Repository Entity

← Back to Entity Types

Overview

A Repository entity represents an institution, archive, library, or organization that holds genealogical sources. Repositories provide the physical or virtual location where evidence is housed and can be accessed.

File Format

All GENEALOGIX files use entity type keys at the top level:

# Any .glx file (commonly in repositories/ directory)
repositories:
  repository-national-archives:
    name: "The National Archives"
    type: archive
    website: "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk"

Key Points:

• Entity ID is the map key (repository-national-archives)
• IDs can be descriptive or random, 1-64 alphanumeric/hyphens

Core Concepts

Repository Types

GENEALOGIX supports various repository types:

• Archive: Government or historical archive (national, regional, local)
• Library: Public, university, or specialty library
• Museum: Museum with genealogical collections
• Registry: Civil registration office or vital records office
• Database: Online genealogical database service
• Church: Church or religious organization archives
• Historical Society: Local historical society
• University: University special collections or archives
• Government Agency: Government record-keeping agency
• Other: Other institution type

See Vocabularies - Repository Types for:

• Complete list of standard repository types
• How to add custom repository types
• Vocabulary file structure and examples

Fields

Required Fields

Field	Type	Description
Entity ID (map key)	string	Unique identifier (alphanumeric/hyphens, 1-64 chars)
name	string	Name of the repository

Optional Fields

Field	Type	Description
type	string	Repository type (see types above)
address	string	Physical address
city	string	City/town
state_province	string	State or province
postal_code	string	Postal/zip code
country	string	Country
website	string	URL to repository website
properties	object	Vocabulary-defined properties (see below)
notes	string	Free-form notes

Design note: Address fields (address, city, state_province, postal_code, country) are kept as direct entity fields rather than properties because they are core identifying attributes of a repository, analogous to name. They are not expected to change over time or vary by context, unlike contact details (phones, emails) which are in properties.

Note: Properties defined with multi_value: true in the vocabulary (such as phones, emails, holding_types) accept either a single string value or a YAML array. A single string is treated as a one-element array. Examples below use single strings for brevity; use arrays when multiple values are needed.

Properties

Contact information and access details are stored in the properties field. The following are standard properties from the default vocabulary; archives can define additional properties by extending the vocabulary:

Property	Type	Description
phones	string[]	Phone number(s) for the repository
emails	string[]	Email address(es) for the repository
fax	string	Fax number
access_hours	string	Hours of operation/access
access_restrictions	string	Any restrictions on access
holding_types	string[]	Types of materials held
external_ids	string[]	External identifiers (FamilySearch, WikiTree, etc.)

See Vocabularies - Repository Properties for the full vocabulary definition.

Usage Patterns

Simple Local Repository

repositories:
  repository-leeds-library:
    name: "Leeds Library - Local Studies"
    type: library
    address: "Market Street"
    city: "Leeds"
    state_province: "Yorkshire"
    country: "England"
    website: "https://www.leeds.gov.uk/libraries"
    properties:
      phones: "+44 113 247 6000"

National Archive

repositories:
  repository-tna:
    name: "The National Archives"
    type: archive
    address: "Kew, Richmond"
    city: "London"
    country: "England"
    website: "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk"
    properties:
      phones: "+44 20 8876 3444"
      emails: "enquiry@nationalarchives.gov.uk"
      access_hours: "Monday-Friday 9am-5pm"
      holding_types:
        - "government records"
        - "microfilm"
        - "digital images"
      access_restrictions: "Some records require appointment"

Online Database

repositories:
  repository-ancestry:
    name: "Ancestry.com"
    type: database
    website: "https://www.ancestry.com"
    properties:
      access_hours: "24/7"
      holding_types:
        - "census records"
        - "vital records"
        - "military records"
        - "church records"
        - "newspapers"
      access_restrictions: "Subscription required"

Church Archive

repositories:
  repository-stpauls:
    name: "St Paul's Cathedral Archive"
    type: church
    address: "St Paul's Churchyard"
    city: "London"
    country: "England"
    properties:
      phones: "+44 20 7246 8348"
      emails: "archive@stpauls.co.uk"
      holding_types:
        - "parish registers"
        - "marriage records"
        - "baptismal records"
        - "manuscripts"
      access_restrictions: "By appointment only"

Repository in Sources

Repositories are referenced from Source entities:

sources:
  source-tna-wills:
    title: "Wills and Probate Records"
    repository: repository-tna
    description: "Wills proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury"

File Organization

Note: File organization is flexible. Entities can be in any .glx file with any directory structure. The example below shows one-entity-per-file organization, which is recommended for collaborative projects (better git diffs) but not required.

Repository files are typically stored in a repositories/ directory:

repositories/
├── archives/
│   ├── repository-tna.glx
│   ├── repository-spa.glx
│   └── repository-local.glx
├── libraries/
│   ├── repository-bm.glx
│   └── repository-leeds.glx
├── churches/
│   ├── repository-stpauls.glx
│   └── repository-westminster.glx
├── online/
│   ├── repository-ancestry.glx
│   ├── repository-familysearch.glx
│   └── repository-findmypast.glx
└── other/
    └── repository-custom.glx

Validation Rules

• name must be present and non-empty
• type must be from the repository types vocabulary
• If website is specified, it should be a valid URL
• Properties should be from the repository properties vocabulary (unknown properties generate warnings)

GEDCOM Mapping

GLX Field	GEDCOM Tag	Notes
Entity ID (map key)	(synthetic)	Not in GEDCOM
name	REPO.NAME	Repository name
address	REPO.ADDR	Repository address
website	REPO.WWW	Website (non-standard)
properties.phones	REPO.PHON	Phone number(s)
properties.emails	REPO.EMAIL	Email address(es)
properties.external_ids	REPO.EXID	External identifiers (GEDCOM 7.0)

Access Information

Best practices for recording repository access:

• Include both physical address and website URL if applicable
• Note any access restrictions in properties.access_restrictions
• Record hours of operation in properties.access_hours
• Include contact details in properties.phones and properties.emails
• Document types of materials held in properties.holding_types

Related Entities

• Source: References specific collections within repositories
• Citation: May reference repository location information via Source
• Holdings: Detailed inventory of materials within repository

Schema Reference

See repository.schema.json for the complete JSON Schema definition.

See Also

• Source Entity - Collections held in repositories
• Citation Entity - References to specific materials in repositories