Smell and Wikimedia

Welcome

Does it smell?!

Smell is the ability of an individual to perceive a "scent" "aroma" or an "odor". There are "smell" related studies in virtually all human endeavour, there is smell in medicine, arts, culture, tradition, library, engineering and others. Smell is an important part of human experience, which can be better represented across Wikimedia projects. If the movement wishes to represent the sum of all human knowledge, we need to think about smell on Wikidata.

Smell helps us (& others) understand the world, It can be subjective, but chemical signatures make it definable. It is diagnostic, it is relational (smells like), and varies from person to person.

This page was started to support a session entitled 'Smell and Wikidata' at Wikimania Katowice.

Wikimania 2024

Smell and wikidata (blue)

Volunteers Onwuka Glory and Lucy Moore presented about the intersection between smell and Wikidata at Wikimania 2024. You can watch a recording of the session here (starts at time stamp). Notes for the session are on this etherpad.

Some of the discussion was based on this conversation around remodelling perfume note to 'smells of'.

Interested in getting involved?

Add your username here

Post-session ideas and actions

Glory and I wanted to run the session to start a wider conversation about how smell can be recorded better by our community. Since Lucy was onsite in Katowice, and Glory was not able to travel due to no scholarship, Lucy was the one who carried on many of the one:one conversations with attendees. We have recorded most of the points below, but please add more, either here or on the talk page. They are divided into actions, suggestions and ideas. Some were added to a google sheet in the session.

Actions

Set up a Wikidata Project for smell (see) DONE (along with Wikidata item and Commons category) WikiProject Smell

Suggestions

Point in time qualifier might be useful for some examples
More smell-related events
Odour file format (future format for Wikidata)

Ideas

Smell and foraging/plant identification
Fictional smells e.g. what does a snozzcumber from Roald Dahl's Big Friendly Giant smell like?
Aromas in fiction - Proust's madeleine's, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory
Differences between smell of fresh/dried plants
"Smells like sex" common e.g. hawthorn blossom - ?what kind of sex is being referred to (presumably heterosexual)
Washing powders
House-mould can be good/bad in some situation (e.g. Finland)
Sensory data in the future, e.g.: cinema experiences - that's why it's important to record smell now
Add smells to wine on Wikidata because the smell profiles are established. A: issues with distinguishing the smell and taste of wine
Coriander: some people like it, to others it tastes like soap. How do you manage how things smell differently to different people? A: Could add a qualifier e.g.: differences in coriander perception is due to genetic conditions
Adding odour data for specific chemicals as safety data (exp. cyanide smelling like almond; gasoline odour) [from User:Peaceseekers]
"For a future time when devices can emanate smell (like some cinemas already can do) we should be able to store actual smell files on Wikidata that can reach the reader and can be reproduced at their devices." [from User:Gereon K]
(This is coming from an anosmic, so it might be not relevant) Could it make sense to mark if the smell is distinctive or mild? I hear it is fairly common. I imagine it to be a modifier to the property. [from User:czupirek]
SNIFFER DOGS - what is the property for X can smell Y??
- Sniffer dogs detect: low blood sugar - Q202758, SARS-CoV-2 - Q84263196, elephant ivory - Q29838213, epileptic seizures - Q6279182 (ref)
- Giant rats detect tuberculosis - Q12204 (ref)

Perhaps P366 has use could work, though something more specific would be nicer (will keep looking)

Beyond Wikidata

We invite editors from around the world to expand content relating to our senses of smell across Wikimedia projects.

There are a wide range of ways that the community can get involved:

adding smell-related properties to items on Wikidata
categorizing media on Wikimedia Commons
expanding smell-related content on any language Wikipedia
translate items like olfactory art or property smells of

Some examples to add
Item	Link	What to add	Property	Reference	Username
chanterelles	Q3942018	Smell of apricots	Property	http://website.nbm-mnb.ca/mycologywebpages/EssaysOnFungi/Collecting_mushrooms_for_scientific_study/Odour.html	lizarelf
Lactarius hibbardae	Q10315307	fungi smells of coconut	Smells of	http://website.nbm-mnb.ca/mycologywebpages/EssaysOnFungi/Collecting_mushrooms_for_scientific_study/Odour.html
Lactarius camphoratus	Q28951	Fungi smells of fenugreek	Smells of	http://website.nbm-mnb.ca/mycologywebpages/EssaysOnFungi/Collecting_mushrooms_for_scientific_study/Odour.html
Inocybe lacera	Q2992882	Fungi smells of human semen (?what do other species' semen smell of?	Smells of	http://website.nbm-mnb.ca/mycologywebpages/EssaysOnFungi/Collecting_mushrooms_for_scientific_study/Odour.html
Peter de Cupere	Q22236641	Add olfactory artists	as occupation	https://mag.bynez.com/en/readings/scent-in-context-olfactory-art-peter-de-cupere/
Nadia Kaabi-Linke	Q23950434	Add olfactory artists	as occupation	https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20150920-revealing-the-invisible-interview-with-tunisian-russian-artist-nadia-kaabi-linke/
Que salive l’horizon	new wikidata item	Olfactory sculpture by	Julie C Fortier	https://mag.bynez.com/en/fairs-events/artworks-to-smell-around-the-world-this-spring/
Soft memory	new wikidata item	Olfactory sculpture by de Cupere	has image on Commons	https://elephant.art/what-does-art-smell-henry-hitchings/1024px-soft_memory_-_peter_de_cupere_2/
Smell (2012)	new wikidata item	textile work by Kaabi-Linke	images on Commons	https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20150920-revealing-the-invisible-interview-with-tunisian-russian-artist-nadia-kaabi-linke/	Example