Actors are items of documentation about persons or bodies of interest that can be related to other Actors, Bulletins, or Incidents, usually coming from a single source. The Actor profile contains fields to identify the person or body, relate the Actor to other items in the database, add labels and create Events.
An internal ID unique to every Actor.
The ID of the Actor from the source. This is a read-only field that can be added when loading the data into the system. The field is hyperlinked with the link to source in view and edit modes.
Individual fields for full, first, middle/father's, mother's and last name as well as nicknames.
Text field which is used to add a full description of the Actor as well as notes from the user.
The source from which the information contained in the Actor profile was obtained. Usually the Actor profile comes from one source, and information about the same actor that comes from different sources can be added to different Actors, each from one source, and linked together using a ‘Same Person’ relationship.
Labels can be added about the information contained in the Actor profile.
This field can be used to specify the civilian status of the Actor and comes with a set of statuses, one of which can be selected:
These statuses are tailored to the Syrian conflict but can be changed to describe any other situation.
This field can be used to choose the type of the Actor profile, whether it's for a person or a body.
The location from which the person is originally or in which the body was established.
The location where the person currently resides or the current location of the body if its location has changed.
Events can be used to add one or more time and location entries about the Actor's life events.
The person's main job or the field of work of a non-military body.
The person's position in their place of employment.
The local dialect or dialects the person speaks.
Marital status and number of children.
Religious and ethnic groups to which the person belongs.
Nationality or nationalities which the person holds or the country of origin of the body.
Any identifying number for a person or a body such as ID, passport, civil record number, etc.
Search functionality that allows the user to search the database for other Actors that might be related to the current Actor and link them together using one of these pre-set relationships:
Same Person — this means that the Actor is the same person in reality, although the item may come from another source or report on separate, unrelated Events.
Example: Source A reports about “Mohamad Ahmad” and Source B also reports about “Mohamad Ahmad” — and they are the same person in fact, with same birth date and other life events. The Source A profile shows that “Mohamad Ahmad” was detained in March 2012 then released; the Source B profile also shows that he was detained and released in March 2012, but also shows us that he was killed by shelling in December 2014.
Duplicate — this means that the item is the exact same item, from the same source and reporting the same information and events; it basically means that one Actor is a copy (e.g. scraped twice) of another Actor.
“Same Person” is different from “Duplicate” because “Same Person” Actors will all be linked together, although the separate items of data must be preserved. By contrast, “Duplicate” reflects a copy of the same information, which should be removed or hidden from the database.
These relationships are based on SJAC's methodology and mainly linked to the Syrian conflict. They should fit well with other situations but can be edited and other relationships can be added as well.
The relationship can be added with three levels of certainty.
Search functionality that allows the user to search the database for Bulletins that might be related to the current Actor and link them together using one of these pre-set roles:
Search functionality that allows the user to search the database for Incidents that might be related to the current Actor and link them together using one of the same pre-set roles as in Related Bulletins.
This tool is used to upload and link media files which are related to the Actor. This can be used to add pictures of a person or a logo for a body. Videos or documents related to an Actor should not be added to the Actor profile but rather as a Bulletin related to the Actor.
The URL to the original source from which the information was obtained. ‘Not Available’ checkbox can be selected if the source link is no applicable, for example if the information was obtained from an offline source. ‘Private’ slider can be used if the URL is not reachable anymore. The field validates the entry and will not accept an invalid URL.
This field is required to save the Actor unless ‘Not Available’ checkbox is checked.
Datetime field that can be used to add the time and date of publishing the materials.
Datetime field that can be used to add the time and date in which the information contained in the Actor profile was documented.
Every time the Actor profile is updated, the user must provide a comment about the nature of the update.