MCN 2026

Over the course of more than a year, a cross-functional team from the Getty including data engineers, catalogers, and frontend developers coordinated remotely with our counterparts at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The remit was simple: How do we surface the ways our collections connect? Given that our collections are both modeled in linked open data, specifically Linked Art, given that our technical stacks are aligned, and given that both institutions promote open collections often and publicly -- what could we actually do that practically demonstrates our shared commitment to open standards? After months of planning, the collaboration culminated with an in-person, hands-on prototyping session. The point was to explore, focusing on what was lightweight, likely ephemeral, and leveraged existing resources and expertise. 

The process ended up helping us shine a light on core institutional concerns: using shared data models in real-life; authority, branding, and UX issues; organizational differences across institutions; and just how collections ought to live outside our own museum contexts. This talk touches on what we can learn (and unlearn) when we go beyond talking about data models and start building a working app from scratch alongside an unfamiliar team.