Assesses Wikidata's potential for artist identity management in libraries, suggesting benefits over traditional methods.
The Library of Congress Name Authority File (LCNAF) has traditionally offered centralized, standardized authority control of artist names, artwork titles, and subjects in library metadata. Built on human-readable, string-based access points and controlled vocabularies, these legacy records are less adaptable to today's interconnected information environment. Libraries have begun working collaboratively to explore a shift from traditional authority control toward more flexible, URI-based entity management within a Linked Open Data (LOD) framework such as Wikidata. As part of the PCC EMCO Early Adopters Program, the National Gallery of Art Library conducted a study to assess the potential for the management of artist identities in Wikidata in comparison to LCNAF. This presentation outlines our workflows and highlights key findings, including challenges encountered and opportunities uncovered, and provides practical insights for institutions considering similar approaches.
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Bae et al. (2026) studied this question.
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