Design and Art Australia Online (DAAO) is a collaborative e-Research tool built upon the foundations of the Dictionary of Australian Artists Online. DAAO is an open source freely accessible scholarly e-Research tool that links biographical data about Australian artists, designers, craftspeople and curators with information about artworks, event histories and collection details.
The site is currently in phase two of development under ARC LIEF LE120100056. Design & Art Australia Online is also part of a major cultural data sets consortium (including AusStage, AusLit, ADB and others, and led by CI Deb Verhoeven (Deakin)) that was successful in receiving NeCTAR funds to develop a virtual laboratory.
The DAAO is a model of innovative digital research infrastructure that will draw strength from interoperability with related datasets and its grounding in the Australian scholarly community. Having achieved initial objectives of delivering a flexible and sustainable open access biographical resource, the next phase of the DAAO seeks to provide a comprehensive contextual framework for investigators to interpret its biographical data, integrating disparate information into a dynamic, accessible and highly searchable environment.