{ "model": { "rank": 6328, "code": "thing-q181890", "model_id": "vr.tr.plectrum", "name": "plectrum", "purpose": "Enable an AI agent to recognise a plectrum, assess its suitability and condition for a particular string-plucking task, and decide whether to use, adjust, maintain or replace it.", "family": "Thing Registry", "category": "Physical world and living systems", "status": "research-draft", "kind": "thing", "plane": "PHY", "domain": "PHY.OBJ", "industry": "", "version": "", "url": "/models/thing/q181890/", "tier": 2, "score": 61, "payload": { "layer": "wikidata", "aliases": [ "bachi", "shumoku", "fingerpick", "mezrab" ], "aliasCount": 4, "merged": 4, "knownIn": 61, "facets": null, "markers": [], "lexicalClass": "", "senseRank": null, "alsoRegisteredAs": null, "source": { "dataset": "wikidata", "item": "Q181890", "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q181890", "license": "CC0 1.0" } }, "research": { "vercy": "1.0-draft", "publication": { "status": "research-draft", "adjudicationStatus": "unreviewed", "publishableCanonical": false, "generatedAt": "2026-09-07T13:52:19Z", "providers": [ "Codex", "Grok" ], "missingProviders": [], "pass": 2, "cost": { "grok": { "usd": 0.00662932, "turns": 1, "seconds": 88.1, "error": null }, "codex": { "seconds": 76, "error": "Reading additional input from stdin...\nOpenAI Codex v0.153.3\n--------\nworkdir: R:\\02_PROJECTS\\02_Meta_Models_Platforms\\Ver.cy\\current\\thing-registry-backlog\nmodel: gpt-6-astra\nprovider: openai\napproval: never\nsandbox: read-only\nreasoning effort: none\nreasoning summaries: none\nsession id: 01a07c20-9ae3-7b61-a1ad-04413c56c3f3\n--------\nuser\nYou are drafting a Vercy meta-model for one registered thing. Answer as JSON only, no prose around it.\n\nThing: plectrum\nRegistry id: vr.tr.plectrum\nPlane / domain: PHY / PHY.OBJ\nRegistry definition: (none recorded)\nNames folded into this entry: (none)\n\nA Vercy" } } }, "metaModel": { "id": "THING-Q181890", "registryId": "vr.tr.plectrum", "name": "plectrum", "version": "0.1.0-research.1", "entryKind": "thing", "family": "Thing Registry", "domain": [ "PHY.OBJ" ], "status": "research-draft" }, "canonicalUrl": "https://ver.cy/models/thing/q181890/", "model": { "registry_id": "vr.tr.plectrum", "name": "plectrum", "purpose": "Enable an AI agent to recognise a plectrum, assess its suitability and condition for a particular string-plucking task, and decide whether to use, adjust, maintain or replace it.", "definition": "A plectrum is a small, relatively rigid picking implement - held between the fingers, worn on a digit, or mounted in a mechanical jack - used to pluck or strum a chordophone string so that vibration is initiated by the implement's edge or tip rather than by the flesh of the fingertip.", "scope_statement": "This model owns the identity, working geometry, material behaviour, handling or mounting interface, string-contact suitability and condition of an individual implement designed or deliberately adapted to pluck musical strings.", "in_scope": [ "Hand-held picks, finger-worn picks and identifiable plectrum components mounted in instruments or playing mechanisms", "The working tips and edges that contact and release strings", "Body geometry, material construction and bending behaviour", "Grip, finger fit or mechanical attachment needed to control the plectrum", "Wear, damage, contamination and modifications affecting plucking" ], "out_of_scope": [ "The complete instrument, including its body, tuning and acoustic response", "String construction, tension and condition except as compatibility references", "The player's anatomy, proficiency and full playing technique", "Musical works, performance interpretation and recording production", "Bows, beaters and hammers whose intended action is not plucking", "Cases, dispensers and storage accessories considered as separate objects" ], "distinguishing_features": [ "Its intended or deliberately adopted working action is to displace a musical string and release it, rather than sustain friction like a bow or strike it like a hammer.", "An identifiable tip or edge is presented to the string through a hand grip, finger attachment or mechanical mount.", "A loose sheet, coin or other everyday object qualifies only when deliberately adapted or designated for plucking; material and silhouette alone do not establish identity.", "A finger-worn item qualifies through its string-plucking surface and use, rather than merely being jewellery or a protective covering.", "For a mounted example, the plectrum is the identifiable string-contact element; the surrounding actuator or instrument is a neighbouring object." ], "characteristics": [ { "name": "Plectrum form", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "hand-held; finger-worn; mechanically mounted; other documented form", "why_it_matters": "Determines how the working edge is controlled and which fit checks apply." }, { "name": "Intended string context", "kind": "relation", "unit_or_values": "Referenced instrument, string or string set, with intended plucking task", "why_it_matters": "Suitability must be assessed against the strings and task rather than assumed from appearance." }, { "name": "Working-tip geometry", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "Tip radius in mm; included angle in degrees; measured location and method", "why_it_matters": "Distinguishes contact profiles and supports comparison of original and worn tips." }, { "name": "Thickness profile", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "mm at identified body, tip and attachment locations", "why_it_matters": "A single nominal thickness may conceal taper or local thinning relevant to use." }, { "name": "Edge preparation", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "Rounded; bevelled; square; irregular; other observed profile, with face and edge identified", "why_it_matters": "Records the surface presented to the string and any directional orientation requirement." }, { "name": "Material construction", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "Documented material or material combination, coating and confidence of identification", "why_it_matters": "Supports decisions about flex, surface care and permissible modification without guessing composition." }, { "name": "Bending response", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "Force in N and deflection in mm under a documented support span, direction and loading method", "why_it_matters": "Allows flexibility comparisons that do not rely solely on thickness or marketing labels." }, { "name": "Retention fit", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "Secure; slipping; rotating; restrictive; loose; untested, for a specified holder or mount", "why_it_matters": "Determines whether the plectrum can maintain its intended presentation to the strings." }, { "name": "Working-edge condition", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "Observed rounding, grooves, burrs, chips, cracks or deposits, with location and severity", "why_it_matters": "Supports decisions to continue use, clean, reprofile or replace." }, { "name": "Observed string release", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "Clean release; catching; inconsistent release; untested, under recorded playing conditions", "why_it_matters": "Connects physical inspection to actual performance in a specific use context." } ], "affordances": [ "Select and orient a working tip for a specified string-plucking task.", "Hold, wear or mount the plectrum and check retention before playing.", "Compare string release and bending behaviour under documented conditions.", "Inspect and clean the working edge using a method appropriate to the identified material.", "Rotate to another usable edge or reprofile an edge when construction and fit permit.", "Withdraw or replace a plectrum whose damage or fit prevents controlled plucking." ] }, "sources": [ { "id": "grove-plectrum", "title": "Plectrum", "url": "https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/", "what_it_supports": "Organological sense of the plectrum as a picking implement for plucked chordophones, including handheld picks and related historical practice.", "url_status": "unverified" }, { "id": "wikipedia-plectrum", "title": "Plectrum", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plectrum", "what_it_supports": "Common varieties (flat pick, thumbpick, fingerpicks; risha, mizrab, bachi) and everyday materials and shapes.", "url_status": "live" }, { "id": "kottick-harpsichord", "title": "A History of the Harpsichord", "url": "", "what_it_supports": "Harpsichord jack plectra as quill or plastic tongues that pluck the string, distinct from a handheld pick." }, { "id": "dunlop-pick-info", "title": "Guitar Pick Guide (gauge, shape and material)", "url": "https://www.jimdunlop.com/", "what_it_supports": "Commercial gauge and material distinctions used by players (nylon, celluloid, acetal/Delrin; thin through extra-heavy).", "url_status": "live" } ], "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "plectrum-identity", "name": "Plectrum identity", "description": "Establishes why the item is a plectrum and which physical element the record represents.", "rationale": "Similar-looking objects and larger plucking mechanisms must not be mistaken for the plectrum itself.", "layers": [ { "id": "plucking-role", "name": "Plucking role", "description": "Records the intended or adopted relationship between the implement and musical strings.", "findings": [ { "id": "intended-string-release", "name": "Intended string release", "description": "Identify the evidence that this item is intended or deliberately adopted to displace and release strings.", "questions": [ { "text": "What string-plucking task identifies this item as a plectrum?", "kind": "definition", "id": "intended-string-release-q01" }, { "text": "Is that role established by maker documentation, observed use or a recorded adaptation?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "intended-string-release-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "physical-boundary", "name": "Physical boundary", "description": "Separates the plectrum from the finger, holder or mechanism that controls it.", "findings": [ { "id": "contact-element-boundary", "name": "Contact element boundary", "description": "Locate the string-contact element and document whether its grip or attachment is integral.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which physical part constitutes the plectrum, including any integral grip or finger band?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "contact-element-boundary-q01" }, { "text": "If mounted, where does the plectrum end and its holder or actuator begin?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "contact-element-boundary-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "string-contact-geometry", "name": "String-contact geometry", "description": "Describes the tips, edges and orientation through which the plectrum engages strings.", "rationale": "The working profile and its presentation are needed to recognise usable edges and assess contact behaviour.", "layers": [ { "id": "working-profile", "name": "Working profile", "description": "Records the geometry at each intended string-contact location.", "findings": [ { "id": "tip-and-edge-profile", "name": "Tip and edge profile", "description": "Describe each usable tip, its surrounding edge and relevant local dimensions.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which tips or edge segments are intended to contact strings?", "kind": "definition", "id": "tip-and-edge-profile-q01" }, { "text": "What are the thickness, tip radius and bevel or rounding at each working location?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "tip-and-edge-profile-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "contact-presentation", "name": "Contact presentation", "description": "Records the direction and exposed portion of the working edge during use.", "findings": [ { "id": "orientation-and-exposure", "name": "Orientation and exposure", "description": "Document which face leads and how much of the plectrum extends beyond its grip or mount.", "questions": [ { "text": "Does the profile require a particular face, direction or handed orientation for the intended stroke?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "orientation-and-exposure-q01" }, { "text": "How far does the working tip project beyond the grip, finger support or mechanical holder?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "orientation-and-exposure-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "material-and-flex", "name": "Material and flex", "description": "Records construction and mechanical response relevant to controlled string release.", "rationale": "Nominal thickness alone cannot establish how a particular plectrum bends or which care operations its construction permits.", "layers": [ { "id": "contact-materials", "name": "Contact materials", "description": "Identifies the body and surface materials without treating appearance as proof.", "findings": [ { "id": "construction-evidence", "name": "Construction evidence", "description": "Record known materials, coatings and joints, distinguishing documented identification from inference.", "questions": [ { "text": "What evidence identifies the materials in the body, working edge and any coating?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "construction-evidence-q01" }, { "text": "Are the gripping and string-contact surfaces made from the same material or distinct components?", "kind": "definition", "id": "construction-evidence-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "loaded-response", "name": "Loaded response", "description": "Characterises bending and recovery under a specified grip or mounting arrangement.", "findings": [ { "id": "flex-and-recovery", "name": "Flex and recovery", "description": "Record resistance to bending and whether the plectrum returns to its prior shape after a suitable test.", "questions": [ { "text": "What force and deflection are observed with a documented support span and loading direction?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "flex-and-recovery-q01" }, { "text": "After unloading, is any residual bend, cracking or separation observed?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "flex-and-recovery-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "retention-and-playing-fit", "name": "Retention and playing fit", "description": "Connects the plectrum to its controller, target strings and intended stroke.", "rationale": "A plectrum is usable only when it can be retained and presented effectively in the actual playing arrangement.", "layers": [ { "id": "holding-interface", "name": "Holding interface", "description": "Records grip stability, finger fit or mounting security as applicable.", "findings": [ { "id": "retention-under-use", "name": "Retention under use", "description": "Assess whether the plectrum keeps its intended position without unacceptable restriction or interference.", "questions": [ { "text": "How is the plectrum retained, and does it slip, rotate or loosen during the intended stroke?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "retention-under-use-q01" }, { "text": "What adjustment, refitting or replacement would resolve an observed retention problem?", "kind": "action", "id": "retention-under-use-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "string-release-fit", "name": "String release fit", "description": "Records observed suitability for a specified instrument and plucking task.", "findings": [ { "id": "task-specific-release", "name": "Task-specific release", "description": "Evaluate contact and release while retaining the context needed to interpret the observation.", "questions": [ { "text": "On which instrument and strings, at what orientation and stroke, was release assessed?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "task-specific-release-q01" }, { "text": "Does the plectrum release as required, catch a string or interfere with adjacent strings or instrument parts?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "task-specific-release-q02" }, { "text": "Would changing tip exposure, orientation or plectrum selection address the observed problem?", "kind": "action", "id": "task-specific-release-q03" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "wear-and-serviceability", "name": "Wear and serviceability", "description": "Tracks changes to the working edge and attachment that affect continued use.", "rationale": "Wear can alter plucking geometry, while damage or unsuitable maintenance can make an otherwise familiar plectrum unusable.", "layers": [ { "id": "contact-and-body-condition", "name": "Contact and body condition", "description": "Locates wear, deposits and structural damage relative to the working tip and retention interface.", "findings": [ { "id": "condition-change", "name": "Condition change", "description": "Record observable changes and distinguish intentional shaping from deterioration where evidence permits.", "questions": [ { "text": "Where are grooves, burrs, rounding, chips, cracks, deformation or deposits present?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "condition-change-q01" }, { "text": "What baseline or modification record distinguishes original shaping from subsequent wear?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "condition-change-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "service-decisions", "name": "Service decisions", "description": "Determines a justified next action for the observed condition and intended use.", "findings": [ { "id": "restore-or-replace", "name": "Restore or replace", "description": "Connect condition evidence to continued use, cleaning, edge rotation, reprofiling or replacement.", "questions": [ { "text": "Given the identified construction and damage, which maintenance actions are supported by evidence?", "kind": "action", "id": "restore-or-replace-q01" }, { "text": "What observed loss of retention, structural integrity or required string release warrants withdrawing this plectrum?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "restore-or-replace-q02" }, { "text": "After maintenance or reprofiling, which geometry, fit and release checks must be repeated?", "kind": "action", "id": "restore-or-replace-q03" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "evidence-and-external-alignment", "name": "Evidence and external alignment", "description": "What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.", "rationale": "A model that cannot be lined up against existing standards, identifiers and practice cannot be adopted by anyone who already uses them.", "layers": [ { "id": "reported-evidence", "name": "Reported evidence", "description": "Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.", "findings": [ { "id": "evidence-kinds", "name": "Kinds and varieties", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "Handheld flat pick (guitar, mandolin, ukulele; teardrop/351, jazz, triangle and similar outlines)", "Thumbpick (ring-style pick worn on the thumb, used in fingerstyle guitar, banjo, resonator guitar)", "Fingerpicks (worn on one or more fingers, typically metal or plastic)", "Oud risha (risha/rişa; historically a quill, now horn, shell or plastic)", "Sitar mizrab (wire plectrum worn on the right-hand index finger)", "Shamisen bachi (large spatula-like plectrum, often ivory, plastic or wood)", "Harpsichord jack plectrum (the tongue in the jack; historically crow or raven quill, now acetal/Delrin or similar)", "Historic lute and similar quill plectra (held or worn, as distinct from fingertip plucking)" ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-kinds-q01", "text": "Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of plectrum this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-identifiers", "name": "Identifiers and schemes", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ { "scheme": "Wikidata", "value_or_pattern": "item for plectrum / guitar pick (Q-id not asserted here without lookup)", "note": "A Wikidata item exists for the musical plectrum; the numeric Q-id is not stated because it was not verified in this pass." } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-identifiers-q01", "text": "Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of plectrum this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-standards-and-regulation", "name": "Standards and regulation", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "CITES and related wildlife-trade rules (issuing bodies: CITES parties / national wildlife authorities) restrict international trade in hawksbill tortoiseshell historically used for picks and in elephant ivory historically used for shamisen bachi.", "EU REACH and equivalent chemical-product rules (European Commission / ECHA and national analogues) govern restricted plasticisers and other substances in celluloid, PVC and similar pick materials sold as consumer goods.", "There is no ISO product standard that defines a plectrum as a musical implement." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-standards-and-regulation-q01", "text": "Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of plectrum this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-real-world-use", "name": "Real-world use", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "Held between thumb and index finger to strum or pick steel- and nylon-string guitars, electric guitars, mandolins, bouzoukis and ukuleles in popular, folk and jazz practice.", "Worn as a thumbpick and/or fingerpicks for banjo, Dobro/resonator guitar, and hybrid fingerstyle guitar.", "Used as a risha on the oud, a mizrab on the sitar, and a bachi on the shamisen in those instruments' standard right-hand techniques.", "Mounted as a small tongue in each harpsichord jack so that the key mechanism plucks the string.", "Sold as a mass-market accessory in music shops, typically packed by shape, material and thickness rather than as a precision-engineered part." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-real-world-use-q01", "text": "Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of plectrum this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-measurements", "name": "Typical measurements", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ { "quantity": "Thickness (flat-pick gauge)", "typical_range": "0.38-2.0 (thin through extra-heavy; jazz picks often ~1.0-2.0)", "unit": "mm" }, { "quantity": "Plan outline length (handheld flat pick)", "typical_range": "about 20-35", "unit": "mm" }, { "quantity": "Mass (typical handheld flat pick)", "typical_range": "about 0.3-3", "unit": "g" }, { "quantity": "Harpsichord plectrum protrusion past the string", "typical_range": "small, voicing-dependent (on the order of tenths of a millimetre to about 1)", "unit": "mm" } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-measurements-q01", "text": "Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of plectrum this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards", "name": "Failure modes and hazards", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "Wear and rounding of the playing edge, which dulls attack and can catch on wound strings.", "Cracking, chipping or delamination of celluloid, tortoiseshell and some laminated picks; celluloid is also flammable.", "Loss of the pick during performance (drop) or swallowing/choking hazard for small loose picks around children.", "Pointed or metal picks can nick string windings and, less often, injure the player's hand or damage a soundboard if struck hard (bachi, heavy metal picks).", "Harpsichord plectra break, flatten or sit at the wrong angle, causing missed notes, weak speech or a jack that hangs on the string.", "Historic tortoiseshell and ivory examples are legally constrained to possess, restore or ship across borders." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards-q01", "text": "Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of plectrum this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-regional-variation", "name": "Regional variation", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "English 'plectrum' and 'pick' are often interchangeable for the handheld guitar accessory; 'plectrum guitar' in older British and jazz usage can mean a guitar played with a pick as opposed to fingerstyle.", "Arabic and related traditions name the oud plectrum risha (rişa); South Asian sitar practice names the finger-worn wire plectrum mizrab; Japanese shamisen practice names the large plectrum bachi.", "Tortoiseshell picks remain culturally prized where legal stock exists; most contemporary markets use celluloid, nylon or acetal substitutes.", "Harpsichord makers and technicians treat 'plectrum' as the jack tongue, a sense that is peripheral in popular-guitar shops." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-regional-variation-q01", "text": "Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of plectrum this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-neighbours", "name": "Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ { "name": "Fingernail or fingertip (flesh) plucking", "difference": "No separate implement: the keratin of the nail or the pad of the finger contacts the string; a plectrum is a discrete object held or worn." }, { "name": "Bow (arco)", "difference": "A bow sustains the string by friction of hair across the string; a plectrum delivers a discrete pluck or strum and does not sustain by friction." }, { "name": "Plectrum (amphibian middle-ear element)", "difference": "In herpetological anatomy the plectrum is a columellar/middle-ear ossicle, not a musical tool; context (instrument vs skull) separates the homonyms." }, { "name": "Harpsichord jack (whole assembly)", "difference": "The jack is the vertical hopper that carries the plectrum; the plectrum is only the tongue that touches the string." }, { "name": "Capo, slide, or e-bow", "difference": "Those alter pitch, sustain or stopping of the string without being the object that plucks it; a plectrum's function is the plucking stroke itself." } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-neighbours-q01", "text": "Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of plectrum this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "openQuestions": [ "Does the registry intend this entry to cover finger-worn and mechanically mounted plectra, and how should integral or non-removable examples be bounded?", "What evidence is sufficient to register an improvised plucking object as a plectrum rather than record only a temporary use of another object?", "Which repeatable measurement methods allow meaningful comparison of tip geometry, bending response and surface condition across plectrum forms?", "Which instrument-specific observations establish acceptable release, string compatibility and replacement thresholds without presenting player preference as a universal requirement?", "Which cleaning and reprofiling methods are supported for particular materials, coatings and constructions?" ], "statistics": { "bundles": 6, "layers": 11, "findings": 18, "questions": 30 } }, "draft": { "generator": "vr.draft.v3", "status": "draft-generated", "researched": false, "archetype": "device, machine or tool", "method": "Written from the archetype playbook - what this kind of thing needs beyond identity and provenance - and from the structure that recurred across 6,333 models already researched by two engines. Applied to this entry by rule. No source was read for this thing and no claim here is researched. This entry carries no facets of its own, so they were inferred from its domain - a guess about a whole domain applied to one thing.", "facetsInferred": true, "nextPass": "A researcher replaces this draft with a sourced specification. Treat every sentence below as a proposal to argue with.", "purpose": "Give an agent a durable, checkable way to recognise a plectrum, record what state it is in, and decide what may be done with it.", "whatItIs": "Enable an AI agent to recognise a plectrum, assess its suitability and condition for a particular string-plucking task, and decide whether to use, adjust, maintain or replace it.", "characteristics": { "substance": "material", "origin": "manufactured", "agency": "inert", "mobility": "varies" }, "whatYouCanDoWithIt": [ "observed and measured" ], "distinguishingFeatures": [ "Names folded into this entry, which a task may need to split apart again: bachi, shumoku, fingerpick, mezrab.", "4 finer distinctions are held as aliases rather than separate entries, because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it.", "Described in 61 Wikipedia languages, which is a measure of how widely the thing is known, not of how important it is." ], "openQuestionsForResearch": [ "Which of the bundles below does a real task actually need, and which are ceremony?", "What does this thing have that the facets do not capture at all?", "Which neighbouring kind is most often confused with a plectrum, and on what evidence are they told apart?" ], "whatItIsMadeOf": "matter you can touch", "physicalCharacter": [ "Mobility varies between examples.", "Does nothing on its own; everything it does, something else did to it.", "These come from the domain this entry sits in rather than from the entry itself, so treat them as a first guess about the whole domain applied to one thing." ], "whatCanBeDoneWithIt": [ "observe it, measure it, record its state" ], "howItIsRecognised": [ "Recognised by form, by the arrangement of its controls, and by markings - a plate, a model number, a certification mark. Form alone rarely separates two models that do very different things." ], "relatedModels": [ { "relation": "covers", "note": "Finer kinds folded into this entry because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it. Each is a model waiting to be split out when one does.", "targets": [ "bachi", "shumoku", "fingerpick", "mezrab" ] } ], "standing": "Described in 61 Wikipedia languages, which measures how widely it is written about rather than how important or how common it is. 4 finer distinctions are held inside this entry as names rather than as separate models.", "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "identity-and-classification", "name": "Identity, naming and classification", "description": "How an agent tells one plectrum from another, and a plectrum from things that resemble it.", "rationale": "Recognition comes before every other claim. Without stable identity nothing else in the model can be trusted to be about the same thing twice.", "layers": [ { "id": "naming-and-identifiers", "name": "Names and identifiers", "description": "The names this thing goes by and the identifiers that survive translation and time.", "findings": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases", "name": "Preferred name, aliases and local names", "description": "Which name to use, which names mean the same thing, and which merely sound similar.", "questions": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the name of a plectrum, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the name of a plectrum, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the name of a plectrum is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers", "name": "Stable identifiers and external keys", "description": "Identifiers that keep pointing at this kind of thing across systems and languages.", "questions": [ { "id": "stable-identifiers-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an identifier for a plectrum, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an identifier for a plectrum, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an identifier for a plectrum is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "classification-and-granularity", "name": "Classification and granularity", "description": "Where a plectrum sits among kinds, and how finely a task needs to cut it.", "findings": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents", "name": "Kind, parents and neighbouring kinds", "description": "The classes this thing belongs to and the ones it is next to.", "questions": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the kind of a plectrum, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the kind of a plectrum, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the kind of a plectrum is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features", "name": "Distinguishing features", "description": "What separates a plectrum from the things most often confused with it.", "questions": [ { "id": "distinguishing-features-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes what distinguishes a plectrum, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about what distinguishes a plectrum, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once what distinguishes a plectrum is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "form-and-composition", "name": "Form, composition and condition", "description": "What a plectrum is made of, what shape and size it takes, and what state it is in.", "rationale": "A physical thing can be measured, and a model that cannot record its measurements cannot support any decision that depends on them.", "layers": [ { "id": "form-and-dimensions", "name": "Form and dimensions", "description": "Shape, size, mass and the ranges these take across examples.", "findings": [ { "id": "measurable-dimensions", "name": "Measurable dimensions and their units", "description": "The quantities worth recording and the units they are recorded in.", "questions": [ { "id": "measurable-dimensions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the dimensions of a plectrum, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "measurable-dimensions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the dimensions of a plectrum, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "measurable-dimensions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the dimensions of a plectrum is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "material-and-composition", "name": "Material and composition", "description": "Materials, parts and how they are put together.", "findings": [ { "id": "parts-and-materials", "name": "Parts and materials", "description": "What a plectrum is built from and which parts are replaceable.", "questions": [ { "id": "parts-and-materials-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the composition of a plectrum, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "parts-and-materials-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the composition of a plectrum, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "parts-and-materials-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the composition of a plectrum is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "condition-and-integrity", "name": "Condition and integrity", "description": "Wear, damage, health and the difference between working and broken.", "findings": [ { "id": "condition-assessment", "name": "Condition, damage and health", "description": "How the condition of a plectrum is judged and by whom.", "questions": [ { "id": "condition-assessment-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the condition of a plectrum, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "condition-assessment-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the condition of a plectrum, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "condition-assessment-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the condition of a plectrum is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "place-and-movement", "name": "Place and movement", "description": "Where a plectrum is, how it got there and where it may go (varies).", "rationale": "A thing that can move needs its position recorded with a time, or every later claim about it is about a place it has left.", "layers": [ { "id": "location-and-placement", "name": "Location and placement", "description": "Position, containment and the reference frame the position is given in.", "findings": [ { "id": "position-and-frame", "name": "Position, container and reference frame", "description": "Where a plectrum is, and what that position is measured against.", "questions": [ { "id": "position-and-frame-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the location of a plectrum, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "position-and-frame-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the location of a plectrum, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "position-and-frame-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the location of a plectrum is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "movement-and-transfer", "name": "Movement and transfer", "description": "How a plectrum is carried, installed or relocated.", "findings": [ { "id": "movement-events", "name": "Movement events and constraints", "description": "What counts as a movement, what records it and what limits it.", "questions": [ { "id": "movement-events-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the movement of a plectrum, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "movement-events-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the movement of a plectrum, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "movement-events-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the movement of a plectrum is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "state-and-lifecycle", "name": "State and lifecycle", "description": "The states a plectrum passes through and the events that move it between them.", "rationale": "Most decisions about a thing depend on what state it is in now, which is a claim with a time on it, not a property.", "layers": [ { "id": "lifecycle-stages", "name": "Lifecycle stages", "description": "From coming into existence to ceasing to be one of these.", "findings": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions", "name": "Stages and transitions", "description": "The stages worth naming and what moves a plectrum between them.", "questions": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the lifecycle of a plectrum, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the lifecycle of a plectrum, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the lifecycle of a plectrum is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "observations-and-status", "name": "Observations and current status", "description": "What is observed about a plectrum, how often and by whom.", "findings": [ { "id": "observation-record", "name": "Observation record", "description": "How an observation of a plectrum is recorded so that it can be superseded rather than overwritten.", "questions": [ { "id": "observation-record-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an observation of a plectrum, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an observation of a plectrum, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an observation of a plectrum is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "function-and-principle", "name": "Function and operating principle", "description": "What plectrum is for and how it achieves it.", "rationale": "Two devices with the same name can work on different principles, and the principle is what predicts failure and constrains use.", "layers": [ { "id": "intended-function", "name": "Intended function", "description": "The job it does, and the jobs it is used for anyway.", "findings": [ { "id": "function-record", "name": "Function, principle and variants", "description": "What it does, how, and which variants do it differently.", "questions": [ { "id": "function-record-q01", "text": "What function does plectrum perform, on what operating principle, and which variants differ in that principle?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "function-record-q02", "text": "What use falls outside the intended function but happens in practice?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "capacity-and-rating", "name": "Capacity and rating", "description": "The numbers that say what it can do and where it stops.", "findings": [ { "id": "ratings", "name": "Ratings and their conditions", "description": "Rated capacity, power, throughput and the conditions each assumes.", "questions": [ { "id": "ratings-q01", "text": "What ratings characterise plectrum, in what units, and under what stated conditions?", "kind": "measurement" }, { "id": "ratings-q02", "text": "What happens beyond the rating - degradation, refusal, damage - and how is that detected?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "operation-and-state", "name": "Operation, controls and state", "description": "How plectrum is operated and what state it is in right now.", "rationale": "An agent acting on a device needs its current state and the controls that change it, not just its specification.", "layers": [ { "id": "controls-and-modes", "name": "Controls and modes", "description": "What can be set, what that changes, and what is interlocked.", "findings": [ { "id": "control-surface", "name": "Control surface and interlocks", "description": "The settings available and the conditions that block them.", "questions": [ { "id": "control-surface-q01", "text": "What controls and modes does plectrum have, and what does each change?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "control-surface-q02", "text": "Which actions are interlocked or forbidden in which state, and what must be true before acting?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] }, { "id": "condition-and-maintenance", "name": "Condition and maintenance", "description": "Wear, service intervals, consumables and the line between working and broken.", "findings": [ { "id": "service-record", "name": "Condition, service and consumables", "description": "What is consumed, what is serviced, and how condition is judged.", "questions": [ { "id": "service-record-q01", "text": "What consumables and service does plectrum need, at what interval, and on whose authority?", "kind": "measurement" }, { "id": "service-record-q02", "text": "What evidence separates a unit that is working from one that is out of service?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "kind-model-unit", "name": "Kind, model and unit", "description": "Whether a claim about plectrum is about the kind, a product line, or one physical unit.", "rationale": "This is the boundary most often got wrong for made things, and getting it wrong mixes a catalogue entry with the machine in the yard.", "layers": [ { "id": "level-of-reference", "name": "Level of reference", "description": "The three levels and what belongs at each.", "findings": [ { "id": "level-rules", "name": "What belongs to kind, model and unit", "description": "Which properties are shared by all of them and which are not.", "questions": [ { "id": "level-rules-q01", "text": "Which facts about plectrum hold for every one of them, which for a model, and which only for one unit?", "kind": "boundary" }, { "id": "level-rules-q02", "text": "What identifies an individual unit, and what should an agent do when it has only the kind?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] }, { "id": "standards-and-conformity", "name": "Standards and conformity", "description": "The standards a working example must meet and who attests it.", "findings": [ { "id": "conformity", "name": "Standards, marks and attestation", "description": "Which standard applies, who certifies, and what the mark means.", "questions": [ { "id": "conformity-q01", "text": "Which standards govern plectrum, issued by whom, and what does conformity actually assert?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "id": "conformity-q02", "text": "What may an agent conclude from a certification mark, and what may it not?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "provenance-and-evidence", "name": "Provenance, evidence and time", "description": "Where every claim about a plectrum came from and when it held.", "rationale": "A claim without a source and a time cannot be superseded, only overwritten, and an agent that overwrites loses the ability to explain itself.", "layers": [ { "id": "source-and-authority", "name": "Source and authority", "description": "Who said it, on what evidence, and how strongly.", "findings": [ { "id": "claim-provenance", "name": "Claim provenance and confidence", "description": "The authority behind each claim about a plectrum and how confident it is.", "questions": [ { "id": "claim-provenance-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes a claim about a plectrum, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about a claim about a plectrum, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once a claim about a plectrum is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "time-and-versions", "name": "Time, versions and supersession", "description": "When a claim was true, when it was learnt, and what replaced it.", "findings": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession", "name": "Validity period and supersession", "description": "How an old claim about a plectrum is retired without being erased.", "questions": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the validity of a claim about a plectrum, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the validity of a claim about a plectrum, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the validity of a claim about a plectrum is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "statistics": { "bundles": 8, "layers": 17, "findings": 19, "questions": 51 } } } }