The Virtual International Authority File (VIAF) is an international authority file. It is a joint project of several national libraries and operated by the

Online Computer Library Center OCLC, Inc., doing business as OCLC, See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It wa ...

(OCLC).

History

Discussion about having a common international authority started in the late 1990s. After a series of failed attempts to come up with a unique common authority file, the new idea was to link existing national authorities. This would present all the benefits of a common file without requiring a large investment of time and expense in the process. The VIAF concept was introduced at the 2003 World Library and Information Congress, hosted by the

International Federation of Library Associations The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) is the leading international body representing the interests of people who rely on libraries and information professionals. An independent, non-governmental, not-for-pr ...

. The project was initiated by the US Library of Congress (LC), the German National Library (DNB) and the OCLC on 6 August 2003. The

Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

(BnF) joined the project on 5 October 2007. The project transitioned to being a service of the OCLC on 4 April 2012. The aim is to link the national authority files (such as the German

Name Authority File The or PND (translated as ''Name Authority File'') is an authority file of people, which served primarily to access literature in libraries. The PND has been built up between 1995 and 1998 and was published by the German National Library (DNB) unt ...

) to a single virtual authority file. In this file, identical records from the different data sets are linked together. A VIAF record receives a standard data number, contains the primary "see" and "see also" records from the original records, and refers to the original authority records. The data is made available online and are available for research and data exchange and sharing. Reciprocal updating uses the

Open Archives Initiative The Open Archives Initiative (OAI) was an informal organization, in the circle around the colleagues Herbert Van de Sompel, Carl Lagoze, Michael L. Nelson and Simeon Warner, to develop and apply technical interoperability standards for archives t ...

Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) protocol. The file numbers are also being added to Wikipedia biographical articles and are incorporated into Wikidata. Christine L. Borgman groups VIAF with the

International Standard Name Identifier The International Standard Name Identifier (ISNI) is an identifier system for uniquely identifying the public identities of contributors to media content such as books, television programmes, and newspaper articles. Such an identifier consists of ...

and

ORCID The ORCID (; Open Researcher and Contributor ID) is a nonproprietary alphanumeric code to uniquely identify authors and contributors of scholarly communication as well as ORCID's website and services to look up authors and their bibliographic ...

systems, describing all three as "loosely coordinated efforts to standardize name forms". Borgman characterizes all three systems as attempts to solve the problem of author name disambiguation, which has grown in scale as the quantity of data multiplies. She notes that VIAF, unlike the other two systems, is led by libraries, as opposed to individual authors or creators.

VIAF clusters

VIAF's clustering algorithm is run every month. As more data are added from participating libraries, clusters of authority records may coalesce or split, leading to some fluctuation in the VIAF identifier of certain authority records.

Participating libraries and organizations

} ,

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

, , Egypt , - , Biblioteca Nacional de Chile , BNCHL , es, Biblioteca Nacional de Chile , Santiago , , Chile , - ,

Biblioteca Nacional de España The Biblioteca Nacional de España (''National Library of Spain'') is a major public library, the largest in Spain, and one of the largest in the world. It is located in Madrid, on the Paseo de Recoletos. History The library was founded b ...

, BNE , es, Biblioteca Nacional de España , Madrid , , Spain , - , Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal , PTBNP , pt, Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal , Lisbon , , Portugal , - ,

Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec The Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec ( 'National Library and Archives of Quebec') or BAnQ is a Quebec government agency which manages the province's legal deposit system, national archives, and national library. Located at the ...

, B2Q , french: Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec , Quebec , , Canada , - ,

, BnF , french: Bibliothèque nationale de France ,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, ,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, - , National Library of Greece , ΕΒΕ , el, Εθνική Βιβλιοθήκη της Ελλάδος ,

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, ,

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

, - , Bibliothèque Nationale du Royaume du Maroc (BNRM) , MRBNR , ar, المكتبة الوطنية للمملكة المغربية
french: Bibliothèque nationale du Royaume du Maroc , Rabat , , Morocco , - , Biografisch Portaal , BPN , nl, Biografisch Portaal , The Hague , ,

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Nether ...

, - ,

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the Britis ...

, , – , London , ,

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separa ...

, - , Danish Agency for Culture and Palaces , , da, Kulturstyrelsen ,

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...

, , Denmark , - , Danish Bibliographic Centre , DBC , da, Dansk BiblioteksCenter , Ballerup , , Denmark , - , German National Library (DNB) , GND , german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek , Frankfurt , ,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, - ,

, ISNI , – , London , , United Kingdom , - , Israel Museum , , he, מוזיאון ישראל , Jerusalem , , Israel , - , Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo Unico , ICCU
SBN , it, Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo Unico , Rome , ,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, - , Lebanese National Library , LNL , ar, المكتبة الوطنية ,

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint of ...

, , Lebanon , - ,

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the Government of Canada, federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national arch ...

, LAC , french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada , Ottawa, Ontario , , Canada , - , Library of Congress
NACO consortium (Name Authority Cooperative Program) , LCCN , – , Washington, D.C. , , United States , - ,

National and University Library in Zagreb National and University Library in Zagreb (NSK) (, NSK; formerly , NSB) is the national library of Croatia and central library of the University of Zagreb. The Library was established in 1607. Its primary mission is the development and preserv ...

, NSK , hr, Nacionalna i sveučilišna knjižnica u Zagrebu , Zagreb , , Croatia , - ,

National and University Library of Slovenia The National and University Library ( sl, Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica, ), established in 1774, is one of the most important national educational and cultural institutions of Slovenia. It is located in the centre of Ljubljana, between Au ...

, , sl, Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica ,

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the are ...

, , Slovenia , - ,

National Central Library The National Central Library (NCL; ) is the national library of the Republic of China (Taiwan), which is located at No. 20, Zhongshan S. Rd., Zhongzheng District, Taipei City 10001, Taiwan. It will soon have a subsidiary called Southern Branc ...

, NCL
CYT , , Taipei , ,

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

, - ,

National Diet Library The is the national library of Japan and among the largest libraries in the world. It was established in 1948 for the purpose of assisting members of the in researching matters of public policy. The library is similar in purpose and scope to ...

, NDL , ja, 国立国会図書館 ,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

Kyoto , , Japan , - ,

National Institute of Informatics The is a Japanese research institute located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. NII was established in April 2000 for the purpose of advancing the study of informatics. This institute also works on creating systems to facilitate the spread of scienti ...

, NII
CiNii , ja, 国立情報学研究所 ,

, , Japan , - ,

National Library Board The National Library Board (NLB) is a statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Communications and Information of the government of Singapore. The board manages the public libraries throughout the country. The national librarie ...

, NLB , – , – , , Singapore , - ,

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "maint ...

, NLA , – ,

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ...

, ,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country b ...

, - ,

National Library of Brazil The Biblioteca Nacional do Brasil (English: ''National Library of Brazil'') is the depository of the bibliographic and documentary heritage of Brazil. It is located in Rio de Janeiro, the capital city of Brazil from 1822 to 1960, more specifica ...

, BLBNB , pt, Biblioteca Nacional do Brasil , Rio de Janeiro , , Brazil , - , National Library of Catalonia , BNC , ca, Biblioteca de Catalunya ,

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, , Spain , - ,

National Library of Estonia The National Library of Estonia ( et, Eesti Rahvusraamatukogu) is a national public institution in Estonia, which operates pursuant to the National Library of Estonia Act (). It was established as the parliamentary library () of Estonia on Decemb ...

, ERRR , et, Eesti Rahvusraamatukogu , Tallinn , , Estonia , - ,

National and University Library of Iceland Landsbókasafn Íslands – Háskólabókasafn ( Icelandic: ; English: ''The National and University Library of Iceland'') is the national library of Iceland which also functions as the university library of the University of Iceland. The libr ...

(NULI) , UIY , is, Háskólabókasafn ,

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a p ...

, , Iceland , - , National Library of Ireland , N6I , ga, Leabharlann Náisiúnta na hÉireann , Dublin , , Ireland , - ,

National Library of Israel The National Library of Israel (NLI; he, הספרייה הלאומית, translit=HaSifria HaLeumit; ar, المكتبة الوطنية في إسرائيل), formerly Jewish National and University Library (JNUL; he, בית הספרים הלא� ...

, NLI , he, הספרייה הלאומית , Jerusalem , , Israel , - ,

National Library of Korea The National Library of Korea is located in Seoul, South Korea and was established in 1945. It houses over 10 million volumes, including over 1,134,000 foreign books and some of the National Treasures of South Korea. It was relocated within ...

, KRNLK , ko, 국립중앙도서관 , Seoul , , Korea , - , National Library of Latvia , LNB , lv, Latvijas Nacionālā bibliotēka ,

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the B ...

, , Latvia , - , National Library of Luxembourg , BNL , lb, Nationalbibliothéik Lëtzebuerg
french: Bibliothèque nationale de Luxembourg ,

Luxembourg City Luxembourg ( lb, Lëtzebuerg; french: Luxembourg; german: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City ( lb, Stad Lëtzebuerg, link=no or ; french: Ville de Luxembourg, link=no; german: Stadt Luxemburg, link=no or ), is the capital city of the ...

, , Luxembourg , - ,

National Library of Mexico The National Library of Mexico ( es, Biblioteca Nacional de México) is located in University City of Mexico, Ciudad Universitaria, the main campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City. It was first established on ...

, BNM , es, Biblioteca Nacional de México , Mexico City , , Mexico , - ,

National Library of the Netherlands The Royal Library of the Netherlands ( Dutch: Koninklijke Bibliotheek or KB; ''Royal Library'') is the national library of the Netherlands, based in The Hague, founded in 1798. The KB collects everything that is published in and concerning the ...

, NTA , nl, Koninklijke Bibliotheek , The Hague , ,

, - ,

National Library of New Zealand The National Library of New Zealand ( mi, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa) is New Zealand's legal deposit library charged with the obligation to "enrich the cultural and economic life of New Zealand and its interchanges with other nations" (''N ...

, , – ,

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, , New Zealand , - , National Library of Norway , BIBSYS
W2Z , no, Nasjonalbiblioteket , Trondheim , , Norway , - ,

National Library of Poland The National Library ( pl, Biblioteka Narodowa) is the central Polish library, subject directly to the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland. The library collects books, journals, electronic and audiovisual publica ...

, NLP , pl, Biblioteka Narodowa , Warsaw , , Poland , - , National Library of Russia , NLR , russian: Российская национальная библиотека , Saint Petersburg , ,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

, - , National Library of Scotland , , gd, Leabharlann Nàiseanta na h-Alba
sco, Naitional Leebrar o Scotland , Edinburgh , , Scotland , - ,

National Library of South Africa The National Library of South Africa is the agency of the government of South Africa which maintains a national library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike ...

, , af, Staats-Bibliotheek der Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek ,

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second larges ...

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the footh ...

, , South Africa , - , National Library of Sweden , SELIBR , sv, Kungliga biblioteket - Sveriges nationalbibliotek , Stockholm , , Sweden , - ,

National Library of Wales The National Library of Wales ( cy, Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru), Aberystwyth, is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million ...

, , cy, Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru ,

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth () is a university and seaside town as well as a community in Ceredigion, Wales. Located in the historic county of Cardiganshire, means "the mouth of the Ystwyth". Aberystwyth University has been a major educational location i ...

, , Wales , - , National Library of the Czech Republic , NKC , cs, Národní knihovna České republiky ,

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate o ...

, , Czech Republic , - ,

National Széchényi Library The National Széchényi Library ( hu, Országos Széchényi Könyvtár) (OSZK) is a library in Budapest, Hungary, located in Buda Castle. It is one of two Hungarian national libraries, the other being University of Debrecen Library. History Th ...

, NSZL , hu, Országos Széchényi Könyvtár ,

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population o ...

, , Hungary , - , Perseus Project , PERSEUS , – , Medford, Massachusetts , , United States , - ,

RERO (Library Network of Western Switzerland) The Library Network of Western Switzerland (french: Réseau des bibliothèques de Suisse occidentale; RERO) was founded by several major libraries in 1985, in the French-speaking region of Romandy in western Switzerland. RERO is a syllabic abbrev ...

, RERO , german: Westschweizer Bibliothekverbund
french: Réseau des bibliothèques de Suisse occidentale
it, Rete delle bibliotheche della Svizzera occidentale , Martigny , , Switzerland , - , Répertoire International des Sources Musicales , RISM , – , Frankfurt , ,

, - , Système universitaire de documentation , SUDOC , french: Système universitaire de documentation , – , ,

, - , Syriac Reference Portal , SRP , – ,

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, , United States , - ,

Swiss National Library The Swiss National Library (german: Schweizerische Nationalbibliothek, french: Bibliothèque nationale suisse, it, Biblioteca nazionale svizzera, rm, Biblioteca naziunala svizra) is the national library of Switzerland. Part of the Federal Offi ...

, SWNL , german: Schweizerische Nationalbibliothek
french: Bibliothèque nationale suisse
it, Biblioteca nazionale svizzera
rm, Biblioteca naziunala svizra ,

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

, , Switzerland , - , , NUKAT , pl, Narodowy Uniwersalny Katalog Centralny , – , , Poland , - , Union List of Artist Names – Getty Research Institute , ULAN
JPG , – ,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, California , , United States , - , United States National Agricultural Library , NALT , – , Beltsville, Maryland , United States , - ,

United States National Library of Medicine The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), operated by the United States federal government, is the world's largest medical library. Located in Bethesda, Maryland, the NLM is an institute within the National Institutes of Health. It ...

, , – ,

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...

, , United States , - ,

Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library ( la, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, it, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City. Formally ...

, BAV , la, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana , – , , Vatican City , - , Cultuurconnect ( and LOCUS) , , nl, Vlaamse Centrale Catalogus ,

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, ,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to t ...

, - , Wikidata , WKP , – ,

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constit ...

, , International

Libraries added for testing purposes

} , Vilnius , , Lithuania , - ,

/ COBISS , SIMACOB , sl, Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica, NUK ,

, , Slovenia

References

Sources

External links

*
VIAF
at

OCLC OCLC, Inc., doing business as OCLC, See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It w ...

{{Authority control Identifiers Library cataloging and classification Library of Congress OCLC