Don't Trust Your Authorities – Epistemological and Practical Challenges in Working with Multidisciplinary Authority Data and Complex Controlled Vocabularies

Presentation accompanying the lecture given at the "Digital History Autumn School 2026: From Data Acquisition to Data Publication: Quality Control, Tool Assessment, and Methodological Challenges in Digital History", organized by the Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe (Marburg) and the HERMES (Humanities Education in Research, Data, and Methods) Data Competence Center, 28 September – 2 October 2026. Original abstract: "Authority data and controlled vocabularies are among the most important data resources in the digital humanities and in digital history. They ensure the interoperability, accessibility, and findability of research data, and are widely used in research, as well as in information infrastructures and historical collections. At the same time, their complexity and diversity are notoriously underestimated: their theoretical foundations, rules, and scientific requirements are often poorly understood. Problems still arise because authority data is used inappropriately, curated incorrectly, or misjudged in terms of its content and quality. Furthermore, many subdisciplines and use cases still lack suitable resources. The interactive lecture provides an introduction to the specific characteristics and challenges of working with authority data and discusses the current status quo in this field." The presentation was slightly modified for publication.