Recommendation on open and safe data: Access permissions for existing metadata in collections and the sharing of such data (2025)

TA 2 Collecting and TA 6 Qualification, Integration and Harmonisation have drawn up a recommendation in the form of a white paper on the extent to which object-related metadata with collection references that has already been collected should be shared with third parties.

The starting point is the observation that standards such as LIDO, Dublin Core and CIDOC-CRM model the exchange of data at an abstract and very basic level and attempt to cover the full spectrum of conceivable use cases. However, practice shows that the sharing of object and metadata is always determined by specific scenarios and the stakeholders involved, and that the aforementioned standards are sometimes inadequate in this regard. The recommendation presented here seeks to address this discrepancy and stimulate discussion within the collections community.