Classes & Properties Declarations of CIDOC-CRM version: 4.2

This class comprises all things in the universe of discourse of the CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model.

It is an abstract concept providing for three general properties:

Identification by name or appellation

Classification by type, allowing further refinement of the specific subclass an instance belongs to

Attachment of free text for the expression of anything not captured by formal properties

With the exception of E59 Primitive Value, all other classes within the CRM are directly or indirectly specialisations of E1 CRM Entity.

• the earthquake in Lisbon 1755 (E5)

This class comprises all phenomena, such as the instances of E4 Periods, E5 Events and states, which happen over a limited extent in time.

In some contexts, these are also called perdurants. This class is disjoint from E77 Persistent Item. This is an abstract class and has no direct instances. E2 Temporal Entity is specialized into E4 Period, which applies to a particular geographic area (defined with a greater or lesser degree of precision), and E3 Condition State, which applies to instances of E18 Physical Thing.

• Bronze Age (E4)
• the earthquake in Lisbon 1755 (E5)
• the Peterhof Palace near Saint Petersburg being in ruins from 1944 – 1946 (E3)

This class comprises the states of objects characterised by a certain condition over a time-span.

It describes the prevailing physical condition of any material object or feature during a specific E52 Time Span.In general, the time-span for which a certain condition can be asserted may be shorter than the real time-span, for which this condition held.

The nature of that condition can be described using P2 has type. For example, the E3 Condition State “condition of the SS Great Britain between 22 September 1846 and 27 August 1847” can be characterized as E55 Type “wrecked”.

• the “Amber Room” in Tsarskoje Selo being completely reconstructed from summer 2003 until now
• the Peterhof Palace near Saint Petersburg being in ruins from 1944 – 1946
• the state of my turkey in the oven at 14:30 on 25 December, 2002 (P2 has type: E55 Type “still not cooked”)

This class comprises sets of coherent phenomena or cultural manifestations bounded in time and space.

It is the social or physical coherence of these phenomena that identify an E4 Period and not the associated spatio-temporal bounds. These bounds are a mere approximation of the actual process of growth, spread and retreat. Consequently, different periods can overlap and coexist in time and space, such as when a nomadic culture exists in the same area as a sedentary culture.

Typically this class is used to describe prehistoric or historic periods such as the “Neolithic Period”, the “Ming Dynasty” or the “McCarthy Era”. There are however no assumptions about the scale of the associated phenomena. In particular all events are seen as synthetic processes consisting of coherent phenomena. Therefore E4 Period is a superclass of E5 Event. For example, a modern clinical E67 Birth can be seen as both an atomic E5 Event and as an E4 Period that consists of multiple activities performed by multiple instances of E39 Actor.

Artistic style may be modeled as E4 Period. There are two different conceptualisations of ‘style’, defined either by physical features or by historical context. For example, “Impressionism” can be viewed as a period lasting from approximately 1870 to 1905 during which paintings with particular characteristics were produced by a group of artists that included (among others) Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Sisley and Degas. Alternatively, it can be regarded as a style applicable to all paintings sharing the characteristics of the works produced by the Impressionist painters, regardless of historical context. The first interpretation is consistent with E4 Period, and the second defines morphological object types that fall under E55 Type.

Another specific case of an E4 Period is the set of activities and phenomena associated with a settlement, such as the populated period of Nineveh.

• Jurassic
• European Bronze Age
• Italian Renaissance
• Thirty Years War
• Sturm und Drang
• Cubism

This class comprises changes of states in cultural, social or physical systems, regardless of scale, brought about by a series or group of coherent physical, cultural, technological or legal phenomena. Such changes of state will affect instances of E77 Persistent Item or its subclasses.

The distinction between an E5 Event and an E4 Period is partly a question of the scale of observation. Viewed at a coarse level of detail, an E5 Event is an ‘instantaneous’ change of state. At a fine level, the E5 Event can be analysed into its component phenomena within a space and time frame, and as such can be seen as an E4 Period. The reverse is not necessarily the case: not all instances of E4 Period give rise to a noteworthy change of state.

• the birth of Cleopatra (E67)
• the destruction of Lisbon by earthquake in 1755 (E6)
• World War II (E7)
• the Battle of Stalingrad (E7)
• the Yalta Conference (E7)
• my birthday celebration 28-6-1995 (E7)
• the falling of a tile from my roof last Sunday
• the CIDOC Conference 2003 (E7)

This class comprises events that destroy one or more instances of E18 Physical Thing such that they lose their identity as the subjects of documentation.

Some destruction events are intentional, while others are independent of human activity. Intentional destruction may be documented by classifying the event as both an E6 Destruction and E7 Activity.

The decision to document an object as destroyed, transformed or modified is context sensitive:

1. If the matter remaining from the destruction is not documented, the event is modelled solely as E6 Destruction.

2. An event should also be documented using E81 Transformation if it results in the destruction of one or more objects and the simultaneous production of others using parts or material from the original. In this case, the new items have separate identities. Matter is preserved, but identity is not.

3. When the initial identity of the changed instance of E18 Physical Thing is preserved, the event should be documented as E11 Modification.

• the destruction of Lisbon by earthquake in 1755
• the destruction of Nineveh (E6, E7)
• the breaking of a champagne glass yesterday by my dog
• the shooting of the last wolf (‘Canis lupus Linne, 1758’) of the Rhineland/Germany, in Birreskopf/Eifel 1860 (now Museum Alexander Koenig inventory no.: ZFMK 86.385) (E6, E7)

This class comprises actions intentionally carried out by instances of E39 Actor that result in changes of state in the cultural, social, or physical systems documented.

This notion includes complex, composite and long-lasting actions such as the building of a settlement or a war, as well as simple, short-lived actions such as the opening of a door.

• the Battle of Stalingrad
• the Yalta Conference
• my birthday celebration 28-6-1995
• the writing of “Faust” by Goethe (E65)
• the formation of the Bauhaus 1919 (E66)

This class comprises transfers of legal ownership from one or more instances of E39 Actor to one or more other instances of E39 Actor.

The class also applies to the establishment or loss of ownership of instances of E18 Physical Thing. It does not, however, imply changes of any other kinds of right. The recording of the donor and/or recipient is optional. It is possible that in an instance of E8 Acquisition there is either no donor or no recipient. Depending on the circumstances, it may describe:

the beginning of ownership

the end of ownership

the transfer of ownership

the acquisition from an unknown source

the loss of title due to destruction of the item

It may also describe events where a collector appropriates legal title, for example by annexation or field collection. The interpretation of the museum notion of "accession" differs between institutions. The CRM therefore models legal ownership (E8 Acquisition) and physical custody (E10 Transfer of Custody) separately. Institutions will then model their specific notions of accession and deaccession as combinations of these.

• the collection of a hammer-head shark of the genus Sphyrna (Carchariniformes) by John Steinbeck and Edward Ricketts at Puerto Escondido in the Gulf of Mexico on March 25th, 1940
• the acquisition of El Greco’s “The Apostles Peter and Paul” by the State Hermitage in Saint Petersburg
• the loss of my stuffed chaffinch ‘Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758’ due to insect damage last year

This class comprises changes of the physical location of the instances of E19 Physical Object.

Note, that the class E9 Move inherits the property P7 took place at (witnessed): E53 Place. This property should be used to describe the trajectory or a larger area within which a move takes place, whereas the properties P26 moved to (was destination of), P27 moved from (was origin of) describe the start and end points only. Moves may also be documented to consist of other moves (via P9 consists of (forms part of)), in order to describe intermediate stages on a trajectory. In that case, start and end points of the partial moves should match appropriately between each other and with the overall event.

• the relocation of London Bridge from the UK to the USA
• the movement of the exhibition “Treasures of Tutankhamun” 1976-1979

This class comprises transfers of physical custody of objects between instances of E39 Actor.

The recording of the donor and/or recipient is optional. It is possible that in an instance of E10 Transfer of Custody there is either no donor or no recipient. Depending on the circumstances it may describe:

the beginning of custody

the end of custody

the transfer of custody

the receipt of custody from an unknown source

the declared loss of an object

The distinction between the legal responsibility for custody and the actual physical possession of the object should be expressed using the property P2 has type (is type of). A specific case of transfer of custody is theft.

The interpretation of the museum notion of "accession" differs between institutions. The CRM therefore models legal ownership and physical custody separately. Institutions will then model their specific notions of accession and deaccession as combinations of these.

• the delivery of the paintings by Secure Deliveries Inc. to the National Gallery
• the return of Picasso’s “Guernica” to Madrid’s Prado in 1981

This class comprises all instances of E7 Activity that create, alter or change E24 Physical Man-Made Thing.

This class includes the production of an item from raw materials, and other so far undocumented objects, and the preventive treatment or restoration of an object for conservation.

Since the distinction between modification and production is not always clear, modification is regarded as the more generally applicable concept. This implies that some items may be consumed or destroyed in a Modification, and that others may be produced as a result of it. An event should also be documented using E81 Transformation if it results in the destruction of one or more objects and the simultaneous production of others using parts or material from the originals. In this case, the new items have separate identities.

If the instance of the E29 Design or Procedure utilised for the modification prescribes the use of specific materials, they should be documented using properties of the design or procedure, rather than via P126 employed (was employed in): E57 Material.

• the construction of the SS Great Britain (E12)
• the impregnation of the Vasa warship in Stockholm for preservation after 1956
• the transformation of the Enola Gay into a museum exhibit by the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC between 1993 and 1995 (E12, E81)
• the last renewal of the gold coating of the Toshogu shrine in Nikko, Japan

This class comprises activities that are designed to, and succeed in, creating one or more new items.

It specializes the notion of modification into production. The decision as to whether or not an object is regarded as new is context sensitive. Normally, items are considered “new” if there is no obvious overall similarity between them and the consumed items and material used in their production. In other cases, an item is considered “new” because it becomes relevant to documentation by a modification. For example, the scribbling of a name on a potsherd may make it a voting token. The original potsherd may not be worth documenting, in contrast to the inscribed one.

This entity can be collective: the printing of a thousand books, for example, would normally be considered a single event.

An event should also be documented using E81 Transformation if it results in the destruction of one or more objects and the simultaneous production of others using parts or material from the originals. In this case, the new items have separate identities and matter is preserved, but identity is not.

• the construction of the SS Great Britain
• the recasting of the Little Mermaid at the harbour of Copenhagen
• the seventh edition of Rembrandt’s etching “Woman sitting half dressed beside a stove”, 1658, Bartsch Number 197

This class comprises the actions of making assertions about properties of an object or any relation between two items or concepts.

This class allows the documentation of how the respective assignment came about, and whose opinion it was. All the attributes or properties assigned in such an action can also be seen as directly attached to the respective item or concept, possibly as a collection of contradictory values. All cases of properties in this model that are also described indirectly through an action are characterised as "short cuts" of this action. This redundant modelling of two alternative views is preferred because many implementations may have good reasons to model either the action or the short cut, and the relation between both alternatives can be captured by simple rules.

In particular, the class describes the actions of people making propositions and statements during certain museum procedures, e.g. the person and date when a condition statement was made, an identifier was assigned, the museum object was measured, etc. Which kinds of such assignments and statements need to be documented explicitly in structures of a schema rather than free text, depends on if this information should be accessible by structured queries.

• the assessment of the current ownership of Martin Doerr’s silver cup in February 1997

This class describes the act of assessing the state of preservation of an object during a particular period.

The condition assessment may be carried out by inspection, measurement or through historical research. This class is used to document circumstances of the respective assessment that may be relevant to interpret its quality at a later stage, or to continue research on related documents.

• last year’s inspection of humidity damage to the frescos in the St. George chapel in our village

This class comprises actions assigning or deassigning object identifiers.

• of such identifiers include Find Numbers and Inventory Numbers. Documenting the act of identifier assignment and deassignment is especially useful when objects change custody or the identification system of an organization is changed. In order to keep track of the identity of an object in such cases, it is important to document by whom, when and for what purpose an identifier is assigned to an object.
• replacement of the inventory number TA959a by GE34604 for a 17^th century lament cloth at the Museum Benaki, Athens

This class comprises actions measuring physical properties and other values that can be determined by a systematic procedure.

• include measuring the monetary value of a collection of coins or the running time of a specific video cassette.
• The E16 Measurement may use simple counting or tools, such as yardsticks or radiation detection devices. The interest is in the method and care applied, so that the reliability of the result may be judged at a later stage, or research continued on the associated documents. The date of the event is important for dimensions, which may change value over time, such as the length of an object subject to shrinkage. Details of methods and devices are best handled as free text, whereas basic techniques such as "carbon 14 dating" should be encoded using P2 has type (is type of:) E55 Type.
• measurement of height of silver cup 232 on the 31^st August 1997
• the carbon 14 dating of the “Schoeninger Speer II” in 1996 [an about 400.000 years old Palaeolithic complete wooden spear found in Schoeningen, Niedersachsen, Germany in 1995]

This class comprises the actions of classifying items of whatever kind. Such items include objects, specimens, people, actions and concepts.

This class allows for the documentation of the context of classification acts in cases where the value of the classification depends on the personal opinion of the classifier, and the date that the classification was made. This class also encompasses the notion of "determination," i.e. the systematic and molecular identification of a specimen in biology.

• the first classification of object GE34604 as Lament Cloth, October 2^nd
• the determination of a cactus in Martin Doerr’s garden as ‘Cereus hildmannianus K.Schumann’, July 2003

This class comprises all persistent physical items with a relatively stable form, man-made or natural.

Depending on the existence of natural boundaries of such things, the CRM distinguishes the instances of E19 Physical Object from instances of E26 Physical Feature, such as holes, rivers, pieces of land etc. Most instances of E19 Physical Object can be moved (if not too heavy), whereas features are integral to the surrounding matter.

The CRM is generally not concerned with amounts of matter in fluid or gaseous states.

• the Cullinan Diamond (E19)
• the cave “Ideon Andron” in Crete (E26)
• the Mona Lisa (E22)

This class comprises items of a material nature that are units for documentation and have physical boundaries that separate them completely in an objective way from other objects.

The class also includes all aggregates of objects made for functional purposes of whatever kind, independent of physical coherence, such as a set of chessmen. Typically, instances of E19 Physical Object can be moved (if not too heavy).

In some contexts, such objects, except for aggregates, are also called “bona fide objects” (Smith & Varzi, 2000, pp.401-420), i.e. naturally defined objects.

The decision as to what is documented as a complete item, rather than by its parts or components, may be a purely administrative decision or may be a result of the order in which the item was acquired.

• John Smith
• Aphrodite of Milos
• the Palace of Knossos
• the Cullinan Diamond
• Apollo 13 at the time of launch

This class comprises individual items of a material nature, which live, have lived or are natural products of or from living organisms.

Artificial objects that incorporate biological elements, such as Victorian butterfly frames, can be documented as both instances of E20 Biological Object and E22 Man-Made Object.

• me
• Tut-Ankh-Amun
• Boukephalas [Horse of Alexander the Great]
• petrified dinosaur excrement PA1906-344

This class comprises real persons who live or are assumed to have lived.

Legendary figures that may have existed, such as Ulysses and King Arthur, fall into this class if the documentation refers to them as historical figures. In cases where doubt exists as to whether several persons are in fact identical, multiple instances can be created and linked to indicate their relationship. The CRM does not propose a specific form to support reasoning about possible identity.

• Tut-Ankh-Amun
• Nelson Mandela

This class comprises physical objects purposely created by human activity.

No assumptions are made as to the extent of modification required to justify regarding an object as man-made. For example, an inscribed piece of rock or a preserved butterfly are both regarded as instances of E22 Man-Made Object.

• Mallard (the World’s fastest steam engine)
• the Portland Vase
• the Coliseum

This class comprises all persistent physical items that are purposely created by human activity.

This class comprises man-made objects, such as a swords, and man-made features, such as rock art. No assumptions are made as to the extent of modification required to justify regarding an object as man-made. For example, a “cup and ring” carving on bedrock is regarded as instance of E24 Physical Man-Made Thing.

• the Forth Railway Bridge (E22)
• the Channel Tunnel (E25)
• the Historical Collection of the Museum Benaki in Athens (E78)

This class comprises physical features that are purposely created by human activity, such as scratches, artificial caves, artificial water channels, etc.

No assumptions are made as to the extent of modification required to justify regarding a feature as man-made. For example, rock art or even “cup and ring” carvings on bedrock a regarded as types of E25 Man-Made Feature.

• the Manchester Ship Canal
• Michael Jackson’s nose following plastic surgery

This class comprises identifiable features that are physically attached in an integral way to particular physical objects.

Instances of E26 Physical Feature share many of the attributes of instances of E19 Physical Object. They may have a one-, two- or three-dimensional geometric extent, but there are no natural borders that separate them completely in an objective way from the carrier objects. For example, a doorway is a feature but the door itself, being attached by hinges, is not.

Instances of E26 Physical Feature can be features in a narrower sense, such as scratches, holes, reliefs, surface colours, reflection zones in an opal crystal or a density change in a piece of wood. In the wider sense, they are portions of particular objects with partially imaginary borders, such as the core of the Earth, an area of property on the surface of the Earth, a landscape or the head of a contiguous marble statue. They can be measured and dated, and it is sometimes possible to state who or what is or was responsible for them. They cannot be separated from the carrier object, but a segment of the carrier object may be identified (or sometimes removed) carrying the complete feature.

This definition coincides with the definition of "fiat objects" (Smith & Varzi, 2000, pp.401-420), with the exception of aggregates of “bona fide objects”.

• the temple in Abu Simbel before its removal, which was carved out of solid rock
• Albrecht Duerer's signature on his painting of Charles the Great
• the damage to the nose of the Great Sphinx in Giza
• Michael Jackson’s nose prior to plastic surgery

This class comprises pieces of land or sea floor.

In contrast to the purely geometric notion of E53 Place, this class describes constellations of matter on the surface of the Earth or other celestial body, which can be represented by photographs, paintings and maps.

Instances of E27 Site are composed of relatively immobile material items and features in a particular configuration at a particular location.

• the Amazon river basin
• Knossos
• the Apollo 11 landing site
• Heathrow Airport
• the submerged harbour of the Minoan settlement of Gournia, Crete

This class comprises non-material products of our minds, in order to allow for reasoning about their identity, circumstances of creation and historical implications.

Characteristically, instances of this class are created, invented or thought by someone, and then may be documented or communicated between persons. Instances of E28 Conceptual Object may be found on more than one particular carrier, such as papers, electronic signals, marks, audio media, paintings, photos, human memories, etc.

They cannot be destroyed as long as they exist on at least one carrier or in memory.

Their existence ends when the last carrier is lost. A greater distinction can be made between products having a clear identity, such as a specific text, or photographs, and the ideas and concepts shared and traded by groups of people.

• Beethoven’s “Ode an die Freude” (Ode to Joy), (E73)
• the definition of “ontology” in the Oxford English Dictionary
• the knowledge about the victory at Marathon carried by the famous runner

This class comprises documented plans for the execution of actions in order to achieve a result of a specific quality, form or contents. In particular it comprises plans for deliberate human activities that result in the modification or production of instances of E24 Physical Thing.

Instances of E29 Design or Procedure can be structured in parts and sequences or depend on others. This is modelled using P69 is associated with.

Designs or procedures can be seen as one of the following:

A schema for the activities it describes

A schema of the products that result from their application.

An independent intellectual product that may have never been applied, such as Leonardo da Vinci’s famous plans for flying machines.

Because designs or procedures may never be applied or only partially executed, the CRM models a loose relationship between the plan and the respective product.

• the ISO standardisation procedure
• the musical notation for Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”
• the architectural drawings for the Kölner Dom in Cologne, Germany
• folio 860 of the Codex Atlanticus from Leonardo da Vinci, 1486-1490, kept in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan

This class comprises legal privileges concerning material and immaterial things or their derivatives.

These include reproduction and property rights.

• copyright held by ISO on ISO/CD 21127
• ownership of the “Mona Lisa” by the Louvre

This class comprises identifiable immaterial items that make propositions about reality.

These propositions may be expressed in text, graphics, images, audiograms, videograms or by other similar means. Documentation databases are regarded as a special case of E31 Document. This class should not be confused with the term “document” in Information Technology, which is compatible with E73 Information Object.

• the Encyclopaedia Britannica (E32)
• the photo of the Allied Leaders at Yalta published by UPI, 1945
• the Doomsday Book

This class comprises encyclopaedia, thesauri, authority lists and other documents that define terminology or conceptual systems for consistent use.

• Webster's Dictionary
• Getty Art and Architecture Thesaurus
• the CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model

This class comprises identifiable expressions in natural language or languages.

Instances of E33 Linguistic Object can be expressed in many ways: e.g. as written texts, recorded speech or sign language. However, the CRM treats instances of E33 Linguistic Object independently from the medium or method by which they are expressed. Expressions in formal languages, such as computer code or mathematical formulae, are not treated as instances of E33 Linguistic Object by the CRM. These should be modelled as instances of E73 Information Object.

• the text of the Ellesmere Chaucer manuscript
• the lyrics of the song "Blue Suede Shoes"
• the text of the Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll
• the text of "Doktoro Jekyll kaj Sinjoro Hyde" (an Esperanto translation of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde)

This class comprises recognisable, short texts attached to instances of E24 Physical Man-Made Thing.

The transcription of the text can be documented in a note by P3 has note: E62 String. The alphabet used can be documented by P2 has type: E55 Type. This class does not intend to describe the idiosyncratic characteristics of an individual physical embodiment of an inscription, but the underlying prototype. The physical embodiment is modelled in the CRM as E24 Physical Man-Made Thing.

The relationship of a physical copy of a book to the text it contains is modelled using E84 Information Carrier. P128 carries (is carried by): E33 Linguistic Object.

• “keep off the grass” on a sign stuck in the lawn of the quad of Balliol College
• The text published in Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum V 895
• Kilroy was here

This class comprises the names assigned to works, such as texts, artworks or pieces of music.

Titles are proper noun phrases or verbal phrases, and should not be confused with generic object names such as “chair”, “painting” or “book” (the latter are common nouns and are modelled in the CRM as instances of E55 Type). Titles may be assigned by the creator of the work itself, or by a social group.

This class also comprises the translations of titles that are used as surrogates for the original titles in different social contexts.

• The Merchant of Venice
• Mona Lisa
• La Pie or The Magpie
• Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

This class comprises the intellectual or conceptual aspects of recognisable marks and images.

This class does not intend to describe the idiosyncratic characteristics of an individual physical embodiment of a visual item, but the underlying prototype. For example, a mark such as the ICOM logo is generally considered to be the same logo when used on any number of publications. The size, orientation and colour may change, but the logo remains uniquely identifiable. The same is true of images that are reproduced many times. This means that visual items are independent of their physical support.

The class E36 Visual Item provides a means of identifying and linking together instances of E24 Physical Man-Made Thing that carry the same visual symbols, marks or images etc. The property P62 depicts (is depicted by) between E24 Physical Man-Made Thing and depicted subjects (E1 CRM Entity) can be regarded as a short-cut of the more fully developed path from E24 Physical Man-Made Thing through P65 shows visual item (is shown by), E36 Visual Item, P138 represents (has representation) to E1CRM Entity, which in addition captures the optical features of the depiction.

• the visual appearance of Monet’s “La Pie” (E38)
• the Coca-Cola logo (E34)
• the Chi-Rho (E37)
• the communist red star (E37)

This class comprises symbols, signs, signatures or short texts applied to instances of E24 Physical Man-Made Thing by arbitrary techniques in order to indicate the creator, owner, dedications, purpose, etc.

This class specifically excludes features that have no semantic significance, such as scratches or tool marks. These should be documented as instances of E25 Man-Made Feature.

• Minoan double axe mark
• ©

This class comprises distributions of form, tone and colour that may be found on surfaces such as photos, paintings, prints and sculptures or directly on electronic media.

The degree to which variations in the distribution of form and colour affect the identity of an instance of E38 Image depends on a given purpose. The original painting of the Mona Lisa in the Louvre may be said to bear the same instance of E38 Image as reproductions in the form of transparencies, postcards, posters or T-shirts, even though they may differ in size and carrier and may vary in tone and colour. The images in a “spot the difference” competition are not the same with respect to their context, however similar they may at first appear.

• the front side of all 20 Swiss Frs notes
• the image depicted on all reproductions of the Mona Lisa

This class comprises people, either individually or in groups, who have the potential to perform intentional actions for which they can be held responsible.

The CRM does not attempt to model the inadvertent actions of such actors. Individual people should be documented as instances of E21 Person, whereas groups should be documented as instances of either E74 Group or its subclass E40 Legal Body.

• London and Continental Railways (E40)
• the Governor of the Bank of England in 1975 (E21)
• Sir Ian McKellan (E21)

This class comprises institutions or groups of people that have obtained a legal recognition as a group and can act collectively as agents.

This means that they can perform actions, own property, create or destroy things and can be held collectively responsible for their actions like individual people. The term 'personne morale' is often used for this in French.

• Greenpeace
• Paveprime Ltd
• the National Museum of Denmark

This class comprises all proper names, words, phrases or codes, either meaningful or not, that are used or can be used to identify a specific instance of some class within a certain context.

Instances of E41 Appellation do not identify objects by their meaning but by convention, tradition or agreement. From an implementation point of view, the class E41 Appellation is unlike most others, whose instances in a database can be considered as surrogates or references to real-world entities, in that each instance is nothing other than the E41 Appellation itself, i.e. the instance of E41 Appellation “Martin” is nothing other than the name “Martin” which should not be confused with any instance of E21 Person or persons called Martin.

Specific subclasses of E41 Appellation should be used when instances of E41 Appellation of a characteristic form are used for particular kinds of items. Instances of E49 Time Appellation, for example, which take the form of instances of E50 Date, can be easily recognised.

E41 Appellation should not be confused with the act of naming something. cf. E15 Identifier Assignment

• Martin
• the Forth Bridge
• the Merchant of Venice (E35)

This class comprises codes assigned to objects in order to identify them uniquely within the context of one or more organisations.

Such codes are often known as inventory numbers, registration codes, etc. and are typically composed of alphanumeric sequences. The class E42 Object Identifier is not normally used for machine-generated identifiers used for automated processing unless these are also used by human agents.

• MM.GE.195
• 13.45.1976
• DPS_1000
• OXCMS: 1997.4.1

This class comprises any sort of identifier characteristically used to refer to an E53 Place.

Instances of E44 Place Appellation may vary in their degree of precision and their meaning may vary over time - the same instance of E44 Place Appellation may be used to refer to several places, either because of cultural shifts, or because objects used as reference points have moved around. Instances of E44 Place Appellation can be extremely varied in form: postal addresses, instances of E47 Spatial Coordinate, and parts of buildings can all be considered as instances of E44 Place Appellation.

• Vienna
• CH-1211, Genève
• Aquae Sulis Minerva
• Bath
• Cambridge
• the Other Place
• the City

This class comprises identifiers expressed in coding systems for places, such as postal addresses used for mailing.

An E45 Address can be considered both as the name of an E53 Place and as an E51 Contact Point for an E39 Actor. This dual aspect is reflected in the multiple inheritance. However, some forms of mailing addresses, such as a postal box, are only instances of E51 Contact Point, since they do not identify any particular Place. These should not be documented as instances of E45 Address.

• 1-29-3 Otsuka, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 121, Japan
• Rue David Dufour 5, CH-1211, Genève

This class comprises areas of objects referred to in terms specific to the general geometry or structure of its kind.

The 'prow' of the boat, the 'frame' of the picture, the 'front' of the building are all instances of E46 Section Definition. The class highlights the fact that parts of objects can be treated as locations. This holds in particular for features without natural boundaries, such as the “head” of a marble statue made out of one block (cf. E53 Place). In answer to the question 'where is the signature?' one might reply 'on the lower left corner'. (Section Definition is closely related to the term “segment” in Gerstl, P.& Pribbenow, S, 1996 “ A conceptual theory of part – whole relations and its applications”, Data & Knowledge Engineering 20 305-322, North Holland- Elsevier ).

• the entrance lobby to the Ripley Center
• the poop deck of H.M.S Victory
• the Venus de Milo’s left buttock
• left inner side of my box

This class comprises the textual or numeric information required to locate specific instances of E53 Place within schemes of spatial identification.

Coordinates are a specific form of E44 Place Appellation, that is, a means of referring to a particular E53 Place. Coordinates are not restricted to longitude, latitude and altitude. Any regular system of reference that maps onto an E19 Physical Object can be used to generate coordinates.

• 6°5’29”N 45°12’13”W
• Black queen’s bishop 4 [chess coordinate]

This class comprises particular and common forms of E44 Place Appellation.

Place Names may change their application over time: the name of an E53 Place may change, and a name may be reused for a different E53 Place. Instances of E48 Place Name are typically subject to place name gazetteers.

• Greece
• Athens
• Geneva
• Lac Léman

This class comprises all forms of names or codes, such as historical periods, and dates, which are characteristically used to refer to a specific E52 Time-Span.

The instances of E49 Time Appellation may vary in their degree of precision, and they may be relative to other time frames, “Before Christ” for example. Instances of E52 Time-Span are often defined by reference to a cultural period or an event e.g. ‘the duration of the Ming Dynasty’.

• Meiji [Japanese term for a specific time-span]
• 1^st half of the XX century
• Quaternary
• 1215 Hegira [a date in the Islamic calendar]
• Last century

This class comprises specific forms of E49 Time Appellation.

Dates may vary in their degree of precision.

• 1900
• 4-4-1959
• 19-MAR-1922
• 19640604

This class comprises identifiers used to communicate with instances of E39 Actor.

These include E-mail addresses, telephone numbers, post office boxes, Fax numbers, etc. Most postal addresses can be considered both as instances of E44 Place Appellation and E51 Contact Point. The E45 Address subclass should be used in such cases.

• +41 22 418 5571
• weasel@paveprime.com

This class comprises abstract temporal extents, in the sense of Galilean physics, having a beginning, an end and a duration.

Time Span has no other semantic connotations. Time-Spans are used to define the temporal extent of instances of E4 Period, E5 Event and any other phenomena valid for a certain time. An E52 Time-Span may be identified by one or more instances of E49 Time Appellation.

Since our knowledge of history is imperfect, instances of E52 Time-Span can best be considered as approximations of the actual Time-Spans of temporal entities. The properties of E52 Time-Span are intended to allow these approximations to be expressed precisely. An extreme case of approximation, might, for example, define an E52 Time-Span having unknown beginning, end and duration. Used as a common E52 Time-Span for two events, it would nevertheless define them as being simultaneous, even if nothing else was known.

Automatic processing and querying of instances of E52 Time-Span is facilitated if data can be parsed into an E61 Time Primitive.

• 1961
• From 12-17-1993 to 12-8-1996
• 14h30 – 16h22 4^th July 1945
• 9.30 am 1.1.1999 to 2.00 pm 1.1.1999
• duration of the Ming Dynasty

This class comprises extents in space, in particular on the surface of the earth, in the pure sense of physics: independent from temporal phenomena and matter.

The instances of E53 Place are usually determined by reference to the position of “immobile” objects such as buildings, cities, mountains, rivers, or dedicated geodetic marks. A Place can be determined by combining a frame of reference and a location with respect to this frame. It may be identified by one or more instances of E44 Place Appellation.

It is sometimes argued that instances of E53 Place are best identified by global coordinates or absolute reference systems. However, relative references are often more relevant in the context of cultural documentation and tend to be more precise. In particular, we are often interested in position in relation to large, mobile objects, such as ships. For example, the Place at which Nelson died is known with reference to a large mobile object – H.M.S Victory. A resolution of this Place in terms of absolute coordinates would require knowledge of the movements of the vessel and the precise time of death, either of which may be revised, and the result would lack historical and cultural relevance.

Any object can serve as a frame of reference for E53 Place determination. The model foresees the notion of a "section" of an E19 Physical Object as a valid E53 Place determination.

• the extent of the UK in the year 2003
• the position of the hallmark on the inside of my wedding ring
• the place referred to in the phrase: “Fish collected at three miles north of the confluence of the Arve and the Rhone”
• here -> <-

This class comprises quantifiable properties that are measured by some calibrated means and can be approximated by numerical values.

An instance of E54 Dimension is thought to be the true quantity, independent from its numerical approximation, e.g. in inches or in cm. The properties of the class E54 Dimension allow for expressing the numerical approximation. It is recommended to record all numerical approximations of instances of E54 Dimension as intervals of indeterminacy. Numerical approximations in archaic instances of E58 Measurement Unit used in historical records should be preserved. Equivalents corresponding to current knowledge should be recorded as additional instances of E54 Dimension as appropriate.

• currency: £26.00
• length: 3.9-4.1 cm
• diameter 26 mm
• weight 150 lbs
• density: 0.85 gm/cc
• luminescence: 56 ISO lumens
• tin content: 0.46 %
• taille au garot: 5 hands
• calibrated C14 date: 2460-2720 years, etc

This class comprises arbitrary concepts (universals) and provides a mechanism for organising them into a hierarchy.

This hierarchy is intended to duplicate the names of all the classes present in the model. This allows additional refinement, through subtyping, of those classes which do not require further analysis of their formal properties, but which nonetheless represent typological distinctions important to a given user group.

It should be noted that the Model does not make the distinction between classes and types known from some knowledge representation systems and object-oriented programming languages. The class E55 Type can be regarded as a metaclass (a class whose instances are universals), used to denote a user-defined specialization of some class or property of the Model, without introducing any additional formal properties for this specialization.

It reflects the characteristic use of the term “object type” for naming data fields in museum documentation and particularly the notion of typology in archaeology. It has however nothing to do with the term “type” in Natural History (cf. E83 Type Creation), but it includes the notion of a “taxon”.

Ideally, instances of the class E55 Type should be organised into thesauri, with scope notes, illustrations, etc. to clarify their meaning. In general, it is expected that different domains and cultural groups will develop different thesauri in parallel. Consistent reasoning on the expansion of subterms used in a thesaurus is possible insofar as it conforms to both the classes and the hierarchies of the model.

E56 Language, E57 Material and E58 Measurement Unit have been defined explicitly as elements of the E55 Type hierarchy because they are used categorically in the model without reference to instances of them, i.e. the Model does not foresee the description of instances of instances of them, e.g., the property instance “P45 consists of : gold” does not refer to a particular instance of gold.

• weight, length, depth [types of E54 Dimension]
• portrait, sketch, animation [types of E38 image]
• French, English, German [E56]
• excellent, good, poor [types of E3 Condition State]
• Ford Model T, chop stick [types of E22 Man-Made Object]
• cave, doline, scratch [types of E26 Physical Feature]
• poem, short story [types of E33 Linguistic Object]
• wedding, earthquake, skirmish [types of E5 Event]

This class is a specialization of E55 Type and comprises the natural languages in the sense of concepts.

This type is used categorically in the model without reference to instances of it, i.e. the Model does not foresee the description of instances of instances of E56 Language, e.g.: “instances of Mandarin Chinese”.

It is recommended that internationally or nationally agreed codes and terminology are used to denote instances of E56 Language, such as those defined in ISO 639:1988.

• el [Greek]
• en [English]
• eo [Esperanto]
• es [Spanish]
• fr [French]

This class is a specialization of E55 Type and comprises the concepts of materials.

Instances of E57 Material may denote properties of matter before its use, during its use, and as incorporated in an object, such as ultramarine powder, tempera paste, reinforced concrete. Discrete pieces of raw-materials kept in museums, such as bricks, sheets of fabric, pieces of metal, should be modelled individually in the same way as other objects. Discrete used or processed pieces, such as the stones from Nefer Titi's temple, should be modelled as parts (cf. P46 is composed of).

This type is used categorically in the model without reference to instances of it, i.e. the Model does not foresee the description of instances of instances of E57 Material, e.g.: “instances of gold”.

It is recommended that internationally or nationally agreed codes and terminology are used.

• brick
• gold
• aluminium
• polycarbonate
• resin

This class is a specialization of E55 Type and comprises the types of measurement units: feet, inches, centimetres, litres, lumens, etc.

This type is used categorically in the model without reference to instances of it, i.e. the Model does not foresee the description of instances of instances of E58 Measurement Unit, e.g.: “instances of cm”.

Système International (SI) units or internationally recognized non-SI terms should be used whenever possible. (ISO 1000:1992). Archaic Measurement Units used in historical records should be preserved.

• cm [centimetre]
• km [kilometre]
• m [meter]
• m/s [meters per second]
• A [Ampere]
• GRD [Greek Drachme]
• C [degrees centigrade]

This class comprises primitive values used as documentation elements, which are not further elaborated upon within the model.

As such they are not considered as elements within our universe of discourse. No specific implementation recommendations are made.

• ABCDEFG
• 3.14
• 0
• 1921-01-01

This class comprises any encoding of computable (algebraic) values such as integers, real numbers, complex numbers, vectors, tensors etc., including intervals of these values to express limited precision.

Numbers are fundamentally distinct from identifiers in continua, such as instances of E50 Date and E47 Spatial Coordinate, even though their encoding may be similar. Instances of E60 Number can be combined with each other in algebraic operations to yield other instances of E60 Number, e.g., 1+1=2. Identifiers in continua may be combined with numbers expressing distances to yield new identifiers, e.g., 1924-01-31 + 2 days = 1924-02-02. Cf. E54 Dimension

• 5
• 3+2i
• 1.5e-04
• (0.5, - 0.7,88)

This class comprises instances of E59 Primitive Value for time that should be implemented with appropriate validation, precision and interval logic to express date ranges relevant to cultural documentation.

E61 Time Primitive is not further elaborated upon within the model.

• 1994 – 1997
• 13 May 1768
• 2000/01/01 00:00:59.7
• 85^th century BC

This class comprises the instances of E59 Primitive Values used for documentation such as free text strings, bitmaps, vector graphics, etc.

E62 String is not further elaborated upon within the model

• the Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog
• 6F 6E 54 79 70 31 0D 9E

This class comprises events that bring into existence any E77 Persistent Item.

It may be used for temporal reasoning about things (intellectual products, physical items, groups of people, living beings) beginning to exist; it serves as a hook for determination of a terminus postquem and antequem.

• the birth of my child
• the birth of Snoopy, my dog
• the calving of the iceberg that sank the Titanic
• the construction of the Eiffel Tower

This class comprises events that end the existence of any E77 Persistent Item.

It may be used for temporal reasoning about things (physical items, groups of people, living beings) ceasing to exist; it serves as a hook for determination of a terminus postquem and antequem. In cases where substance from a Persistent Item continues to exist in a new form, the process would be documented by E81 Transformation.

• the death of Snoopy, my dog
• the melting of the snowman
• the burning of the Temple of Artemis in Ephesos by Herostratos in 356BC

This class comprises events that result in the creation of conceptual items or immaterial products, such as legends, poems, texts, music, images, movies, laws, types etc.

• the framing of the U.S. Constitution
• the drafting of U.N. resolution 1441

This class comprises events that result in the formation of a formal or informal E74 Group of people, such as a club, society, association, corporation or nation.

E66 Formation does not include the arbitrary aggregation of people who do not act as a collective.

• the formation of the CIDOC CRM Special Interest Group
• the formation of the Soviet Union
• the conspiring of the murderers of Caesar

This class comprises the birth of a human beings.

E67 Birth is a biological event focussing on the context of people coming into life.

(E63 Beginning of Existence comprises the coming into life of any living beings).

Twins, triplets etc. are brought into life by the same E67 Birth event. The introduction of the E67 Birth event as a documentation element allows the description of a range of family relationships in a simple model. Suitable extensions may describe more details and the complexity of motherhood with the intervention of modern medicine. In this model, the biological father is not seen as a necessary participant in the E67 Birth event.

• the birth of Alexander the Great

This class comprises the events that result in the formal or informal termination of an E74 Group of people.

If the dissolution was deliberate, the Dissolution event should also be instantiated as an E7 Activity.

• the fall of the Roman Empire
• the liquidation of Enron Corporation

This class comprises the deaths of human beings.

If a person is killed, their death should be instantiated as E69 Death and as E7 Activity. The death or perishing of other living beings should be documented using E64 End of Existence.

• the murder of Julius Caesar (E69,E7)
• the death of Senator Paul Wellstone

This general class comprises usable discrete, identifiable, instances of E77 Persistent Item that are documented as single units.

They can be either intellectual products or physical things, and are characterized by relative stability. They may for instance either have a solid physical form, an electronic encoding, or they may be logical concept or structure.

• my photograph collection (E78)
• the pint of milk in my refrigerator
• the plan of the Stassburger Muenster
• the thing on the top of Otto Hahn’s desk
• the design of the no-smoking sign (E29)
• the cave of Dirou, Mani, Greece (E27)

This class comprises discrete, identifiable man-made items that are documented as single units.

These items are either intellectual products or man-made physical things, and are characterized by relative stability. They may for instance have a solid physical form, an electronic encoding, or they may be logical concepts or structures.

• Beethoven’s 5^th Symphony (E73)
• Michelangelo’s David
• Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity (E73)
• the taxon ‘Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus,1758’ (E55)

This class comprises those material or immaterial items to which instances of E30 Right, such as the right of ownership or use, can be applied.

This is true for all E18 Physical Thing. In the case of instances of E28 Conceptual Object, however, the identity of the E28 Conceptual Object or the method of its use may be too ambiguous to reliably establish instances of E30 Right, as in the case of taxa and inspirations. Ownership of corporations is currently regarded as out of scope of the CRM.