---
license: etalab-2.0
language:
  - fr
  - mul
tags:
  - entity-linking
  - authority-control
  - bnf
  - rdf
  - cultural-heritage
pretty_name: BnF authorities (persons, orgs, works) for entity linking
size_categories:
  - 1M<n<10M
configs:
  - config_name: persons
    data_files: persons/data.parquet
  - config_name: orgs
    data_files: orgs/data.parquet
  - config_name: works
    data_files: works/data.parquet
---

# BnF authorities for entity linking

Curated authority records extracted from the **data.bnf.fr** RDF/XML dump
(Bibliothèque nationale de France), flattened into three Parquet files for use
as an entity-linking authority and cross-identifier hub.

Each record is keyed by its **BnF ARK** and carries cross-walk IDs to external
authorities (Wikidata, VIAF, ISNI, IdRef, …), so a match to BnF also yields
those identifiers.

## Files

| File | Rows | Entities |
|---|---:|---|
| `persons/data.parquet` | 2,240,885 | Established person authorities (`foaf:Person`) |
| `orgs/data.parquet` | 443,654 | Organisation authorities (`foaf:Organization`) |
| `works/data.parquet` | 1,969,410 | Works (`works` + `musworks` + `computed_works`) |

## Common columns (all three files)

| Column | Type | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| `id` | string | BnF ARK stem, e.g. `cb144398879` (works may be `temp-work/<hash>`) |
| `uri` | string | Full URI, e.g. `http://data.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb144398879` |
| `source` | string | Always `bnf` |
| `type` | string | `person` \| `org` \| `work` |
| `preferredName` | string | Primary name / title |
| `aliases` | list<string> | Alternate names / titles |
| `wikidata_qid` | string | Wikidata QID (e.g. `Q42`) |
| `viaf_id` | string | VIAF cluster id |
| `isni` | string | ISNI |
| `frbnf` | string | BnF legacy FRBNF number |
| `wikipedia_fr` | string | French Wikipedia page URL |

## Type-specific columns

- **persons**: `description`, `birthYear`, `deathYear`, `birthDate`, `deathDate`, `gender`, `language`, `country`, `idref`
- **orgs**: `description`, `foundingYear`, `dissolutionYear`, `language`, `country`, `idref`
- **works**: `publicationYear`, `creator` (list of author ARKs), `language`, `isan` (films)

## Scope

- **Included**: established person/org authorities + works.
- **Excluded**: "elementary" persons (provisional stubs), editions, RAMEAU subjects, places, events.

## Source & licence

Derived from the public **data.bnf.fr** dump. BnF open data is published under the
**Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab)** — please confirm and attribute
accordingly. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the BnF.