Artists Unite! Collaborative and interoperable metadata using ISNIs

Artists Unite! is a cross-sectoral collaboration project focused on International Standard Name Identifiers (ISNI). It will experiment with new information exchange processes enabled by ISNIs between copyright management organisations and art museums.

The project involves Kuvasto (the Finnish copyright society for visual artists), the Finnish Museums Association and Finland’s Art and Art Collections Co-operative. The National Library of Finland coordinates the project in the capacity of the national ISNI registration agency.

Goal and tasks

The purpose of the project is to facilitate the reporting process between Kuvasto and the Finnish Museums Association through automation and the acquisition of ISNIs for visual artists. ISNIs will be acquired for the estimated 3,000–3,500 visual artists whose details have been recorded in the Museums Association’s MuseumPlus system or the co-operative’s Muusa system.

Additional goals are to standardise and enrich art museums’ creator metadata in the above systems, establish the conditions for adopting ISNIs in the museums’ information systems, and promote the recognition of ISNIs throughout the Finnish museum sector.

Influence

The project is closely connected to the ongoing ISNI project framework of Finnish copyright management organisations which will acquire ISNIs for five such organisations (including Kuvasto) and develop a continuous ISNI process using effective interfaces.

The project offers a clearly defined and practical context for demonstrating the benefits of ISNIs and serving as an example for future solutions.

 

Project partners and funders

Project setters

Ministry of Education and Culture
Kuvasto

Tenure

-

Project status

In progress

Financing

The Ministry of Education and Culture has granted a subsidy to copyright management organisations for redesigning cultural and creative services, developing production and operating models and promoting digitalisation. Further information on this structural support for the cultural and creative sectors can be found on the Ministry’s website (in Finnish).

The support is part of Finland’s Recovery and Resilience Plan, funded by the NextGenerationEU programmes, the EU’s one-off emergency instrument.

Schedule

The project will continue until the end of 2024.

Collaboration

The participants are Kuvasto, the Finnish Museums Association and Finland’s Art and Art Collections Co-operative. The National Library of Finland coordinates the project in the capacity of the national ISNI registration agency. To access the websites of the participating organisations, please click on their logos.