Authorities for proper names

RKDartists
RKDartists is a comprehensive database for the names of and basic facts concerning Dutch and Flemish artists as well as those of many foreign schools. It is maintained by the Netherlands Institute for Art History (Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie in The Hague, RKD for short.) The major source for RKDartists are the extensive documentation and photographic files of the RKD. As of December 2005 the database contains the names of about 225,000 artists, making it the largest register of the kind on Internet. CODART recommends RKDartist as the name authority for Netherlandish artists of all periods.

Thesaurus of geographic names (TGN)
The TGN is a structured, world-coverage vocabulary of 1,3 million names, including vernacular and historical names, coordinates, and place types, and descriptive notes, focusing on places important for the study of art and architecture.

Union List of Artist Names (ULAN)
ULAN, maintained by the Getty Research Institute, is a structured vocabulary containing around 259,000 names and other information about artists. Names in ULAN may include given names, pseudonyms, variant spellings, names in multiple languages, and names that have changed over time (e.g., married names). Among these names, one is flagged as the preferred name. The focus of each ULAN record is an artist. Currently there are around 118,000 artists in ULAN. In the database, each artist record is identified by a unique numeric ID. Linked to each artist record are names, related artists, sources for the data, and notes. The temporal coverage of ULAN ranges from Antiquity to the present and the scope is global. CODART recommends ULAN as the name authority for non-Netherlandish artists.