Cataloging Cultural Objects

Cataloging Cultural Objects: A Guide to Describing Cultural Works and Their Images, is a data content standard for the cultural heritage community. The primary focus of CCO is art and architecture although it may include objects like archaeological sites, artifacts and functional objects. In CCO, works are distinct intellectual or artistic creation limited primarily to objects and structures made by humans, including built works, visual art works, and cultural artifacts. Built works are architecture, other structures, or a man-made environment, typically large enough for humans to enter, usually serving a practical purpose, being relatively stable, and usually considered to have aesthetic value. Visual arts are physical objects meant to be perceived primarily through the sense of sight, created by the use of skill and imagination, and they should exhibit an aesthetic of a quality and type that would be collected by art museums or private collectors. (Baca, Harpring, Lanzi, McRae, & Whiteside, 2006, pp. 4-5). We will present work and authority records for the objects presented on our site when possible.

Records may also contain identifiers from the controlled vocabularies listed below.
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Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT)
Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names (TGN)
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH)
Union List of Artist Names (ULAN)