The GESAH Graphic Arts Ontology (GESAH GAO) and its reference application – concept and implementation

Abstract

The GESAH Graphic Arts Ontology (GESAH GAO) was developed to describe works of art on paper such as prints and drawings. The design was guided by the content-related, specialized needs of the domain experts, as well as the requirement to record the data in a structured manner in order to enable subsequent use and to ensure technical connectivity to current and future developments. The ontology models cultural objects by means of activities related to them (creation, production, inscription, preservation, exhibition etc.), people/organizations and their roles, subjects depicted and other relevant concepts. It incorporates concepts from upper ontologies such as the Basic Formal Ontology (BFO) and reuses classes and properties from ontologies such as Friend of a Friend (FOAF), VIVO, and Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS). With TIB SAH digital, we show the reference implementation of the GESAH GAO. It was constructed using the open-source knowledge graph suite Vitro, which provides custom entry forms for cataloguing and public access to the digitized collection.