LONDON.- The British Museum has now released a Semantic Web version of the database complementing the Collection Online search facility. The Museum is the first UK arts organisation to instigate a Semantic Web version of its collection data. The new service brings the British Museum into the ‘linked data’ world and will allow software developers to produce their own applications that can directly manipulate and reuse the data. It will also allow researchers and scholars a way to search and find data more precisely and facilitate automatic updates. This Semantic version has been enhanced by applying the CIDOC-CRM (Conceptual Reference Model) ontology. By converting data to this ISO accredited semantic framework the potential to harmonise and build data relationships with other organisations is greatly enhanced. In addition, the service comes with a more open data licence encouraging wider reuse. Dominic Oldman,