Heritage Reference Data Management System
Data standards underpin the effective gathering, dissemination and exchange of information by ensuring consistency and accuracy in data indexing and retrieval.
HIAS Principle 3 states: "Historic England, together with its partners, should continue to champion the development, maintenance and implementation of standards for the creation, management, sharing, re-use and storage of digital historic environment data."
In 2026, the open-source software tool Arches Lingo was launched. Read more about it here: Launch of Arches Lingo
In order to achieve this, Historic England has worked in partnership with the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI).
The Arches Lingo Project has delivered a standalone application based around the software platform developed by the Arches Project team. This application facilitates the dissemination of heritage reference data, essential to effective information management and interoperability, across the historic environment.
It is thanks to the support of the GCI that the vision of a ‘one-stop shop’ for the collaborative creation, management and digital publication of reference data has finally been realised.
The new application is underpinned by international standards for heritage data and vocabulary creation and dissemination including:
- In the UK, it replaces the functionality made available via the Heritage Data and Heritage-Standards websites.
- It supports the development of networks and services that enable users to undertake comprehensive searches of the information holdings of Historic England and its partners.
- It promotes standards and best practice to enable interoperability with key partners, and to encourage the interaction of the emerging historic environment information network with other thematic networks.
- It delivers a knowledge organisation structure, which not only facilitates data exchange and cross-searching of multiple datasets but also provides a valuable information resource allowing users to discover more about the historic environment.
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