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The GND’s authority data records

Icon "The GND’s authority data records"

An authority record describes a specific entity in a rule-based manner. In the GND (Integrated Authority File), there are authority records for various types of entities: persons, corporate bodies, conferences, geographic locations, subject headings, and works that are related to cultural and scientific collections in various fields. Depending on the entity, an authority data record contains additional information, besides the defined name, that characterizes the entity. A network of relationships is established through connections to other authority data records.

A diamond refracts rays like a prism. The white rays coming from the left list the requirements. The colorful rays extruding to the right list the properties that an authority data record should feature. What an authority data record ought to be and do. © 2021, Martha Rosenkötter (DDK) CC BY SA

The authority data in the GND are collaboratively created and managed. They are shaped by their origin and application in the library field. Here, they serve for the consistent creation of metadata, providing clear entry points for searches. Authority data is used for the secure identification of the entities they describe, ensuring the disambiguation of entities with the same name, for example. Additionally, authority data offers a controlled vocabulary that allows for various possibilities of connecting different information resources. Therefore, they are of particular interest to archives, museums, cultural and scientific institutions, as well as researchers in research projects. Currently, there are ten million data records in the GND.

You can find authrity records in the GND for the following subject areas and entities:

  • Personalities of public interest, authors, individuals from the cultural sphere, historical and fictional characters.
  • Geographical names of countries, places, and natural geographic units, with a focus on the German-speaking region.
  • Corporate bodies that primarily operate or have operated in the German-speaking region.
  • Subject terms or general concepts from the fields of culture and humanities, and beyond.
  • Literary works, musical compositions, works of cultural heritage, and architectural structures.
  • Conferences and meetings that regularly publish series of writings or are of public interest.

The chart shows the percentage distribution of entity types in the GND. Statistical overview of the distribution of entity types in the GND.

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Modification date: Oct 12, 2023