How may we model gender to account for its diversity while remaining simple enough to implement and query? We address why gender diversity needs to be represented in databases, especially when confronted with historical sources. Analysing examples of gender modelling in established metadata schemata and descriptive data models, we propose a model that strikes a balance between a detailed and flexible ontology that returns valid results even for naïve data queries. We introduce the use of gender qualifiers, which allow nuanced statements on how the gender information was formulated. Use of the proposed modelling strategies are demonstrated following the Wikibase data model.

Funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany's Excellence Strategy in the context of the Cluster of Excellence Temporal Communities: Doing Literature in a Global Perspective – EXC 2020 – Project ID 390608380.