The Work catalogs in RISM Online (ISSN 3043-0410) is a series that brings together digital publications of thematic catalogs created within the RISM database.

Many composers still do not have an adequate thematic catalog. This is often the case for composers from lesser-known repertoires or from less well-documented geographical areas. The establishment of this series of thematic catalogs for such composers aims to fill significant gaps and to improve the representation of diversity in resources dedicated to the history of music. One of the objectives of this series is to encourage initiatives in this direction and to support them by providing projects with the infrastructure and guidelines necessary for the creation of new thematic catalogs.

The thematic catalogs published in this series constitute distinct digital resources, yet they remain directly connected to the RISM database. The works listed in these catalogs are intrinsically linked to the musical sources documented in RISM, as well as to other authority data, such as persons or musical institutions. This structure makes it possible to explore not only the content of the catalogs, but also their connections to related bibliographic data.

Each catalog is presented as an independent digital publication, including a page describing the musicological and editorial work that guided the preparation of the inventory of works in Muscat, cataloguing software maintained and used by the RISM. The list of works is accessible via a simple search interface offering the possibility to apply various filters. The data are directly imported from the RISM database via the RISM Online API.

This series has been developed in accordance with the FAIR principles and with long-term sustainability in mind. The creation or updating of a thematic catalog can readily be planned as one of the deliverables of a research project. However, it is often difficult to establish a solid sustainability plan for such outputs. Research projects are usually limited in time, and it is difficult to maintain a service beyond the funding period. The fact that a thematic catalog such as those published here relies on a large-scale, long-term international research infrastructure provides a solution to this problem. Sharing infrastructure across different projects also improves interoperability between them. It further enhances their visibility, which in turn contributes to improving equity and inclusion across the resource as a whole.