WASHINGTON (AP) — The Smithsonian American Art Museum is partnering with researchers from the University of Southern California's Information Sciences Institute to make digital art records more easily searchable with the latest technology.

Records of more than 40,000 artworks at the museum will be connected to a digital library through the project.

The records will be converted to linked open data, a system that publishes information online with more precise tagging than current web publishing formats. USC says that will provide easier access to information on the museum's holdings.

Officials at the college say the tools developed for the project will work with any museum's databases and will be made available for free to other museums. As more museums convert to the new system, users can search for art information across many websites.