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Knowledge Graph User Guide

The Knowledge Graph visualizes relationships between entities (people, organizations, places, dates) extracted from your archival records using AI-powered Named Entity Recognition (NER).

Overview

The Knowledge Graph helps you:

  • Discover connections between people, places, and organizations across your collection
  • Explore relationships through an interactive visualization
  • Navigate from entities to related records
  • Filter searches by AI-extracted entities

Accessing the Knowledge Graph

From the Heritage Landing Page

  1. Navigate to /heritage
  2. In the "Explore By" section, click Knowledge Graph

Direct URL

Navigate to /heritage/graph

Understanding the Visualization

Node Types and Colors

Entity Type Color Icon
Person Blue Person icon
Organization Green Building icon
Place Red Map pin icon
Date Purple Calendar icon
Event Teal Calendar event icon
Work Pink Document icon

Node Size

Larger nodes indicate entities that appear in more records.

Connections (Edges)

Lines between nodes represent co-occurrence - entities that appear together in the same records. Thicker lines indicate stronger relationships (more frequent co-occurrence).

Interacting with the Graph

  • Pan: Click and drag the background
  • Zoom: Use mouse scroll wheel or pinch gesture
  • Reset View: Click the reset button in the controls

Selecting Entities

  • Click a node to view entity details in the side panel
  • Double-click to focus the graph on that entity

Filtering

Use the checkboxes to show/hide entity types: - People - Organizations - Places - Dates

Entity Detail Panel

When you click an entity, the side panel shows:

Summary

  • Entity name and type
  • Confidence score (High/Medium/Low)
  • Number of occurrences

Statistics

  • Total occurrences across records
  • Number of related entities
  • Average confidence score
  • Other entities frequently appearing with this one
  • Click to navigate to related entities

Found In

  • Records containing this entity
  • Click to view the full record

Actions

  • Search Records: Find all records mentioning this entity
  • View in Graph: Center the graph on this entity

Entity Detail Page

For more information about an entity, click "View Details" or navigate to:

/heritage/entity/{type}/{value}

Example: /heritage/entity/place/South%20Africa

Page Sections

  1. Header: Entity name, type badge, occurrence count, confidence indicator
  2. Records: List of archival records containing this entity
  3. Related Entities: Other entities connected through co-occurrence
  4. Details: Metadata including first/last seen dates
  5. External Links: Links to authority records, Wikidata, VIAF (if available)

Filtering Searches by Entity

From the Graph

  1. Click an entity node
  2. In the detail panel, click Search Records
  3. View filtered search results

From Explore Page

  1. Navigate to /heritage/explore/place (or other entity type)
  2. Click on a specific place/person/organization
  3. View records tagged with that entity

From Search Page

Use the filter sidebar to select: - Place: Geographic locations - Creator: People and organizations - People (AI): NER-extracted persons - Organizations (AI): NER-extracted organizations - Places (AI): NER-extracted locations

How Entities are Extracted

Named Entity Recognition (NER)

The system uses AI to automatically identify entities in: - Record titles - Scope and content descriptions - Attached PDF documents

Confidence Scores

Each extracted entity has a confidence score:

Level Score Badge
High 90%+ Green
Medium 70-89% Yellow
Low Below 70% Grey

Only entities with 70%+ confidence appear in the Knowledge Graph.

Review Process

Extracted entities go through a review workflow: 1. Pending: Awaiting review 2. Approved: Verified and included in graph 3. Linked: Connected to authority record 4. Rejected: Excluded from graph

Tips for Effective Use

Discovering Connections

  1. Start with a known entity (person, place, or organization)
  2. Explore connected entities
  3. Follow the path to discover unexpected relationships

Research Workflows

  1. Use the graph to identify key figures in a topic
  2. Find geographic connections
  3. Discover organizational relationships
  4. Track events and dates

Quality Indicators

  • Larger nodes = more frequently mentioned
  • Thicker connections = stronger relationships
  • High confidence badges = more reliable extraction

Keyboard Shortcuts

Key Action
+ / - Zoom in/out
0 Reset zoom
Esc Close entity panel
Arrow keys Pan view

Troubleshooting

Graph Not Loading

  1. Ensure JavaScript is enabled
  2. Check browser console for errors
  3. Try refreshing the page
  4. Clear browser cache

No Entities Showing

  1. Verify NER extraction has been run on records
  2. Check that entities have been approved
  3. Ensure confidence threshold is met (70%+)

Missing Connections

Entities must appear in the same record to show a connection. Records processed at different times may not show all relationships until the graph is rebuilt.

Administrator Notes

Syncing Entities

Run periodically to sync new approved entities: 

php symfony ai:sync-entity-cache

Rebuilding the Graph

Rebuild to include new relationships: 

php symfony heritage:build-graph

Statistics

View current graph statistics: 

php symfony heritage:build-graph --stats

Support

For technical issues or questions, contact your system administrator or refer to the Technical Documentation.