How to obtain the Getty Vocabulary data

  • Licensing: All Getty Vocabulary data found on this site are made available openly and free from fees under the Open Data Commons Attribution License (ODC-By) 1.0. Data has been compiled from various institutional or other expert contributors using published sources; the contributor and sources should be cited along with the Getty as attribution. For guidance in attribution, see How to cite the Getty Vocabularies.

  • On the Getty Web site: Users may search for individual terms and names in the Getty Vocabularies online. The online data is refreshed monthly. The Getty Vocabularies are made available via this Web interface to support research and cataloging efforts. See below how URIs may be used to refer to the vocabulary records if incorporated in your data.

  • Through online tools: The AAT, ULAN, and TGN are available through an OpenRefine reconciliation service and via a SPARQL end point. To learn about interesting questions you can ask of the Vocabularies using SPARQL, see over 90 sample queries in Sample Queries: Finding Subjects.

  • LOD formats: Users may acquire the full data for AAT, TGN, and ULAN in N-Triples format, refreshed periodically throughout the year. Also, individual records may be downloaded in JSON, RDF, N3/Turtle, and N-Triples formats. See Linked Open Data (LOD).

  • Additional formats: The AAT, ULAN, and TGN are available in releases of XML and relational tables, refreshed periodically throughout the year. AAT, TGN, ULAN, CONA, and IA are also available via Web Services. Data is no longer available in a MARC format release, although we possibly may develop and make available a transformation script for an existing release format to MARC.

    See links to the full data sets, data dictionaries, and more information at the Download Center.

  • NOTE: LOD will likely be the most sustainable format over time. Developers who use one of the other release formats are advised to consider transitioning to LOD.

  • Outside availability: Incorporated in vendors' systems: The Getty Vocabularies may be found in various collection management systems or other information systems, for example Adlib Information Systems, Cuadra Associates, Ex Libris systems, Gallery Systems, KE Software/KE EMu, Luna Imaging, Questor Systems, Vernon Systems, or Willoughby Associates.

    On other sites: The Getty Vocabularies may be found in various implementations outside of the Getty. Among implementations available to the public are the following: The AAT is included in translations available at sites maintained in Chile, Germany, and Taiwan; the ULAN is incorporated in the VIAF (Virtual International Authority File) data sets, and TGN will be incorporated in VIAF in future.


  • Data Dictionaries: The data dictionaries and other documentation describe the release formats and content of the Getty Vocabularies. They do not give step-by-step instructions on how to construct a database or interface based on the data files; analysis and programming resources will be required to implement the Vocabularies. The Getty does not provide technical support. View the data dictionaries and data from our Download Center.


  • How to cite the Getty Vocabularies: To attribute the Getty Vocabularies under the Open Data Commons Attribution License (ODC-By) 1.0, please use the following language:

    For AAT: Contains information from the J. Paul Getty Trust, Getty Research Institute, the Art & Architecture Thesaurus, which is made available under the ODC Attribution License.

    For TGN: Contains information from the J. Paul Getty Trust, Getty Research Institute, the Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names, which is made available under the ODC Attribution License.

    For ULAN: Contains information from the J. Paul Getty Trust, Getty Research Institute, the Union List of Artist Names, which is made available under the ODC Attribution License.

    For CONA: Contains information from the J. Paul Getty Trust, Getty Research Institute, the Cultural Objects Name Authority, which is made available under the ODC Attribution License.

    For IA: Contains information from the J. Paul Getty Trust, Getty Research Institute, the Getty Iconography Authority, which is made available under the ODC Attribution License.

    Contributors and sources: Note that data in the Getty Vocabularies has been compiled from various institutional contributors using published sources. The contributors and sources are linked in three locations in the data: to each term (or name), to the scope note (or descriptive note), and generally to each record. The contributor and sources should be cited along with the Getty as attribution where appropriate, in order to give due credit. For an example citing the contributors and sources, see the bottom of the online page for rhyta.


  • How to refer to the online Getty Vocabulary records using URIs: Below are examples of short URIs that may be used to go to the full records and hierarchical displays of any Getty vocabulary record. The number in the URI is the "subject_id" of the record.

    Examples of URIs from each Vocabulary:

    AAT: rhyta
    Human-readable full record: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/aat/300198841
    Human-readable hierarchy view: http://vocab.getty.edu/hier/aat/300198841
    Semantic RDF concept: http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300198841

    TGN: Siena
    Human-readable full record: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/tgn/7011179
    Human-readable hierarchy view: http://vocab.getty.edu/hier/tgn/7011179
    Semantic RDF concept: http://vocab.getty.edu/tgn/7011179
    Semantic RDF geographical info: http://vocab.getty.edu/tgn/7011179-place

    ULAN: Albrecht Dürer
    Human-readable full record: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500115493
    Human-readable hierarchy view: http://vocab.getty.edu/hier/ulan/500115493
    Semantic RDF concept: http://vocab.getty.edu/ulan/500115493
    Semantic RDF biographical info: http://vocab.getty.edu/ulan/500115493-agent

    CONA: Pantheon
    Human-readable full record: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/cona/700000158
    Human-readable hierarchy view:http://vocab.getty.edu/hier/cona/700000158
    Semantic RDF concept not available.

    IA: Reclining Buddha
    Human-readable full record: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/ia/901001080
    Human-readable hierarchy view: http://vocab.getty.edu/hier/ia/901001080
    Semantic RDF concept not available.



The Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT)®, the Union List of Artists Names (ULAN)®, the Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names (TGN)®, the Cultural Objects Name Authority (CONA)®, and the Getty Iconography Authority (IA)™ are made available by the J. Paul Getty Trust under the Open Data Commons Attribution License (ODC-By) 1.0. Note that the Getty Vocabulary data is compiled from various contributors using published sources; the contributor and sources should be cited along with the name of the Vocabulary and J. Paul Getty Trust when the data is displayed.





Revised 11 May 2023