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Authority control is a way of associating a unique identifier to articles on Wikipedia. This is useful to disambiguate different items with similar or identical headings, as well as establish a single standard title for an item that is commonly known by two or more titles. When used, authority control data links can be found near the bottom of Wikipedia pages, linking to bibliographical records on worldwide library catalogs. Authority control is often used in biographical articles because it is quite common for more than one person to share the same name. It is commonly used in other subject material as well.
Authority control enables researchers to search more easily for pertinent information on the subject of an article, without needing to disambiguate the subject manually. For example, authority control is used on music articles so that the information in the article can be easily cross-referenced with popular databases.
More generally, authority control is a method of creating and maintaining index terms for bibliographical material in a library catalog, similar to the Dewey Decimal System. The links produced by the authority control template on Wikipedia go to authority control data in worldwide library catalogs. As an example, the Wikipedia authority control information for Alexander Graham Bell looks like this:
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
The abbreviations in the box represent the following: International Standard Name Identifier (ISNI); Virtual International Authority File (VIAF); Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN); and Integrated Authority File (GND), Gemeinsame Normdatei in German. WorldCat is a global cooperative union catalog which itemizes the collections of 72,000 libraries in 170 countries and territories.
Supported files
The following authority files are supported on the English Wikipedia:
| Identifier | Section | Wikidata property | Appears as |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki | Artists | P3372: Auckland Art Gallery artist ID | |
| ACM Digital Library | Academics | P864: ACM Digital Library author ID | |
| Australian Dictionary of Biography | People | P1907: Australian Dictionary of Biography ID | |
| Academy of Arts, Berlin | Artists | P4114: ADK member ID | |
| Admiralty number | Geographic | P3562: Admiralty number |
|
| Art Gallery of South Australia | Artists | P6804: Art Gallery of South Australia creator ID | |
| ARLHS lighthouse ID | Geographic | P2980: ARLHS lighthouse ID | |
| Autores.uy | People | P2558: autores.uy ID | |
| Remarks: autores.uy is an author's database, that focus on Uruguayan authors. It was created and maintained by the Uruguayan chapter of Creative Commons. It also provides access to digitized works of the authors in public domain. | |||
| Australian Women's Register | People | P4186: Australian Women's Register ID | |
| Botanic Gardens Conservation International | Geographic | P5818: BGCI garden ID | |
| Norwegian Authority File: Persons and Corporate Bodies | National | P1015: NORAF ID | |
| Remarks: BIBSYS is a supplier of library and information systems for all Norwegian university Libraries, the National Library of Norway, college libraries, and a number of research libraries and institutions. | |||
| Bildindex der Kunst und Architektur | Other | P2092: Bildindex der Kunst und Architektur ID | |
| Bayerisches Musiker-Lexikon Online | People | P865: BMLO ID | |
| Collective Catalog of Bibliographic Authorities of Chile | National | P1890: CCAB ID | |
| BNE authority file | National | P950: National Library of Spain ID | |
| Remarks: National Library of Spain (BNE: Biblioteca Nacional de España) is a major public library, the largest in Spain. | |||
| BnF authorities | National | P268: Bibliothèque nationale de France ID | |
| Remarks: Authority data of people listed in the general catalogue of the National Library of France | |||
| BnF authorities | National | P268: Bibliothèque nationale de France ID | |
| Catálogo de autoridades BNMM | National | P3788: BNMM authority ID | |
| International Plant Names Index | Academics | P428: botanist author abbreviation | |
| Remarks: Author citation (botany): standard form (official abbreviation) of a personal name for use in an author citation (only for names of algae, fungi and plants). Links to page at International Plant Names Index (IPNI). | |||
| Biografisch Portaal | People | P651: Biografisch Portaal van Nederland ID | |
| Remarks: Dutch project with material for 40,000 digitized biographies, including former colonies of the Netherlands. | |||
| B.R.A.H.M.S. | Artists | P5226: BRAHMS artist ID | |
| Remarks: Identifier of an artist in the B.R.A.H.M.S. (Base Relationnelle d'Articles Hypertextes sur la Musique du 20e Siècle database), by the IRCAM | |||
| B.R.A.H.M.S. | Other | P5302: BRAHMS work ID | |
| Remarks: Identifier for a musical work in the B.R.A.H.M.S. (Base Relationnelle d'Articles Hypertextes sur la Musique du 20e Siècle database) database, by the IRCAM | |||
| Name and Title Authority File of Catalonia | National | P9984: CANTIC ID | |
| Canadian Coastguard Lighthouse ID | Geographic | P3920: Canadian Coastguard Lighthouse ID | |
| Remarks: Identifier from one of 4 volumes of List of Lights, Buoys and Fog Signals issued by the Canadian Coast Guard. | |||
| NACSIS-CAT author ID | Academics | P271: NACSIS-CAT author ID | |
| Remarks: CiNii is a bibliographic database service for material in Japanese academic libraries. It is maintained by the National Institute of Informatics. | |||
| Commonwealth War Graves Commission database | People | P1908: CWGC person ID | |
| Design & Art Australia Online | Artists | P1707: DAAO ID | |
| Dansk Fyrliste | Geographic | P4038: Danish List of Lights and Fog signals ID |
|
| Deutsche Bahn station code | Other | P8671: Deutsche Bahn station code | |
| Remarks: Deutsche Bahn station code, identifier for train stations and other operating points used by Deutsche Bahn | |||
| Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani | People | P1986: Treccani's Biographical Dictionary of Italian People ID | |
| dblp computer science bibliography | Academics | P2456: DBLP author ID | |
| Deutsche Synchronkartei | People | P11646: Deutsche Synchronkartei person ID | |
| Remarks: Online database of voice actors in film and television productions | |||
| Dictionary of Irish Biography | People | P6829: Dictionary of Irish Biography ID | |
| The Stuttgart Database of Scientific Illustrators 1450–1950 | Artists | P2349: Stuttgart Database of Scientific Illustrators ID | |
| Deutsche Biographie | People | P7902: Deutsche Biographie (GND) ID | |
| EBIDAT | Geographic | P9725: EBIDAT ID | |
| Remarks: Identifier for an entry in the castles inventory database EBIDAT | |||
| Emmy Award | Artists | P8381: Emmys person ID | |
| Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine | Other | P4613: Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine ID | |
| EUTA theatre ID | Geographic | P4535: EUTA theatre ID | |
| EUTA person ID | People | P4534: EUTA person ID | |
| Faceted Application of Subject Terminology | International | P2163: FAST ID | |
| Finnish List of Lights | Geographic | P4143: Finnish List of Lights ID |
|
| Find New Zealand Artists | Artists | P6792: Find NZ Artists ID | |
| GND ID | National | P227: GND ID | |
| Remarks: Authority data on people, corporations and subjects from the German National Library (DNB) | |||
| Google Scholar author ID | Academics | P1960: Google Scholar author ID | |
| Grammy Awards artist ID | Artists | P7303: Grammy Awards artist ID | |
| Global Volcanism Program | Geographic | P1886: Global Volcanism Program ID | |
| Historical Dictionary of Switzerland | Other | P902: HDS ID | |
| Remarks: Historical Dictionary of Switzerland is an encyclopedia on the history of Switzerland. | |||
| World Athletics database | People | P1146: World Athletics athlete ID | |
| Remarks: The IAAF athlete database lists information about sport of athletics competitors. | |||
| OPAC SBN | National | P396: SBN author ID | |
| Remarks: Central Institute for the Union Catalogue (ICCU: Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo Unico) is an Italian government agency created to build a single catalog of all the libraries in the nation. It manages National Library Service (Servizio bibliotecario nazionale). | |||
| Information Center for Israeli Art | Artists | P1736: Information Center for Israeli Art artist ID | |
| Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine | Other | P9070: Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine ID | |
| International Standard Identifier for Libraries and Related Organizations | People | P791: ISIL | |
| Remarks: Libraries, museums and archives, decentralized national databases. | |||
| International Standard Name Identifier | International | P213: ISNI | |
| Remarks: ISNI is a method for uniquely identifying the public identities of contributors to media content such as books, TV programmes, and newspaper articles. Please take care not to confuse ISNI and ORCID identifiers. | |||
| National Library of Israel Names and Subjects Authority File | National | P8189: National Library of Israel J9U ID | |
| Joconde | Other | P347: Joconde work ID | |
| JPL Small-Body Database | Other | P716: JPL Small-Body Database SPK-ID | |
| KANTO | National | P8980: KANTO ID | |
| Royal Library of Belgium (KBR) Online Catalogue | National | P11249: KBR person ID | |
| Database of Monasteries | Geographic | P3407: Klosterdatenbank ID | |
| KulturNav | Artists | P1248: KulturNav-ID | |
| Remarks: KulturNav is a Norwegian cloud-based software service, allowing users to create, manage and distribute name authorities and terminology, focusing on the needs of museums and other cultural heritage institutions. The software is developed by KulturIT ANS and the development project is funded by the Arts Council Norway. | |||
| Library of Congress Linked Data Service | National | P244: Library of Congress authority ID | |
| Remarks: See Wikipedia:Authority control#LCCN for formatting instructions | |||
| www.leopoldina.org | Academics | P10299: Leopoldina member ID (new) | |
| Lexikon verfolgter Musiker und Musikerinnen der NS-Zeit | Artists | P9692: LexM ID | |
| Remarks: Identifier for a musician in the Lexikon verfolgter Musiker und Musikerinnen der NS-Zeit | |||
| LIBRIS | National | P5587: Libris-URI | |
| Lexicon istoric retic | Other | P886: Lexicon istoric retic ID | |
| Remarks: Lexicon Istoric Retic (LIR) is a two volume version with a selection of articles published in Romansh. | |||
| Electronic Union Catalogue of Latvian Libraries of National Significance | National | P1368: National Library of Latvia ID | |
| Fari e Segnalamenti | Geographic | P3863: Italian Navy Lighthouses and Beacons ID | |
| MarineTraffic Lighthouse ID | Geographic | P3601: MarineTraffic Lighthouse ID | |
| MR Author ID | Academics | P4955: MR Author ID | |
| MusicBrainz artist ID | Artists | P434: MusicBrainz artist ID | |
| Remarks: MusicBrainz is an open music encyclopedia that collects music metadata and makes it available to the public. | |||
| MusicBrainz area ID | Geographic | P982: MusicBrainz area ID | |
| MusicBrainz instrument ID | Other | P1330: MusicBrainz instrument ID | |
| MusicBrainz label ID | Other | P966: MusicBrainz label ID | |
| MusicBrainz place ID | Geographic | P1004: MusicBrainz place ID | |
| MusicBrainz release group ID | Other | P436: MusicBrainz release group ID | |
| MusicBrainz series ID | Other | P1407: MusicBrainz series ID | |
| MusicBrainz work ID | Other | P435: MusicBrainz work ID | |
| monument historique inscrit | Geographic | P380: Mérimée ID | |
| Mathematics Genealogy Project ID | Academics | P549: Mathematics Genealogy Project ID | |
| Remarks: Mathematics Genealogy Project is a web-based database for the academic genealogy of mathematicians. | |||
| Museum of Modern Art online collection | Artists | P2174: Museum of Modern Art artist ID | |
| Minor Planet Center Database | Other | P5736: Minor Planet Center body ID | |
| Répertoire des artistes | Artists | P2268: Musée d'Orsay artist ID | |
| National Archives Identifier | Other | P1225: U.S. National Archives Identifier | |
| Remarks: National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government charged with preserving and documenting government and historical records. | |||
| National Gallery of Canada | Artists | P5368: National Gallery of Canada artist ID | |
| NCES School ID | Geographic | P2484: NCES school ID | |
| National Central Library | National | P1048: NCL ID | |
| Remarks: National Central Library is the national library of Taiwan, Republic of China. | |||
| Web NDL Authorities | National | P349: NDL Authority ID | |
| Remarks: Authority data listed in the catalog of the national library of Japan. Search also available via VIAF. | |||
| NGA number | Geographic | P3563: NGA lighthouse ID | |
| National Gallery of Victoria | Artists | P2041: National Gallery of Victoria artist ID | |
| Czech National Authority Database | National | P691: NL CR AUT ID | |
| Remarks: National Library of the Czech Republic (Národní knihovna České republiky) is the central library of the Czech Republic. | |||
| Libraries Australia Authorities | National | P409: Libraries Australia ID | |
| Remarks: NLA Trove's People and Organisation view allows the discovery of biographical and other contextual information about people and organisations. Search also available via VIAF. | |||
| Catalogue of the National Library of Greece | National | P3348: National Library of Greece ID | |
| Korean Authority File | National | P5034: National Library of Korea ID | |
| National Library of Romania | National | P1003: National Library of Romania ID | |
| Norwegian List of Lights | Geographic | P4055: Norwegian List of Lights ID |
|
| NSK | National | P1375: NSK ID | |
| Dutch National Thesaurus for Author Names | National | P1006: Nationale Thesaurus voor Auteursnamen ID | |
| Online List of Lights | Geographic | P3223: Online List of Lights ID | |
| ORCID iD | Academics | P496: ORCID iD | |
| Remarks: Authority data on researchers, academics, etc. The ID range is a subset of the ISNI range. For free text links (for example when mentioning a person on page which is not about them), it is also possible to use ((ORCID)). Authors—including Wikipedia editors—may obtain an ORCID by signing up at orcid.org/register. Please take care not to confuse ORCID and ISNI identifiers. | |||
| Photographers’ Identities Catalog | Artists | P2750: Photographers’ Identities Catalog ID | |
| Remarks: PIC is a photographer's database. It is maintained by the New York Public Library. | |||
| Pleiades | Geographic | P1584: Pleiades ID | |
| Remarks: Pleiades is a joint project of the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University and the Ancient World Mapping Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. | |||
| MAK | National | P7293: PLWABN ID | |
| OpenData BNP | National | P1005: Portuguese National Library author ID | |
| Portuguese lighthouse identifier | Geographic | P4423: Portuguese lighthouse ID |
|
| National Library of Poland | National | P1695: NLP ID (old) | |
| PhilPapers | Academics | P3233: PhilPeople profile | |
| www.museodelprado.es | Artists | P5321: Museo del Prado artist ID | |
| Publons | Academics | P3829: Publons author ID | |
| ResearcherID | Academics | P1053: ResearcherID | |
| Remarks: An identifying system for scientific authors. The system was introduced in January 2008 by Thomson Reuters. The combined use of the digital object identifier with the ResearcherID allows for a unique association of authors and scientific articles. | |||
| Répertoire International des Sources Musicales | Other | P5504: RISM ID | |
| RKDartists | Artists | P650: RKDartists ID | |
| Remarks: RKDartists is an online database using a controlled vocabulary currently containing around 200,000+ names and other information about artists. Names in RKDartists may include given names, pseudonyms, variant spellings, names in multiple languages, and names that have changed over time (e.g., married names). | |||
| RKDimages | Other | P350: RKDimages ID | |
| Russian State Library | National | P947: RSL ID (person) | |
| Remarks: Russian State Library (Российская государственная библиотека) is the national library of Russia. | |||
| Scopus | Academics | P1153: Scopus author ID | |
| Remarks: SciVerse Scopus is a bibliographic database containing abstracts and citations for academic journal articles. It covers nearly 19,500 titles from over 5,000 international publishers, of which 16,500 are peer-reviewed journals in the scientific, technical, medical, and social sciences (including arts and humanities). | |||
| LIBRIS | National | P906: SELIBR ID | |
| Remarks: Authority data from the National Library of Sweden | |||
| SIKART | Artists | P781: SIKART ID | |
| Remarks: SIKART is a biographical dictionary and a database on visual art in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is published online by the Swiss Institute for Art Research (SIAR). | |||
| SNAC | Other | P3430: SNAC ARK ID | |
| Städel Museum | Artists | P4581: Städel Museum artist ID | |
| StadiumDB.com | Geographic | P5288: StadiumDB ID | |
| Structurae | Geographic | P454: Structurae structure ID | |
| Structurae | People | P2418: Structurae person ID | |
| IdRef | Other | P269: IdRef ID | |
| Remarks: Authority data of people listed in the general catalogue of the University Documentation System of France. Also available from English-speaking catalog (search author, click one book, click author name, take PPN= value of the URL) | |||
| member of the French National Assembly | People | P1045: Sycomore ID | |
| Terminologia Anatomica | Other | P1323: Terminologia Anatomica 98 ID | |
| TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi | Other | P7314: TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi ID | |
| Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa Collections Online | Artists | P3544: Te Papa agent ID | |
| Theaterlexikon der Schweiz | Other | P1362: Theaterlexikon der Schweiz ID | |
| Remarks: Theaterlexikon der Schweiz (TLS) is an encyclopedia about theatre in Switzerland. It was developed by the Institute of Theatre Studies of the University of Berne. | |||
| Trove | People | P1315: NLA Trove people ID | |
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | People | P6213: UK Parliament ID | |
| Remarks: UK parliament member data | |||
| Union List of Artist Names | Artists | P245: Union List of Artist Names ID | |
| Remarks: ULAN is an online database using a controlled vocabulary currently containing around 293,000 names and other information about artists. Names in ULAN may include given names, pseudonyms, variant spellings, names in multiple languages, and names that have changed over time (e.g., married names). | |||
| USCG Lighthouse ID | Geographic | P3723: USCG lighthouse ID | |
| US Congress Bio identifier | People | P1157: US Congress Bio ID | |
| Remarks: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress is a biographical dictionary of all present and former members of the United States Congress and its predecessor, the Continental Congress. Also included are Delegates from territories and the District of Columbia and Resident Commissioners from the Philippines and Puerto Rico. | |||
| opac.vatlib.it | National | P8034: Vatican Library VcBA ID | |
| Remarks: Vatican Library document data | |||
| VIAF ID | International | P214: VIAF ID | |
| Remarks: International authority data from the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) | |||
| Vitaskrá | Geographic | P3993: Vitaskrá ID |
|
| WorldCat Entities | International | P10832: WorldCat Entities ID | |
| Remarks: WorldCat Entities for persons and works, by OCLC | |||
| World Waterfall Database | Geographic | P3326: World Waterfall Database ID | |
| zbMATH author ID | Academics | P1556: zbMATH author ID | |