Historical Archives of the Pontifical Gregorian University (APUG) own a complex and heterogeneous documental material: manuscripts, printed texts noted by author or teacher, sometimes considered hybrids printed-manuscript. The use of archival or library standards are not sufficient to express this complexity. In addition to represent the physical structure, state of conservation and restoration, it was necessary to bring out context and network of relationships among documents, agents, activities, places, events and periods to reconstruct the history of education, models, subjects taught and their evolution within the Roman College (Jesuits school) and influence in Europe and in the world. We present the problem, how it was solved and the methodology used to create an OWL ontology developed in a bottom-up approach: starting from the analysis of real data, using an iterative process, we have reached interoperability and alignment with international standards (CIDOC-CRM, EAC, EAD, EDM, FRBR-oo, etc.). Each class, property and instance is identified by URI to use as Linked Data.

1. An ontology for APUG: problem,
method and solution
APEx
Dublin, June 26-28, 2013
Damiana Luzzi, Lorenzo Mancini, Irene Pedretti

2. APUG
• Jesuit archives
• Educational material (theology, philosophy,
sciences …), ancient and modern (from 1551
to the present)  a unique heritage among
the European archives

3. Holdings
Annotationes Orationes Cicerone Pro Lege Manilia, XVII cent. (Fondo Curia 172, l. 63v-64r)

4. Holdings
Sforza Pallavicino, Logica, XVII cent.,
(APUG 389, l. IIIr)
Girolamo Nappi, Annali del Seminario
Romano, 1640 (APUG 2800, l. 1r)

5. Holdings
Leopold I to Athanasius Kircher, 6th August 1666 (APUG 555, 18r, 19v)

6. Holdings
Biblia. Novum
Testamentum. Epistolæ
Pauli, Epistola Iacobi,
Epistolæ Petri, Epistolæ
Iohannis, Epistola Iudae.
Apocalypsis, XVI cent.
(APUG 429, l. 117v)

7. Holdings
Orazio Grassi, Project for the façade of Saint Ignace church in Rome (Fondo Orazio Grassi, 118)

8. Holdings
Conclusiones polemicæ. Adversus protestantes utriusque communionis, 1717 (Fondo Tesi, 60)

9. Holdings
Pasquale D’Elia S.J. (1890-1963)
Fondo Collegio Romano
Giacomo Martina
S.J. (1924-2012)

10. Standard & Software
• ISAD (G)
• FRBR
• FRANAR, ISAAR etc.
• Each standard has its own software

11. The ontology
• Developed as a consequence of this complex
management
• Partnership between APUG and Fondazione
Rinascimento Digitale (FRD)
• Deep description of manuscripts
• Respects ISAD(G), FRBR etc.
• Original interpretation

12. The ontology
• RDF/XML
• Classes and subclasses
• Heredity of predicates
• Predicate: relation between two classes

13. LEVEL OF ARCHIVAL DESCRIPTION
Level of archival
description
has
Archival
history
Extent and
medium
Condition of
access
Acquisition
type
Sources Date
Actor in role Principal titleIdentifier
Creator Title
Reference
code
ISAD (G)
Other title
Not provided
Fond
Subfond
Subseries
File
Series

14. Actor in role has
Date
Role
Actor
XVI-XIX sec
creator
Jesuit. Roman
College
CREATOR / ACTOR

15. Principal
title
has date
sources
actor in role
1961
Internal
document on
Fondo Curia
acquisition
(1945)
Vincenzo Monachino SJ
(Archivist)
name Fondo Curia
PRINCIPAL TITLE / OTHER TITLE
place Jesuit Curia
Appellation
Actor Name
Name
Title
Place Name
Other title has
has
Type

16. Identifier has
Sources
Type
Actor in role
ISAD (G) / ISO
Reference
code
Historical Archives of the
Pontifical Gregorian University
Code
IT RM APUG.
Fondo Curia
IDENTIFIER

17. PERSPECTIVES
• From xml/rdf to OWL
• The APUG ontology will be open

18. CONTACTS
• You are invited to contact us for further
observations and questions at
• luzzi.d@gmail.com
• lorenzo.mancini172@gmail.com
• i.pedretti@unigre.it