Developing a Tool for Publishing Linked Local Authority Data

Abstract

Efforts are underway to publish archival authority information in linked, open, machine-readable data standards. However, these efforts have not yet scaled down to smaller institutions or to the long tail of authority records maintained on an institution-by-institution basis (often non–standards-based) about entities of local (rather than national or international) significance. This article documents the initial steps toward developing a shared authority tool for a collective of cultural institutions with shared collecting affinities, whether those affinities are geographic, thematic, or otherwise. This planned service will complement shared authority services such as the Virtual International Authority File (VIAF) and the Social Networks and Archival Context (SNAC) project, providing a means for institutions managing authority data about people, organizations, and families not typically found in authority files centered around bibliographic metadata to share that data with other institutions.