Virtual International Authority File
The Virtual International Authority File (VIAF) is a virtual international authority file. It is a joint project of several national libraries and library associations operated by the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC). The project was initiated in 2003 by the German National Library and the Library of Congress and went into regular operation in 2012.
Content and goals
The aim of the VIAF is to link national authority files (such as the joint authority file managed by the German National Library) into a globally uniform virtual authority file. The databases of 25 authority files are merged and identical data sets are linked in a concordance file. The data is offered online and is available for research, data exchange and data sharing. The Protocol for Metadata Harvesting of the Open Archives Initiative (OAI-PMH) is used to update the database. Once a month, a pattern matching takes place, in which new data sets are merged with the existing ones. For referencing, a VIAF data set is given its own authority data number as an identifier, from which a form as a Uniform Resource Identifier for linked data applications emerges. It contains references to the merged records of the participating authority files and their headings.
Participating Libraries
The following libraries or library networks are participating in the project (as of May 2020):
Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt
National Library of the Argentine Republic, Argentina
National Library of Australia, Australia
Open VLACC (Flemish Public Libraries), Belgium
Brazilian National Library, Brazil
Chilean National Library, Chile
Dansk BiblioteksCenter, Denmark
German National Library, Germany
Estonian National Library, Estonia
Bibliotheque Nationale de France, France
Système universitaire de documentation (SUDOC), France
Greek National Library, Greece
Irish National Library, Ireland
National and University Library of Iceland, Iceland
Israel National Library, Israel
Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo Unico, Italy
National Parliament Library, Japan
Kokuritsu Jōhōgaku Kenkyūjo (NII), Japan
Library and Archives Canada, Canada
Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales du Quebec, Canada
Korean National Library, Korea
National and University Library Zagreb, Croatia
Latvian National Library, Latvia
Lebanese National Library, Lebanon
Lithuanian National Martynas Mažvydas Library, Lithuania
Bibliotheque Nationale de Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Bibliotheque Nationale du Royaume du Maroc, Morocco
Royal Library of the Netherlands, Netherlands
BIBSYS, Norway
Nasjonalbiblioteket, Norway
Polish National Library, Poland
Narodowy Uniwersalny Catalog (NUKAT), Poland
Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal, Portugal
Russian National Library, Russia
Royal Library in Stockholm, Sweden
Swiss National Library, Switzerland
Reseau des bibliothéques de Suisse occidentale (RERO), Switzerland
National Library Board, Singapore
Slovak National Library, Slovakia
Slovenian National and University Library, Slovenia
Biblioteca Nacional de Espana, Spain
Biblioteca de Catalunya, Spain
National Central Library, Taiwan
National Library of the Czech Republic, Czech Republic
Széchényi National Library, Hungary
Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vatican
Getty Research Institute, United States
Library of Congress, United States
Perseus Project, United States
Syriac Reference Portal, United StatesEntries from the following databases are also displayed:
International Standard Name Identifiers
Sources Musicales International Repertoire
Wikidata
Literature
Rick Bennett, Christina Hengel-Dittrich, Edward T. O'Neill, Barbara B. Tillett: VIAF (Virtual Int
