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OCLC

Research : Projects : Virtual international authority file

VIAF: The Virtual International Authority File

A joint project with the Library of Congress and Die Deutsche Bibliothek, VIAF explores virtually combining the name authority files of both institutions into a single name authority service.

About This Project

Die Deutsche Bibliothek, the Library of Congress, and OCLC are jointly conducting a project to match and link the authority records for personal names in the retrospective personal name authority files of Die Deutsche Bibliothek and the Library of Congress.

Why OCLC is conducting this research and how it helps libraries

  • OCLC has proven software for matching and linking authority records for personal names.
  • That software will be used to match the authority records from Die Deutsche Bibliothek to the corresponding authority records from the Library of Congress.
  • Once the existing authority records are linked, shared OAI servers will be established to maintain the authority files and to provide user access to the files.
    • Users then will be able to see names displayed in the most appropriate language.
      • For example, German users will be able to see a name displayed in the form established by the Die Deutsche Bibliothek, while
      • American users will view the name as established by LC.
      • Users in either country will be able to view name records as established by the other nation, thus making the authorities truly international and facilitating research across languages anywhere in the world.

Research team