Help Build the Future of Cultural Heritage Knowledge. SARVAH is an open cultural heritage initiative focused on developing innovative ways to establish identity, provenance, and meaning around historical artefacts. We believe cultural objects are more than mere images or inventory records; they embody stories, relationships, identities, and historical context. To support this vision, we are seeking volunteer researchers to contribute to the creation of Cultural Research & Identity Files (CRIFs).

What is a CRIF?

A CRIF is a structured research file documenting:

• Object identity
• Provenance
• Attribution hypotheses
• Historical context
• Archival evidence
• Contradictions and uncertainties
• Sources and references
• Identity signals
  Unlike a traditional catalogue entry, a CRIF embraces uncertainty, documenting evidence, competing hypotheses, and confidence levels for representation within SARVAH's knowledge graph.

Who We Are Looking For

We welcome applications from:

• Art historians
• Provenance researchers
• Archivists
• Genealogists
• Museum professionals
• Graduate students and PhD candidates
• Cultural heritage specialists
• Independent researchers
• Auction house specialists
• Humanities and digital humanities researchers
  Technical skills are not required; what matters most is curiosity, rigor, and the ability to follow evidence.

What You Will Do

Depending on your interests, you may:

• Research paintings, photographs, manuscripts, and historical objects
• Trace provenance histories
• Investigate historical identities
• Analyse archival material
• Compare visual and documentary evidence
• Contribute to the development of the CRIF methodology
• Help establish identity confidence signals
• Participate in workshops and research discussions

Why Join?

This is an opportunity to help shape a new approach to cultural heritage knowledge. Your research will not vanish into a report; it will directly contribute to constructing a living knowledge graph designed to connect artefacts, people, places, events, and historical narratives. You will collaborate with researchers, architects, ontologists, developers, and cultural heritage professionals from various countries. Contributors receive:

• Formal recommendation letters upon request
• Public acknowledgment of contributions
• Opportunities to co-author methodologies and publications
• Early participation in the development of SARVAH and QEST

Current Research Themes

Examples include:

• Portrait identification
• Provenance reconstruction
• Auction catalogue analysis
• Family and genealogical networks
• Historical trade and collecting networks
• Cultural heritage identity establishment
• Archival discovery and contextualisation

Commitment

This role is flexible and fully remote. Contributors may engage from a few hours per month to a more sustained commitment based on availability. If this resonates with you, we would love to hear from you.