Persistent identification in the heritage sector: where do we stand today?
20 Sep 2023As an organisation, we actively gather and share knowledge about the principles of linked open data, such as persistent identification. Recently, there’s been a lot of movement at meemoo and within the sector on this topic, culminating in the Persistent Identification Study Day. Behind the scenes, we’ve also been working on a few new tools to help cultural heritage organisations with this issue. And now we’re finally ready to share them with you!
New tools for persistent identification
What is persistent identification and what are persistent URIs? We could explain it briefly here – but we’d rather direct you to the new handbook where we’ve gathered everything you need to know in one place. It’s a must-read for organisations that manage collections and want to make their heritage objects linked and openly accessible on the web.
Handbook for persistent URIs
In this guide, you’ll find answers to questions like: What are URIs and what makes them persistent? What guidelines and options are available? How do you establish a policy on persistent URIs? What steps should you take to implement the URIs? The handbook is based on commonly used standards and is supplemented with practical examples from the heritage sector.
CultURIze web: automated URI creation
It has been possible to create persistent URIs manually with the CultURIze tool for some time already. But now, thanks to CultURIze web, you can also generate and activate them automatically from your collection management system. This software, which we’ve been fine-tuning since 2021, is now ready for installation. Here (link in Dutch), you’ll find all the information you need to set up your own web service. If you'd like any help, please contact
Ten years of persistent identification in Brussels
On 19 September, we gathered together with numerous heritage professionals to celebrate a decade of research into persistent identification. Interest in the topic was high: the study day was fully booked, with speakers and participants from museums, archives, libraries, policy institutions and more. The question of the day: Where do we currently stand with persistent identification in Flanders and the Netherlands, and what are the challenges for the future?
Pictured: Remco van Veenendaal (Dutch Digital Heritage Network and the National Archives of the Netherlands) during the session: ‘With the neighbours: persistent identification in the Dutch heritage sector’ at the Persistent Identification Study Day, photo by meemoo, licence: CC BY-SA
Pictured: the MoMu (Fashion Museum of Antwerp) showcase table at the Persistent Identification Study Day, photo by meemoo, licence: CC BY-SA