Wikidata:Property proposal/HAND ID
HAND ID
[edit]Originally proposed at Wikidata:Property proposal/Authority control
Motivation
[edit]This proposal requests a new external identifier property, HAND ID, for identifiers assigned to people in the HAND Talent ID registry. HAND, short for Human and Digital, is a talent identity registry that assigns persistent, publicly resolvable identifiers minted under the DOI system (ISO 26324), using the DOI prefix 10.23, to person records, and is built around what HAND calls Citation Backed Notability, a model in which each identifier is supported by verifiable, source-backed evidence of the person's public identity rather than by self-submitted profile text alone.
The scope of this proposal is limited to human persons. HAND's broader registry also covers licensed virtual counterparts of real people and fictional characters, but those categories are outside the scope of this property proposal. The proposed property is intended to record, for a Wikidata item about a human, the corresponding identifier for that person in the HAND registry.
Six prepared Mix'n'Match catalogs already contain 23,735 reconciled people, spanning sports, television, and music. This demonstrates substantial real-world applicability at launch. This is drawn from a live registry of 207,499 Type-01 Human records (approximately 208,946 HAND IDs in total), confirmed by public DOIP enumeration in July 2026.
What the property identifies
[edit]HAND ID identifies a person record in the HAND Talent ID registry. It is not a generic profile link. It is a structured, DOI-based identifier assigned to a specific record in a maintained registry, and each record resolves publicly to a stable page describing that person.
HAND, issued by HAND - The Universal Talent Identifier (Q138188575), presents the registry as a neutral, verifiable, and persistent identity layer for notable people across performing arts and sports, comparable in function to other curated registries already represented in Wikidata through dedicated external identifier properties, such as EIDR content ID (P2704).
For the purpose of this proposal, the relevant subject type is human (Q5). Records for licensed virtual replicas and fictional characters are explicitly outside the scope of this property and are not part of the reconciliation evidence supporting it.
Motivation for a dedicated property
[edit]A dedicated external identifier property is the appropriate model for HAND ID for the same reasons dedicated properties exist for other curated identity registries already present on Wikidata.
- HAND identifiers are structured and persistent, not ordinary page URLs.
- They belong to a maintained registry, not a loose set of web pages.
- They already support large-scale reconciliation through Mix'n'Match.
- A dedicated property enables validation, querying, auditing, and maintenance as structured data.
This makes the property more suitable than using described at URL (P973) on a case-by-case basis.
The DOI-based structure is technically useful, but it is not the primary justification. The stronger rationale is that HAND already overlaps significantly with Wikidata's coverage of notable people, has demonstrated matching at scale, and applies a stated admission standard rather than relying on self-reported claims.
HAND's published standard, Citation Backed Notability, requires multiple independent citations and explicitly excludes follower counts, purchased verifications, and self-submitted claims as sufficient evidence.
Scope
[edit]This proposal is intentionally limited to humans. Although HAND may cover additional entity types in its broader registry, any future identifiers for virtual talent or fictional characters would need separate proposals and separate evaluation.
The current evidence base, example statements, and supporting Mix'n'Match catalogs all concern real people, so the proposed property is framed accordingly as a person identifier.
Expected use
[edit]Six Mix'n'Match catalogs have already been prepared from HAND's registry, matching a combined total of 23,735 people to Wikidata items across sports, television, and music.
The high match rate in these catalogs reflects the reconciliation method used to prepare them, not the scope of what a HAND record contains. Each matched record supplies substantially more than the Wikidata identifier used to make the match: a HAND ID resolves persistently to a Citation Backed Notability record, carries its own set of cross-referenced alternate identifiers, and remains independently resolvable through DOI infrastructure regardless of whether the corresponding Wikidata item is later merged, renamed, or restructured. The Wikidata identifier is the key used for matching; the HAND record is the payload the property would add.
The reconciled catalogs are also a small fraction of the live registry. As of the July reconciliation, public DOIP enumeration of the HAND registry showed 207,499 Type-01 Human records, for a total of approximately 208,946 live HAND IDs across all record types. The 23,735 people reconciled so far represent the subset that has been matched to Wikidata to date, not the ceiling of expected use; the remaining registry population is the basis for continued catalog growth after property approval.
| Catalog | Mix'n'Match catalog ID | Matched people | Domain |
|---|---|---|---|
| NBA Players | 8019 | 59 | Sports |
| MLB Players | 8021 | 30 | Sports |
| Emmy Nominees | 8022 | 91 | Television |
| TVDB People | 8023 | 1,240 | Television |
| Media Figures with Football Backgrounds | 8024 | 95 | Media/Sports crossover |
| Music Artists | 8026 | 22,220 | Music |
Note: the catalog labeled "Media Figures with Football Backgrounds" in Mix'n'Match's system in fact comprises media and public figures (journalists, presenters, etc.) who share a documented history of having played football, rather than current professional athletes.
The total exceeds the usual expectation of realistic import or Mix'n'Match usage in support of a new external identifier property. The Music Artists catalog accounts for the large majority of matched records (roughly 94%), but the remaining five catalogs still independently demonstrate reconciliation across sports and television, so coverage is not limited to a single dataset even setting Music aside.
Identifier format
[edit]Every example supplied for this proposal follows the same observed pattern: a fixed prefix of 10.23, followed by a slash, then five groups of four uppercase alphanumeric characters separated by hyphens.
Example format:
A744-A8B7-C6DE-F699-DA12
Proposed validation pattern:
[A-Z0-9]{4}(?:-[A-Z0-9]{4}){4}
The proposed regular expression matches all examples currently drawn from the prepared Mix'n'Match catalogs.
Formatter URL
[edit]The proposed formatter URL is https://doi.org/10.23/$1.
Substituting an identifier resolves the record through the DOI proxy. For example:
https://doi.org/10.23/C3DD-7339-9F3C-9684-6473
HAND identifiers resolve equivalently through the Handle System at https://hdl.handle.net/10.23/$1; both resolvers route through the same underlying Handle infrastructure. The DOI proxy is proposed as the formatter because it is the conventional resolver for DOI-based identifier properties on Wikidata, performs server-side resolution independent of JavaScript execution, and handles the embedded forward slash in the identifier correctly. The interactive registry interface at https://registry.hand-id.org/#objects/$1, which is the URL referenced as supporting evidence in the Mix'n'Match catalogs submitted with this proposal, remains available for browsing but uses client-side routing and is not proposed as the formatter URL.
Example statements
[edit]The following examples (also available in the infobox) illustrate the intended use of the property across multiple domains.
| Wikidata item | Person | HAND ID | Source catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q362616 | Jon Bernthal | C3DD-7339-9F3C-9684-6473 | Emmy Nominees |
| Q511554 | Anthony Mackie | 108B-E692-5F9F-5407-90FC | Emmy Nominees |
| Q115492038 | Cooper Flagg | 3F89-688F-D0D1-EC01-D6EC | NBA Players |
| Q135264767 | Eli Willits | AC3C-8A4C-8167-20B1-1420 | MLB Players |
| Q2477183 | T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh | ED56-6D76-F6A7-1032-9042 | TVDB People |
| Q1746878 | Michael Steinbrecher | 44E2-CF17-78EA-E921-71CC | Media Figures with Football Backgrounds |
| Q58125755 | Masami Akita | 8B40-638C-AE56-CAD9-C36C | Music Artists |
Proposed constraints
[edit]- Format constraint: based on
[A-Z0-9]{4}(?:-[A-Z0-9]{4}){4} - Distinct values constraint: expected to be appropriate because each HAND identifier is intended to represent one unique person
- Type constraint: restrict usage to items that are instances of human (Q5)
- Single value constraint: should be considered later only if registry practice confirms that a person cannot legitimately hold more than one HAND identifier
Proposed metadata after creation
[edit]If the property is approved, the following statements are intended to be added to the property itself:
- instance of Wikidata property for an identifier
- formatter URL:
https://doi.org/10.23/$1 - source website for the property pointing to the HAND registry website
- format as a regular expression:
[A-Z0-9]{4}(?:-[A-Z0-9]{4}){4} - one or more example statements of the kind shown above
- registration of the corresponding Mix'n'Match catalog identifier, where appropriate
A separate item representing HAND ID as an identifier class is also proposed for creation, consistent with existing Wikidata practice for external identifiers. That item would state that it is an instance of unique identifier, that it is issued by HAND - The Universal Talent Identifier (Q138188575), that it identifies human, and that its main Wikidata property is HAND ID.
Anticipated questions
[edit]Why not model this under general DOI handling?
[edit]This proposal does not attempt to model publication DOIs or DOI infrastructure in general. It models a specific registry's person identifiers, in the same way that comparable registries such as EIDR use dedicated external identifier properties even when their identifiers are DOI-based.
Why is described at URL (P973) not sufficient?
[edit]Because HAND exposes a structured, persistent identifier rather than an arbitrary web page, and that identifier is already the basis for large-scale reconciliation against Wikidata. A dedicated identifier property allows systematic and auditable maintenance across many items.
Is HAND broader than people?
[edit]Yes. HAND's registry also covers licensed human likenesses (replicas) of real people and fictional characters. This proposal is deliberately limited to humans only, matching both the demonstrated Wikidata use case and the scope of the six prepared Mix'n'Match catalogs.
How does HAND determine eligibility?
[edit]HAND's published standard, Citation Backed Notability, requires multiple independent citations rather than a single authority. It explicitly excludes follower counts, purchased verifications, and self-submitted claims as sufficient evidence. Stated evaluation factors include the number and quality of independent citations identifying the person and the person's public recognition, including award nominations and wins.
This gives reviewers a checkable, source-based standard rather than a purely promotional claim, and aligns the registry with sourcing disciplines already familiar within Wikidata.
Doesn't this just duplicate Wikidata identifiers that are already stored in HAND's own records?
[edit]No. The Wikidata identifier stored on a HAND record is used only to perform the match during catalog preparation; it is not what the Wikidata property would store or expose. The property would add a link from a Wikidata item to a HAND record that carries independent evidence, namely Citation Backed Notability sourcing and cross-referenced alternate identifiers, and that record remains resolvable on its own DOI infrastructure independent of Wikidata. The reconciled catalogs are also a small fraction of the live registry: As of 15 July, 2026 - 207,499 Type-01 Human records exist against 23,735 currently matched, so use of the identifier is likely to expand substantially as further catalogs are prepared.
Conflict of interest
[edit]The proposer is a paid contractor for Human and Digital (HAND), the operator of the HAND registry, and prepared the Mix'n'Match catalogs referenced in this proposal. This relationship is disclosed so reviewers can evaluate the proposal with full transparency.
Ongoing maintenance
[edit]The proposer intends to maintain the associated Mix'n'Match catalogs, improve reconciliation coverage as additional HAND records are matched, and work with the Wikidata community to correct identifier or matching issues where they arise.
Proposer: Dr Seyed Amir Hosseini Beghaeiraveri, on behalf of the HAND ID project.
Seyedamirathandid (talk) 20:57, 16 July 2026 (UTC)
Discussion
[edit]
Support JhowieNitnek (talk) 15:06, 20 July 2026 (UTC)- @Seyedamirathandid: Hello, thank you for your property proposal. I have two questions: Firstly, HAND includes items for not just humans, but also fictional characters (amongst other entity types). You've mentioned that Wikidata may wish to cross-reference with fictional characters in future and that there could be separate proposals for that. In that case, would you propose that a separate property be created for fictional characters? Personally, I think that if we create a property called "HAND ID", it should cover all types of entity. So I would rather set the scope clearly now, than need to potentially change the scope of the property at a later stage. My second question is about Citation-Backed Notability. Could you describe this in a bit more detail, please? What does a citation refer to in this context? Is it one of the external IDs (Alternative Ids)? Is it something we can access? -- Yirba (talk) 18:19, 20 July 2026 (UTC)
- @Yirba Thank you for these two excellent questions. I'm happy to address both.
- Regarding the scope, this proposal is intentionally limited to humans (Q5), and I'd prefer to keep it that way instead of broadening it to cover all HAND entity types under a single property. HAND's registry also includes other categories, most notably fictional characters, but the eligibility criteria are fundamentally different.
- For humans, a HAND ID is based on verifiable evidence about a real person. For fictional characters, eligibility is determined by the rights holder rather than through independent research. Those are two different kinds of claims. One is based on public, verifiable evidence, while the other depends on rights and licensing. Combining both under one property would require documenting two different sourcing models, which I think would make the proposal less clear. My intention is to submit a separate property proposal for fictional characters once that part of the registry is ready. I think it's better to keep the scope clear now than introduce ambiguity that would need to be addressed later.
- On Citation-Backed Notability, the primary metric is resolvability, not media coverage. The central question is whether a person can already be independently resolved in five or more established identifier databases, such as IMDb, ORCID, MusicBrainz, or a national sports federation database. Meeting that threshold is sufficient to establish eligibility, and it's something anyone can verify by checking those databases.
- If someone does not independently meet the five-database threshold, there is an alternative route through affiliation. If a legal entity, such as a team, studio, label, or federation, has an existing contractual relationship with that person, that affiliation can support their public-figure status. Additional evidence, such as press coverage, awards, or documented performance records, can strengthen the case, but those are supporting signals rather than the primary requirement.
- Regarding accessibility, whenever alternate identifiers are public, they are listed directly on the HAND record page. Some anchor identifiers are intentionally kept private at the request of the affiliated legal entity and are therefore not publicly displayed. That is a policy decision rather than a limitation of the methodology.
- I should also mention that HAND is a living registry, not a static snapshot. Many records initially display only one or two identifiers. Additional corroborating identifiers are added over time as part of the scheduled enrichment process rather than all at once. We refer to this process as Multi-Vector Attestation. For an example of a fully enriched record, see Steph Curry. It contains multiple corroborating identifiers that were added over time and illustrates what a mature record looks like after the Multi-Vector Attestation process, compared with a newer or less-enriched entry.
- Happy to elaborate further if helpful. Seyedamirathandid (talk) 11:02, 22 July 2026 (UTC)
- @Seyedamirathandid: I have added the formatter URL to the proposal (please do this in future) and linked the examples using the formatter URL - however that means the ID's no longer include the "10.23/" prefix. I assume this is preferable - generally in Wikidata we remove all common prefixes on identifiers. However the text of your (very long) supporting statement is inconsistent on this, so it would be good if you could clarify whether my change matches your actual intention here. ArthurPSmith (talk) 19:32, 4 August 2026 (UTC)
- @ArthurPSmith Thank you for adding the formatter URL. I believe your change matches the intended convention because the "10.23/" prefix is constant across every HAND ID, as it is the registry's single Handle/DOI registrant prefix, so it should be omitted from the stored value and captured by the formatter URL. I'll update the supporting text (format regex, examples, and identifier-format description) to be consistent with this and remove the remaining "10.23/" prefix references. Apologies for the inconsistency, and thank you for flagging it rather than guessing. Seyedamirathandid (talk) 10:09, 6 August 2026 (UTC)
- @Seyedamirathandid, JhowieNitnek, Yirba, ArthurPSmith:
Created as HAND ID (P14750). Regards, ZI Jony (Talk) 18:23, 8 August 2026 (UTC)
- have created a regex for it Back ache (talk) 06:30, 29 August 2026 (UTC)