The National Standard for Arts Information Exchange was developed in the late 1970s to address the fragmented and inefficient information systems used by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), state arts agencies, regional arts organizations and arts grant makers at large. It aimed to standardize data collection across federal, state and regional arts entities, facilitating meaningful analysis and use of arts data on a national scale. The Standard created a taxonomy for compulsory federal data along with a broader set of data definitions that could be used by arts organizations and grant makers to track their programs, projects and activities.

Over time, the use of the Standard focused on the fields required of state arts agencies and regional arts organizations to complete NEA Final Descriptive Reports.

This important legacy of the Standard remains in place along with the taxonomy, even if it no longer is being updated comprehensively on a regular schedule. The Standard has allowed for the input of long-term longitudinal data describing state, federal and regional arts grant making since the 1970s. These data are utilized by arts agencies, researchers and the public to understand the reach of public support for the arts, to evaluate programs and to provide accountability for government investments. Collection, maintenance and analysis of these datasets will continue.

The following report synthesizes the history and revisions of the National Standard and provides future data-standardization considerations for arts grant makers.

A Brief Report on the Sunset of the National Standard 

For more historical documentation and information on National Standard revisions, see:

• National Standard Reference Guide: Published in 2015, this reference document encapsulates all systems and fields based on the original National Standard and all subsequently adopted revisions.
• National Standard Revisions Change Log: This table summarizes every enacted revision to the National Standard from 1984 to 2014.
• Historical implementation manuals and revisions documentation:

• All in Order: Information Systems for the Arts (original National Standard documentation)
• 1984 National Standard Revisions
• 1991 National Standard Revisions 
• 1994 National Standard Revisions
• 2001 National Standard Revisions
• 2014 National Standard Revisions