We talk about a new environment in which we can expand our resources for managing identities, specially names authorities. What are the sources we would like to use? Wikidata? ISNI? NACO?

How could it work when, for example, we point to a VIAF resource, which contains 20 labels? Does an institution still have a local authority file? Would that mean that institution should host a mini-Linked Data website similar to ID.LOC.GOV or DATA.DNB.DE?

Do authority descriptions still need to follow specific rules for the construction of the authorized access point? How are the rules enforced if authorities reside outside a local system? Are service centers needed to maintain the descriptions and URIs needed for the descriptions? Would any services be free or not? Do all descriptions reside in a “local” file or do some stay at another site with links?

While machines operate on identifiers, humans require labels: How does label caching fit into the picture? Are there services that collect different files that are used instead of storing everything locally? This session is not for discussion of RWO (Real World Object) vs. identifiers vs. labels for names. The real issue is working in a communal environment.