Identification and representation

Include people and groups affected positively or negatively, decision authorities, implementers, funders, regulators, service providers, knowledge holders, informal leaders, critics, future users, environmental interests, and actors who may be unable or unwilling to participate.

Voice mode, actor status, and shareability

• Direct: a qualifying record has the same actor as subject and contributor, contains a statement, and—if imported or AI-origin—has human review. Record whether the actor-level status is current or historical.
• Authorized representative: a qualifying record identifies the contributor, contains the statement, states the mandate and limits, and records consent as granted or not applicable. It also requires human review when imported or AI-origin.
• Proxy or facilitator entry: preserve who reported or entered the perspective, its mandate and consent qualification. It never becomes direct or accountable voice merely because it was recorded.
• Documentary evidence: distinguish evidence about an actor from a statement by that actor.
• Anonymized or restricted: these are sharing rules, not voice modes. Retain only the minimum information needed for interpretation and never infer publication permission.
• Absent, not engaged, declined, or unknown: these actor-level voice states keep the gap visible. Absence is not agreement.

The actor-level voice status and the underlying record must agree. A label such as “direct current” or “authorized representative” without a matching qualifying record is a validation finding.

Avoid treating a broad category—“community,” “staff,” “users”—as homogeneous. Split it when impacts, interests, power, access, or experience differ materially. Keep uncertain possible matches as separate records and note the uncertainty; the workbench never merges people automatically.

For sensitive actors, minimize personal information and consider whether a group-level record is safer than a named record. A restricted actor cannot enter a public handoff. Other selected actors need publication consent recorded as granted or not applicable, or a non-identifying public label; the public projection uses the public label first and never exposes the internal actor record.