Categories for the Description of Works of Art
Encyclopedia
Categories for the Description of Works of Art (CDWA) describes the content of art databases by articulating a conceptual framework for describing and accessing information about works of art, architecture, other material culture, groups and collections of works, and related images. The CDWA includes 512 categories and subcategories. A small subset of categories are considered core in that they represent the minimum information necessary to identify and describe a work. The CDWA includes discussions, basic guidelines for cataloging, and examples.
The use of the CDWA framework will contribute to the integrity and longevity of data and will facilitate its inevitable migration to new systems as informational technology continues to evolve. Above all, it will help to give end-users consistent, reliable access to information, regardless of the system in which it resides.
These guidelines hopefully provide a common ground for reaching agreement on what information should be included in art information systems, and what information will be shared or exchanged with other institutions or systems. Target users are curators, registrars, researchers, information managers, and systems vendors.
Formed in the early 1990s, the task force was made up of representatives from the communities that provide and use art information: art historians, museum curators and registrars, visual resource professionals, art librarians, information managers, and technical specialists. The work of the AITF was funded by the J. Paul Getty Trust
, with a two-year matching grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities
(NEH) to the College Art Association
(CAA).
, the J. Paul Getty Trust
, and RLG Programs/OCLC
have worked together to develop an XML schema to describe cultural materials and their surrogates to provide an easier and more sustainable model for contributing to union resources. This initiative was driven by the absence of a data content standard specifically designed for unique cultural works, and a technical format for expressing this data in a machine-readable format.
The result of this effort is CDWA Lite, an XML schema based on the core
elements from Categories for the Description of Works of Art (CDWA), and Cataloging Cultural Objects. CDWA Lite is intentionally *lightweight,* to encourage
and facilitate its use even by small institutions in cataloging, online
publishing, and exposing metadata.
The purpose of this schema is to describe a format for core records for works of art and material culture, based on the data elements and guidelines contained in the CDWA and CCO. (CCO is based on a subset of the CDWA categories and VRA
Core.) CDWA Lite records are intended for contribution to union catalogs and other repositories using the Open Archives Initiative (OAI) harvesting protocol.
Purpose
The Categories provide a framework to which existing art information systems can be mapped and upon which new systems can be developed. In addition, the discussions in the CDWA identify vocabulary resources and descriptive practices that will make information residing in diverse systems both more compatible and more accessible.The use of the CDWA framework will contribute to the integrity and longevity of data and will facilitate its inevitable migration to new systems as informational technology continues to evolve. Above all, it will help to give end-users consistent, reliable access to information, regardless of the system in which it resides.
These guidelines hopefully provide a common ground for reaching agreement on what information should be included in art information systems, and what information will be shared or exchanged with other institutions or systems. Target users are curators, registrars, researchers, information managers, and systems vendors.
History
The CDWA is a product of the Art Information Task Force (AITF), which encouraged dialog between art historians, art information professionals, and information providers so that together they could develop guidelines for describing works of art, architecture, groups of objects, and visual and textual surrogates.Formed in the early 1990s, the task force was made up of representatives from the communities that provide and use art information: art historians, museum curators and registrars, visual resource professionals, art librarians, information managers, and technical specialists. The work of the AITF was funded by the J. Paul Getty Trust
J. Paul Getty Trust
The J. Paul Getty Trust is the world's wealthiest art institution with an estimated endowment in April 2009 of $US 4.2 billion. Based in Los Angeles, California, it operates the J. Paul Getty Museum, which has two locations, the Getty Center in Los Angeles and the Getty Villa in Pacific...
, with a two-year matching grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities
National Endowment for the Humanities
The National Endowment for the Humanities is an independent federal agency of the United States established by the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. The NEH is located at...
(NEH) to the College Art Association
College Art Association
The College Art Association of America is the principal professional association in the United States for practitioners and scholars of art, art history, and art criticism...
(CAA).
CDWA Lite
ARTstorARTstor
ARTstor is a non-profit organization that builds and distributes the Digital Library, an online resource of more than one million images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and sciences. The ARTstor Digital Library also includes a set of software tools to view, present, and manage images for...
, the J. Paul Getty Trust
J. Paul Getty Trust
The J. Paul Getty Trust is the world's wealthiest art institution with an estimated endowment in April 2009 of $US 4.2 billion. Based in Los Angeles, California, it operates the J. Paul Getty Museum, which has two locations, the Getty Center in Los Angeles and the Getty Villa in Pacific...
, and RLG Programs/OCLC
OCLC
OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. is "a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world’s information and reducing information costs"...
have worked together to develop an XML schema to describe cultural materials and their surrogates to provide an easier and more sustainable model for contributing to union resources. This initiative was driven by the absence of a data content standard specifically designed for unique cultural works, and a technical format for expressing this data in a machine-readable format.
The result of this effort is CDWA Lite, an XML schema based on the core
elements from Categories for the Description of Works of Art (CDWA), and Cataloging Cultural Objects. CDWA Lite is intentionally *lightweight,* to encourage
and facilitate its use even by small institutions in cataloging, online
publishing, and exposing metadata.
The purpose of this schema is to describe a format for core records for works of art and material culture, based on the data elements and guidelines contained in the CDWA and CCO. (CCO is based on a subset of the CDWA categories and VRA
Visual Resources Association
The Visual Resources Association is an international organization for image media professionals,VRA was founded in 1982 by slide librarians who were members of the College Art Association , the South Eastern Art Conference , the Art Libraries Society of North America , and the Mid-America College...
Core.) CDWA Lite records are intended for contribution to union catalogs and other repositories using the Open Archives Initiative (OAI) harvesting protocol.
See also
- Cataloging Cultural Objects
- Getty Vocabulary ProgramGetty Vocabulary ProgramThe Getty Vocabulary Program is a department within the Getty Research Institute at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California. It produces and maintains the Getty controlled vocabulary databases, Art and Architecture Thesaurus, Union List of Artist Names, and Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names....
- Visual Resources AssociationVisual Resources AssociationThe Visual Resources Association is an international organization for image media professionals,VRA was founded in 1982 by slide librarians who were members of the College Art Association , the South Eastern Art Conference , the Art Libraries Society of North America , and the Mid-America College...
- Metadata standardsMetadata standardsMetadata standards are requirements which are intended to establish a common understanding of the meaning or semantics of the data, to ensure correct and proper use and interpretation of the data by its owners and users...
External links
- CDWA home page
- CDWA Lite and Museumdat: New Developments in Metadata Standards 2008 Annual Conference of CIDOC; Regine Stein and Erin Coburn.
- JISC Standards Catalogue CDWA
- Metadata Textbook Website Index Marcia L. Zeng and Jian Qin, 2008.
- Choosing a Metadata Standard for your Digital Project Indiana University Digital Library Program; Metadata Librarian Jenn Riley; 2007 handout.
- Museum Computer Network Standards Resources Museum Computer NetworkMuseum Computer NetworkThe Museum Computer Network is a US-based non-profit organization for professionals with an interest in the use of computer technology for museums. It runs an annual conference, the MCN-L discussion forum, special interest groups, an online directory of museum websites, etc. Members include...
- Training materials for Vocabularies and Standards Maintained by the Getty Vocabulary Program
- Conference.Archimuse
- Data Harvesting and Interchange Working Group (CIDOC)