“This article presents ISNI and VIAF as major initiatives leveraging the library Authority control. They are significantly changing the international landscape of bibliographic control addressing the challenge of reliably identifying people in the rapidly emerging global knowledge network. Both systems are built on the principles of UBC. Further, they are revitalising these principles by promoting a global economy in which the library authority data are playing a leading role in the Linked Data chain. The article presents ISNI and VIAF in complementary relation with one another and invites libraries worldwide to become full players in both initiatives.”