Is it possible to obtain the Getty vocabulary data?
The Getty vocabularies are made available on the Web to support limited research and cataloging efforts. Companies and institutions interested in regular or extensive use of the vocabularies should explore licensing options. Go to the Download Center for information about data formats, a link to the schedule of fees, sample data, and data dictionaries.
Why isn't the term I need in the vocabularies?
If you are accessing the data online, please check the guidelines for searching the AAT, ULAN, and TGN. If you still cannot find the term, please note that the Getty vocabularies are compilations; they are not comprehensive. Some terminology may be outside the scope of the Getty vocabularies, or it may not yet have been added to the vocabularies. The scope of the Getty vocabularies covers artists, places, and other terms having to do with the visual arts and material culture, from antiquity to the present. The vocabularies are living thesauri that grow through contributions from selected cataloging and documentation projects. Learn more about the scope and history of each vocabulary at About the AAT, About the ULAN, and About the TGN.
How do I know which is the "correct" term in a vocabulary record?
In many vocabulary records, synonyms and variant names refer to the same concept. There is often no single "correct" term for a concept. If users wish to control terminology with the vocabularies, they can consistently use the same term for the same concept. Terms at the top of the record in the Web displays are generally the name or term most often used in scholarly literature to refer to the concept ("preferred names/terms" or "descriptors"). Other terms in the record may also be flagged, including the singular form of the term in AAT and the common English version of the name in TGN. Learn about the data in each vocabulary record at About the AAT, About the ULAN, and About the TGN.
Who contributes to the Getty vocabularies?
Contributors are typically Getty projects or other museums, libraries, archives, bibliographic and documentation projects, or visual resources collections that catalog art objects, visual surrogates, or information about the visual arts and cultural heritage. To learn about contributing, click the navigation link for Contribute to the Getty Vocabularies.
What are the sources of information for the vocabularies?
Sources are usually standard general reference works and other authoritative sources, as well as scholarly books and articles. Other sources may include original archival documents or signatures and inscriptions on art objects. For recommended sources and other editorial rules, click the navigation link for Editorial Guidelines.
How often is the information updated?
The information is constantly updated in the Getty Vocabulary Program's production databases. The updated data is published on the Web at the beginning of each month. Candidate terms are available only to authorized contributors from the online contribution form. Updated data files for licensing are released in June of each year. Thousands of records are added or edited in each vocabulary annually.
Do the Web versions of the AAT, ULAN, and TGN contain all available data from the vocabularies?
The browsers do not display all information in the vocabulary databases. Notably, fields intended only for indexing or retrieval and the revision history of how the records have changed over time do not appear on the Web. This additional information is available only in the licensed files.
Are there diacritics (accent marks) in the vocabulary data?
Names and other information in the vocabularies may include dozens of different diacritics, listed in a diacritics chart, Appendix A of the Editorial Guidelines. However, not all diacritics may be viewed on the Web. Diacritics that are outside the Latin 1 character set are suppressed in the Web versions of the Getty vocabularies. These diacritics are expressed by codes in the licensed data files. The Getty vocabularies will be translated into Unicode in 2009.
The Art & Architecture Thesaurus® (AAT), the Union List of Artists Names ® (ULAN), and the Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names® (TGN) are copyrighted by the J. Paul Getty Trust. Companies and institutions interested in regular or extensive use of the vocabularies should explore licensing options discussed at the Download Center.
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