The FAU Competence Center for Research Data and Information (FAU CDI) is now a new member of the international CIDOC Special Interest Group (SIG), which develops and maintains the CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model (CIDOC CRM). The CIDOC CRM is a formal ontology for describing and linking information about cultural heritage and is ISO-certified (ISO 21127). It provides classes and relationships that allow different datasets to be described on a common semantic basis. The goal is to explicitly model the meaning of information so that data from different systems can be linked and integrated with one another.
Interaction between ontology development and practical application:
The WissKI (Scientific Communication Infrastructure) software provides an environment in which CIDOC-CRM-based models can not only be designed, but also implemented in specific research projects, populated with data, and operated over the long term.
Under the title “Working with CIDOC CRM at FAU CDI’s WissKI Lab,” we will provide an insight into the work of the FAU CDI WissKI Lab and present selected current modeling projects at the 63rd CIDOC CRM SIG Meeting, to be held October 6–9, 2026, at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum.
For researchers focused on cultural heritage, we provide practical explanations of the data models being developed at the WissKI-Lab using the CIDOC CRM, how these models are being used in ongoing projects, and which methods enable interoperability and reusable descriptions. The focus is on concrete case studies and how these concepts can be applied to your own research questions.