Workshop | 30. April 2026

From Collection Item to Object Record. The LIDO format as a standard for describing cultural objects

XML technologies have long been used in the cultural heritage sector. The MARC XML standard supports the exchange of bibliographic metadata between individual libraries and entire library networks, while the EAD format is used by archives to make their holdings findable. METS and MODS enable digital objects and their metadata to be described in a structured way. There is a growing trend towards integrating TEI and MEI encoding formats, which are used in digital editions and digitisation projects.

LIDO (Lightweight Information Describing Objects) has now been firmly established as a standard for museums mostly. It enables collection objects to be documented as accurately as possible, and shared with other institutions, cultural heritage portals, and the NFDI's knowledge graphs. As well as describing collection objects, LIDO enables the provision of administrative metadata which documents the rights, access and usage restrictions associated with an object, data set or media file.

The first of three workshops organised by the NFDI4Culture LIDO Agency will introduce participants to the advantages and applications of the LIDO format. A general introduction to structure and properties of XML data will provide an overview of mandatory LIDO fields and other important data elements. The plan is to integrate theoretical input and practical exercises to facilitate introduction to LIDO. The use of LIDO terminology and the integration of external controlled vocabularies and authority files will be covered. A joint LIDO mapping session will address questions regarding data export and the practical use of LIDO.

The workshop is intended for individuals from all GLAM institutions who wish to generate and process LIDO data. It is particularly aimed at documentation professionals, collections managers, digital curators and digital managers in roles relating to digital transformation.

For the event, you will ideally need an XML editor that supports schema validation, such as Oxygen or free editors like TextGrid, Notepad++ with an XML plugin or Visual Studio Code with an extension. Further materials will be provided.

We recommend watching the short LIDO introductory video in advance to prepare. The workshop will be held in German and is free of charge.

For registration please visit the following page:
https://events.nfdi4culture.de/event/53/