Hello, I don’t know if this idea requires its own talk session or if it could be folded into some of the others, but here goes. I’m currently a cataloging librarian, so naturally my focus is on bibliographic metadata. Since I work in an art library, I catalog a lot of art books, but I sometimes wonder if the cataloging I do is sufficient. In particular, I’ve been wondering if art researchers would appreciate knowing what works of art are reproduced or described in a given publication. This would probably require more time and effort than most cataloging outfits can afford, but I’m hoping that current technology might reduce some of that to manageable levels. A couple ideas:

• Scanning lists of illustrations/plates into PDFs that can be linked from the catalog record, the way some libraries currently do with tables of contents
• Using trusted sources of (linked) open data, such as CONA or museum websites, to identify works of art and possibly even verify/record their publication histories

Of course, there are potential issues with this. Simply digitizing published information may not be sufficient; for example, how would one account for artworks that are untitled, retitled, or even mis-titled? Some form of authority control might help, but that would require even more time and research on the part of the cataloger; imagine having to do that for 10, 20, or 100+ works in a single monograph. Finally, where would this information—scans, metadata, etc.—be stored/kept? For now, though, the foremost question in my mind is the one I started with: does anyone, aside from me, want to know what artworks are in what books?

Hi all,

Would love to brainstorm how to implement linked data on a variety of cultural heritage institutional metadata. We’ve been working on a project about artist books and enhancing with Getty LOD vocabs and would love to get a feel for how or if others are thinking about how to enhance their legacy data to be more usable for others. Some thoughts about what would be discussed:

• What to do with legacy data – what forms it takes, what is best for the objects and what is best for interoperability?
• Identifying relevant tools for cleaning and enhancing data, such as OpenRefine, Heidelberg tool?
• Relevant team members for such a project, including domain expert and metadata and systems experts – how to communicate effectively across multiple expertise backgrounds
• Balancing over- or underenhancement, particularly for works of art
• What are some ways to visualize connections and relationships between creators and artifacts?
• How can we ensure that a project is sustainable?

Maybe someone would be interested in leading a session about exploring collection data, such as Github releases (MOMA, Cooper Hewitt, NYPL), and what kinds of tools are available (Viewshare, Palladio, others.) This could be either a discussion of things people/institutions have already done or a group exploration at THATCamp.