News Item | 21. November 2025

Release of the Culture Data Search: Discovered all the connections in cultural data yet?

By Linnaea Söhn, M. A. , Etienne Posthumus , Tabea Tietz , Prof. Torsten Schrade and Prof. Dr. Harald Sack

The Culture Data Search shall make it possible: For the first time, users gain centralized access to multimodal datasets from NFDI4Culture’s research domains – from notated music and architecture to sculptures, letters, and paintings. Through a single access point, the rich collections of tangible and intangible cultural heritage can be explored.

Beyond standard search features such as full-text search and filter options, this first release of the platform already provides tools to uncover new connections between previously isolated datasets. These include the incipit search for notated music and the AI-driven image similarity search, which reveal surprising relationships.

In the Culture Data Search datasets can not only be searched via collections, but also via related persons, organisations, and places. Additionally, the datasets can be filtered according to license information, formats, or metadata standards. As a metadata index, the data search links back to the provider's items, e.g. for further research.

In the background, the Culture Knowledge Graph ensures the integration of and the interconnection between the data. Its data model is based on the NFDI4Culture Ontology, a submodule of the NFDICore Ontology, enabling a standardized and interconnected representation of the datasets.

Both the Data Search’s functionalities and the scope of integrated data are continuously being expanded. Data providers interested in integrating their data into the Culture Knowledge Graph can find detailed guidance in the Guideline for Data Integration. For questions, the NFDI4Culture Helpdesk is available.