The STONEBUILT Ireland relational database was built to fit within the constraints of the existing WordPress website, using the underlying database management system (MariaDB). Database management is primarily done using phpMyAdmin and via a WordPress plugin (WP Data Access).
The database consists of 41 linked tables, of which 23 are dictionary tables. Dictionaries are based on existing resources where possible. For example:
- GSI Bedrock Geology 1:100,000 attribute table for stratigraphic units
- Townlands.ie for townlands
- ISO 3166-2:IE for counties
- Pevsner Architectural Glossary 2016 for architectural features and styles
- Macrostrat for material types
Explore the basic database structure here: https://ufarrell.github.io/stonebuiltireland/
The primary tables are “heritage_site” (buildings/monuments), “material” (building stones, bricks), “material_source” (quarries, brickfields) and “person” (architects, builders etc.). A simplified data model below shows how these are linked.
Where possible identifiers and/or URLs are stored to facilitate connections with relevant external databases, especially those of interest to collaborators and other stakeholders (Table 1).
| Organizations/Other Databases | STONEBUILT Table(s) |
|---|---|
| Office of Public Works (OPW) | heritage_site |
| Dictionary of Irish Architects (DIA) | person, heritage_site |
| National Inventory of Irish Architecture (NIAH) | heritage_site |
| Trinity College Dublin Geological Museum (TCDGM) | material_sample |
| Northern Ireland Natural Stone Database | material |
| Scottish Building Stone Database | material |
Website
Customized pages (PHP/HTML/CSS) are used to present the data for individual Materials, Material Sources and Heritage Sites (via a “child theme“). We also use various wordpress plugins for data tables, maps, bibliographies and charts (Table 2).
| Plugin | Use |
| WP Data Access | Searchable, responsive data tables; charts; data entry forms; some aspects of data management |
| Leaflet | Maps |
| Zotpress | Formatted bibliographies, from a shared Zotero reference library |