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International String Figure Association

nonprofit organization

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 31, 2026
Entity authorityQ11422289
Source-derived summary

The International String Figure Association is not-for-profit organization for the preservation, dissemination, and creation of string figures. The association was founded in Japan in 1978 by mathematician Hiroshi Noguchi and Anglican missionary Philip Noble, and is now run by Mark Sherman out of California. Members have included Honor Maude. ISFA publishes the Bulletin of the International String Figure Association (ISSN 1076-7886) annually, ISFA News semi-annually, and String Figure Magazine quarterly (ISSN 1087-1527).

Mission and activities

The mission of the ISFA is to "gather, preserve, and distribute string figure knowledge so that future generations will continue to enjoy" them.

Activities of the association include working backwards and attempting variations to solve "Figures Known Only from the Finished Pattern". Other activities include the Arctic String Figure Project.

See also

List of string figures

Bibliography

International String Figure Association. Fascinating String Figures. ISBN 0-486-40400-5.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “International String Figure Association” is nonprofit organization. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through International, String and Figure, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA strong contextual entry point for chronology, institutions and public events when official records are distinguished from later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1978, 1076, 1087, 1527—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1993. For this dossier, International, String and Figure is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “nonprofit organization” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Contemporary correspondence, administrative files and participant testimony can test how later narratives organized the event or institution. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q11422289. VIAF identifies the subject as 133477409. The Library of Congress control number is no95037307. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1978, 1076, 1087 and 1527.

Critical limits

Later summaries often reconcile disputed chronology or motive more neatly than the contemporary record permits. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Compare institutional narratives with records created by participants and affected communities. Dates and formal titles are useful anchors, but not substitutes for context.

Best used for
  • Event chronology
  • Institutional context
  • Locating named record creators
Verify next

Contemporary correspondence, government or organizational records, oral histories and cited historical scholarship.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “International String Figure Association”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow International String Figure Association primary sources, International String Figure Association archive and International research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “International String Figure Association”?
  2. Who created the surviving record, and for what administrative purpose?
  3. Which voices are present, absent or mediated by the institution?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from International String Figure Association” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.