Review: Produced by the RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History, RKDartists& makes up one part of the institute’s digital search platform, RKD Explore. Launched in 2014 and offering over 380,000 records at the time of review, the freely accessible database provides a comprehensive and authoritative resource for biographical information on Dutch and foreign artists from the Middle Ages to the present day

Gavin Goodwin

Virginia Kerr

Humanities Commons

ARLIS/NA Multimedia & Technology ReviewsOCTOBER 2022ISSN: 2474-6673RKDartists&Reviewed by:Gavin Goodwin, Creative Arts LibrarianMount Allison Universityggoodwin@mta.caProduced by the RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History, RKDartists& makes up one part of theinstitute’s digital search platform, RKD Explore. Launched in 2014 and o ering over 380,000 recordsat the time of review, the freely accessible database provides a comprehensive and authoritative resourcefor biographical information on Dutch and foreign artists from the Middle Ages to the present day.While the ampersand in the database name may be confusing at  rst glance, it signi es that the scopegoes beyond only artists, with biographical information for art dealers, art collectors, and art historians.The database features international artists, with a heavy emphasis on artists of the Low Countries. Afaceted search by location reveals Amsterdam, The Hague, and Antwerp have the most hits. Likewise,“painter” is the most frequent quali cation, while “oil paint” is far ahead of other medium/techniqueterms. Despite this slant towards Dutch artists and artistic styles, the sheer number of artists featuredmeans those interested in art from outside the Netherlands can still  nd worthwhile information.This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 InternationalLicense. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ or send a letter toCreative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.The default interface of RKDartists& with a partially expanded advanced search interfaceRKDartists&’s extensive controlled vocabulary is a major strength, covering places, nationality, artistquali cations, medium/technique, artistic subject and movement, and institutional or associationa liations. The controlled vocabulary utilizes terms from major thesauri like the Getty Art &Architecture Thesaurus as well as regionally signi cant terms. The result is a robust and  exiblethesaurus. Given the extent of the controlled vocabulary, a more user-friendly method of browsing thehierarchy would be helpful; clicking terms within a record opens a browsable pop-up window, but it iscumbersome and not easily navigated.Most metadata is derived from the RKD’s library and archives, and as such some records feature agreater amount of detail than others. For example, Vincent van Gogh’s entry is as extensive as theaccompanying documentation at the leading Dutch art history institute would suggest. Other artistentries are much less developed. Depending on the nationality of an artist, alternative resources mayo er more information.This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 InternationalLicense. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ or send a letter toCreative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.A sample record detailing the available metadata and a map visualization of geographical dataPerhaps the greatest strength of RKDartists& is the integration with other RKD databases, like images,portraits, and the library and archives. The crosswalks between databases allows users to view artworksdirectly from biographical entries, or to search the RKD’s library and archives for resources about anartist.RKDartists& is available in both Dutch and English and generally the translation is excellent. One areawhich could pose problems are Dutch-speci c spellings not adapted for English (e.g., Den Haag vs.The Hague; Parijs vs. Paris) though these minor di erences did not pose major barriers during review.More signi cantly, scope notes for controlled vocabulary terms are not always translated, particularlythose speci c to the Low Countries.While RKDartists& might be most useful for those consulting the physical collection of RKD, thewealth of authoritative data in addition to an interactive map of places of birth, death, and artisticactivity, makes the database a helpful reference tool. The inclusion of many contemporary artists makesthis database useful for uncovering new artists who might otherwise be di cult to discover.Additionally, integration with the RKD archival resources allows easy discoverability of primarysources. Beyond artists alone, the inclusion of art dealers, collectors, and historians opens new researchopportunities and the robust controlled vocabulary allows RKDartists& to be used as a thesaurus forother cultural heritage institutions.This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 InternationalLicense. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ or send a letter toCreative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.Though other name authority databases like the Getty Union List of Artist Names or the VirtualInternational Authority Files o er similar biographical data, the true strengths of RKDArists& comefrom its accessible and attractive interface,  exibility in search with facets like medium, location, orproduct, and the deep integration with the other RKD databases; as such, its full potential is realizedwhen considering RKDArtists& as part of the larger RKD Explore platform rather than as a siloedresource. Large amounts of biographical and historical information are still housed in physical formatin the Netherlands, but RKDArtists& allows discovery of otherwise di cult to uncover connectionsbetween entities without needing to consult primary resources as well as o ering access to the growingcatalog of digital resources made available through RKD Explore.This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 InternationalLicense. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ or send a letter toCreative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.

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