1. 28 Februari 2014
The Art & Architecture
Thesaurus
as a LOD standard
This presentation contains information from Art
& Architecture Thesaurus (AAT)® which is made
available under the ODC Attribution License
drs. R.G.P. Weda
Dutch AAT
RKD (Netherlands Institute for Art History)

2. Content
 Introduction
 The RKD
 RKD vocabularies
 The Getty Vocabularies in LOD
 Structure and content of the AAT
 The AAT web service / SPARQL-endpoint
 Discussion

3. RKD, Netherlands Institute for Art
History, The Hague

4. RKD, Netherlands Institute for Art
History, The Hague

5. RKD, Netherlands Institute for Art
History, The Hague

6. Controlled Vocabularies RKD
RKDartists
Iconclass
AAT

7. AAT and Iconclass

8. AAT and Iconclass

9. AAT and Iconclass

10. AAT-Ned webservice

11. LOD cloud(2010)

12. AAT: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
ULAN: Union List of Artists Names
TGN: Thesaurus of Geographic Names
CONA: Cultural Object Name Authority
Getty vocabularies
They are all constructed as thesauri

13. CONA: Eiffel tower
ID: 700000116 Record Type: Built Work
Titles: Eiffel Tower (preferred,C,U,English-P,U,U)
Tour Eiffel (C,U,French,U,U)
Three-Hundred-Metre Tower
(H,U,undetermined,U,U)
Work Types: watchtower [300134522] (preferred) (AAT)
Creator Display:
architect Eiffel, Gustave (French architect and engineer,
1832-1923) [500000800] (ULAN)
Locations: Paris [7008038] V (TGN)
Display Materials:
structural iron [300011010] (AAT)
wrought iron (iron alloy) [300011012] (AAT)
exposed frame construction [300310589] (AAT)

14. Definition of thesaurus
• A semantic network of unique concepts
• Thesauri may be monolingual or multilingual
• Thesauri may have the following three relationships:
• Equivalence Relationships
• Hierarchical Relationships
• Associative Relationships

15. Why still the need for Controlled vocabs?
1. Synonyms
• ‘salinity’ and ‘saltiness’
• ‘VHS’ and ‘Very High Frequency’
2. Homonyms
 Mercury (planet)
 Mercury (metal)
 Mercury (automobile)
 Mercury (mythical being)
The purpose is fiveways
1. For translation
2. For consistency
3. For indication of relationships
4. For labeling and browsing
5. For information retrieval

16.  Developed since 1980
 36.000 concepts, and 255.000 terms
 Generic concepts for describing objects and images
 No names of persons and unique events
 ‘Cathedal’ yes, but not ‘Chartres cathedral’ (CONA)
 Strict editorial control, validation by sources
 Thesaurus construction follows ISO standard
 Multi-linguality
 international scope

17. Structure of the AAT
 AAT is organized for general use
FAQ: why aren't terms organised like I expect them to be. Why aren’t
communion cups and chalices narrower terms to church plate?
Communion cups
BT: drinking vessels BT: liturgical vessels
 The AAT's organization stresses function and form over the context in
which an object is used
 The AAT links concepts to an alternate parent using polyhierarchical
relationships

18. Thesaurus relations
The Hierarchical Relationship
broader- en narrower terms

19. Thesaurus relations
The Equivalence Relationship

20. Thesaurus relations: Associative Relationship
Example for "watercolors" paintings
Relationship Type: 2212 produced by
Related Concept: watercolor brushes (<artists' brushes by function>,
artists' brushes, ... Furnishings and Equipment)
Relationship Type: 2501 made of/require
Related Concept: watercolor (water-base paint, <paint by composition
or origin>, ... Materials)
Relationship Type: 2325 created by
Related Concept: watercolorists (<painters by technique, implement, or
material employed>, implement, ... People)

21. OBJECTS
MATERIALS
AGENTS
Associated
concepts
STYLES and
PERIODS
PHYSICAL
ATTRIBUTES
ACTIVITIES
copper alloy, bronze
knowledge, satire
Asian, Medieval
sketching, painting
Proofs (prints by function)
mirrors
armors
7 facets
green, acid-free
sculptors, musicians

22. Road leading to a ‘villa’
Facet: Objects
Hierarchy: Single built works
Guideterm: <residential structures>
<rural houses>
Concept: country houses
NT villa’s
Related term: dacha’s
URI Getty: http://vocab.getty.edu/resource/aat/300005517

23. Subject/object: cathedral 300007501
Creator: role: architect
Creator: name: Antonius Dijkmans
Style: Gothic Revival
Related concept: Roman Catholicism
Material: bricks, plaster, teakwood,
iron, stained glass
Architectural elements:
spires, pointed arches, pipe organs
Etc.
Jakarta Cathedral (1891- 1901)

24. The web service
• The base URI is http://vocab.getty.edu/
• SPARQL-endpoint
• Standard presentation is SKOS or SKOS-XL
• Mappings and ontology based on RDF/XML and Turtle
• Published versions of lookup lists e.g.,languages, roles,
nationalities, place types, and bibliographic sources)
ODC-By licence
This [title or report or article or dataset] contains information from Art & Architecture
Thesaurus (AAT)® which is made available under the ODC Attribution License

25. Discussion
Reem Weda
Bureau AAT
weda@rkd.nl
aat@rkd.nl
Question: LOD is desirable and powerful, but mostly
humans do the linking, so how to deal with linking
errors.