8.4. PERSON FORMAT 8.4 PERSON FORMAT A record that is produced using the Person Format is a “snapshot” of an individual or group at one point in time. Updates may be added directly to the format as per the instructions in Entry principles, section 6: Updates at the beginning of this chapter. The Biographic Details Format is used to record additional personal information, and often links a Person to another. Information on marriages, employment, affiliation or other relationships among individuals and/or groups can be entered using the Biographic Details Format. This format is particularly effective when chronologies are required, for example about employment, education, domestic situations, affiliations etc. The Person Format is used to record information on any individual or group and may or may not have a link to another format. A link to the Event via the Act Format indicates that the Person has the role of Victim, i.e. is an individual or group who is the subject of violations and similar acts. In cases of acts against large groups of people, when many specific details cannot be collected about each victim, it may be useful to obtain complete Person information from a small sampling of victims. A link to the Act (and therefore indirectly to the Victim and to the Event) via the Involvement Format shows the Person in the role of Perpetrator. The perpetrator could be an army unit, guerrilla group, mob, individual soldier, government official or anyone else who commits a violent act against another individual or group, or otherwise fails to meet obligations toward the latter, such as in the non-fulfilment of certain legitimate demands. When the perpetrator is an organisation, it may be useful to collect specific information concerning key people in the organisation, using the Biographic Details Format, which can also be used to record additional information about individual perpetrators. Linking a Person to the Event via the Information Format identifies the Person as a Source. Likewise the Information Format linking two Persons shows that one is a source of information about the other. The Information Format does not refer to specific source materials, but rather provides information about the source (individual or group) as a whole. The Information Format provides the link between the Person (Source) and the Event or Person described by the information. Therefore, each Person (Source) record must have a corresponding Information record. When the source is an organisation, it may be useful to collect specific information concerning key people in the organisation. The Biographic Details Format can be used to connect these key people with the organisation. Examples:  A witness might supply the information about the Event.  A relative of the victim might supply the information entered into the Person (Victim) record.  A government official might supply some of the information on the perpetrator in a particular Event.  A doctor might supply information on the health of a victim or on the medical facilities in a community. 138