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Records and Concepts

Records are structured items used to capture and review information in Octostar. Each record is an instance of a concept. A concept is a type defined in the Ontology— the platform’s data model. Examples of concepts include Person, Organization, Event, Place, or Object.

Ontology and Its Role​

The Ontology defines the structure of data in Octostar. It determines how records are described and how they can be connected to each other, ensuring that data behaves consistently across search, analysis, and visualizations. The Ontology determines:

  • Fields – properties a record can have, such as names, identifiers, dates, or locations.
  • Connections – relationships a record can establish with other records, such as employed_by, communicates_with, or located_at.

Consistency Across Platforms​

Because records adhere to the Ontology, entity details and links remain consistent across various platforms, including Search, the Record Viewer, dashboards, and Link Charts.