verification.
• A reference supports one to many verifications. A verification is supported by one to many references.

Optimizations

Per the typical queries in queries.sql, it is common for users of the database to view records of an object and its current installation. For that reason, indexes are created on the title, title_display and title_alt columns in the objects table to speed the identification of objects by those columns.

For that same reason, indexes are also created on the name, name_display and name_alt columns in the locations table.

Limitations

The current schema assumes that an attribute will only need one verification by one user. In other words, it assumes that the user who conducted the verification will have 100% accuracy. If verification requires double checking, then both the attribute-verification and verification-user relationships will have to be many-to-many.

The current schema also assumes that (spatially and/or temporally) separated or separable parts of a work of art (i.e., object) are in an inseparable relationship with each other. In other words, the database assumes all those parts to be an integral part of the object. They may have individual titles, but they do not have their own identify or function independently from the object. Thus, the schema cannot support an object made up of individual items which may be displayed separately in different settings or time by the artist.