Ways into the collection
Move between an individual instrument and broader relationships in the corpus.
| Research interest | Route into the Navigator |
|---|---|
| An instrument’s history | Read attributed events and compare specification accounts. |
| Builders and workshops | Follow supported actor relationships and inspect their evidence. |
| A stop name or technical term | Explore terminology in its original source context. |
| A regional question | Start with places, retaining coordinate qualifications. |
| A reproducible selection | Record the dataset version, query and complete selection. |
Cuntz · Worked example#
Which Cuntz are we describing?
A state describes an instrument at a particular phase; a configuration describes how its components are arranged and function together. Context limits where a statement applies.
Work through the example 3 STEPS
The thesis distinguishes the physical description of four registers and 180 pipes from an analyzed digital configuration with five register labels and 225 recordings. The published VAO also inventories 225 pipe entities.
Keep the descriptions attributed
Record the historical description, digital analysis configuration and published inventory with their respective sources. Their numbers concern different documented accounts.
Ask the state and counting question
Determine which phase, configuration and counting convention each account describes before comparing totals. A virtual register label is not by itself an additional original physical register.
Retain the unresolved mapping
The thesis identifies a missing mapping, particularly for Regal 8′. Keep that unresolved relation visible. A structured manifest records its inventory but does not independently settle the historical discrepancy.
BASIS FOR THIS EXAMPLE
- Cuntz Positiv · VAO 0.5.0-rc.2 ↗
Published manifest: identities, measurement observations, realization digests, profiles and rights. Exact examples checked against this release.
- Dominik Ukolov · Musikinstrumente im virtuellen Raum (2026)
Submitted dissertation, 11 September 2026; §§8.2.2.1 and 8.4.1, printed pp. 264–265 and 275–276. The historical description and digital inventory require a resolved mapping; the manuscript is not redistributed here.
- MODAVIS Ontology Network 0.1.0 ↗
Identity, state, configuration, evidence, assertions, context and provenance. Teaching examples explain its distinctions without inventing new normative properties.
This example does not assert that the organ underwent a particular rebuild or that an extra original register existed.
The useful distinction. A well-formed record can preserve disagreement accurately while the historical interpretation remains open.
Terminology in context
Different sources can use the same word differently, or different words for related concepts. The vocabulary hub connects source terminology and controlled references while keeping their roles distinguishable.
Three small investigations
The following are suggested research exercises, not claims of findings in the corpus. Their purpose is to show how the same interface can support different units of analysis.
| Exercise | Useful comparison | Question that remains open |
|---|---|---|
| Follow a workshop | Compare supported actor roles across a selected set of instruments. | Do matching names establish the same person or company? |
| Trace a specification | Compare attributed accounts of one instrument. | Are apparent differences dated changes, source conventions or unresolved conflict? |
| Follow a stop name | Inspect original spellings and their surrounding specification context. | Does a shared label imply comparable construction or sound? |
Make exclusions visible
A selection can look more consistent after uncertain records are removed. That can be appropriate for a bounded analysis, but the exclusion rule belongs in the method. Keep a separate count of records excluded because dates, roles or locations are unresolved. Otherwise the resulting map or chronology can imply a completeness the evidence does not support.
Source collections may also differ in focus. A catalogue of a particular builder, region or instrument type is not sampled in the same way as a broad inventory. When comparing groups, inspect source coverage before attributing a difference to the instruments themselves. A concentration of records can reflect documentation activity as well as historical activity.
Return from a term to its evidence
Use a controlled vocabulary to relate terms, then return to the original wording before drawing a substantive conclusion. A mapping can make records discoverable together while leaving the interpretation provisional. The OMARO notebook explains how a reference label, an attributed classification and a reviewed statement play different roles.
Turn an interesting pattern into a research question
A cluster of similar names, dates or map points is a useful starting observation. Before interpreting it, inspect representative records and ask whether the pattern follows instrument history, one source provider or a normalization choice. Keep the original labels and source attributions visible when comparing candidates. A shared workshop name needs identity review; a shared location needs a defined historical scope.
For a repeatable analysis, translate the exploratory question into an explicit cohort in a fixed dataset release. State what counts as one observation and which records are excluded. Return to the Navigator and source evidence to inspect exceptions rather than removing them solely because they complicate the chart.
Sources & further reading
- Pipe Organ Dataset 1.6.0
The fixed dataset release, methods and checksums.
- OMARO 0.1.0
Organological reference vocabulary.
- Pipe Organ Dataset 1.6.0
Public versioned corpus and distributions. Counts and coverage in these notebooks refer to this release.
- Dominik Ukolov · Musikinstrumente im virtuellen Raum (2026)
Dissertation submitted to Universität Leipzig, 11 September 2026. §8.3.2, pp. 271–272. Page numbers refer to the printed manuscript pagination. The manuscript is not distributed by this website.
Page editions 2026-09-r5 ↓
Read a fixed snapshot of this chapter, or return to the current notebook.
Edition 2026-09-r5 · SHA-256
85025fa9785cPage metadata ↗