News > The LIVE Directory: At the Crossroads of Performing Arts and Open Data

The LIVE Directory: At the Crossroads of Performing Arts and Open Data

Audience members at Cabaret-Théâtre du Vieux-Saint-Jean
SPEC du Haut-Richelieu is one of our members who have published their photos under free license. Photo credit: Marc-André Paillé, CC BY 4.0 . (via: commons.wikimedia.org)

CAPACOA is thrilled to announce that the LIVE Performing Arts Directory is now (in fact) live!

The LIVE (or Live Industry Validated Entities) Directory stands out as the first of its kind powered entirely by open data. It collects and shares reliable member information from multiple sources. This includes, for example, CAPACOA’s own member database, the Artsdata knowledge graph and Wikidata. Furthermore, it automatically updates as new open data becomes available.

Above all, the directory is based on reliable and carefully validated data. At each stage of extraction and transformation, CAPACOA and Culture Creates staff ensure that the data is highly quality. They also ensure that the information is reconciled (i.e. matched) from one database to another.

Diagram showing how the data flows and feeds into the LIVE Directory.
Diagram showing how the data flows and feeds into the LIVE Directory.

Like the data that drives it, this directory constantly evolves. Already, the CAPACOA team is hard at work, entering detailed information about members’ performance venues into Wikidata. This enrichment work is part of the follow-up to the Cultural Venues Datathon last April, which used Wikidata to make a public database of buildings dedicated to the performing arts. This data will be integrated into the LIVE Performing Arts Directory this fall.

Watch the recording of the LIVE Directory Launch event.

Start exploring the LIVE Directory.

Learn more about how the directory works.

Thank you to the developers of the LIVE Performing Arts Directory, Culture Creates and Ryan Hutchinson.

Thank you to our summer interns, Dawson Fraser and Dessa Hayes, who diligently populated member venue information into Wikidata. And a special thanks to our Membership and Programs Manager, Chandel Gambles.

And shout out to all supporters of the Artsdata knowledge graph, with a special thank you to Crow’s Theatre for their leadership.

The development of the LIVE Performing Arts Directory was funded by the Government of Canada and the Canada Council for the Arts.

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