Report | 11. May 2026

Report: From collection item to object record. The LIDO format as a standard for describing cultural objects

By Dr. Celia Krause and Dr. Domenic Schäfer

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Keywords
Archaeology Architecture Art History Collection Management Digital Humanities Museum Studies Consortial Activity Report LIDO Terminology LIDO Authority Data Best Practice Controlled Vocabulary Cultural Heritage Data Format Data Modeling Metadata Research Data Research Data Management Training Cataloging Data Mapping Digital Publishing Mapping
Screenshot from LIDO (Lightweight Information Describing Objects) XML-Snippet

"LIDO – Lightweight Information Describing Objects (XML-Snippet)"

"Screenshot from LIDO (Lightweight Information Describing Objects) XML-Snippet" CC0 Creator: Barbara Fichtl, Owner: Barbara Fichtl

The LIDO Agency within NFDI4Culture has successfully held its first online workshop on the topic ‘From collection item to object record. The LIDO format as a standard for describing cultural objects’. The aim of the event was to provide participants with a concise introduction to the basics of LIDO (Lightweight Information Describing Objects) and to familiarise them with the specific features of this XML-based data format.

The structure and content of the workshop were based on chapters 1–7 of the NFDI4Culture LIDO training course and combined introductory content blocks with two practical hands-on exercises on creating LIDO XML files and integrating controlled vocabularies. The event was aimed at professionals from all areas of cultural heritage who wish to generate or process LIDO data. A good 130 people took part, as expected predominantly from the museum and collections sector and from the university and higher education environment. Another group of workshop participants were based in libraries, including museum and university libraries. The vast majority of participants had a beginner’s level of familiarity with LIDO, which made the workshop’s low-threshold approach seem appropriate.

The response to the event was very positive, and it laid an important foundation for the development of a training and outreach programme by the LIDO Agency. The experience gained will be incorporated into the design of future outreach formats and will contribute to the needs-based further development of the LIDO Agency's services.

In the coming months (June/July 2026), building on this workshop, the LIDO Agency will offer two further individual courses in which the chapters of the NFDI4Culture LIDO training course not covered previously will be explored in greater depth. In terms of content, these will focus on the LIDO application profiles and the new features in LIDO 1.1, as well as the mapping of data fields from the collection databases for the creation of LIDO exports.

Further workshops and training sessions are planned for 2027, where we intend to specifically target multipliers of the LIDO format and focus in depth on the topic of data quality. These too are to be designed to be as practical as possible. This will systematically expand the training offering and sustainably strengthen the transfer of LIDO skills.