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A factoid is an assertion in a document about a fact relating to people, objects, places, etc. It represents either what the source states or what a researcher has derived as the content of the source regarding that fact. In SDHSS, we distinguish between facts that represent phenomena occurring over time, which are modelled as subclasses of crm:E2 Temporal Entity, and factoids that are documented as described by the sources. Therefore, factoids can be considered to have the same substance as the class crm:E89 Propositional Object.

Multiple mentions of the same fact, multiple factoids, may be present in sources, presenting variations in time, participants, and so on, of the same fact. These are aggregated and condensed using the tools of historical criticism to become facts, i.e. representations of phenomena that are more or less well-identified, providing an account of spatiotemporal or social situations that occur over time. The epistemic level of factoids and facts is therefore distinct, as is their ontological substance.

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en