People Information in Provenance Data: Biographical Entity Linking with Wikidata and ULAN

This paper discusses how provenance data can be integrated into a linked open data (LOD) framework. It focuses on the biographical information of people recorded in provenance texts of museums. The Art Institute of Chicago’s provenance records serve as a case study to examine the process of entity linking. This process helps to connect individuals mentioned in provenances with entries in LOD repositories like Wikidata and the Getty’s Union List of Artist Names (ULAN). The paper evaluates the effectiveness of entity linking through quantitative and qualitative analyses and discusses the role of museums as both a user and a contributor to LOD repositories. The findings emphasize the importance of accurate data representation, particularly regarding underrepresented groups like women, and highlight the potential for museums to enrich LOD platforms with authoritative biographical information.