Library Linked Data In The Cloud

This book describes OCLC’s contributions to the transformation of the Internet from a web of documents to a Web of Data. The new Web is a growing ‘cloud’ of interconnected resources that identify the things people want to know about when they approach the Internet with an information need. The linked data architecture has achieved critical mass just as it has become clear that library standards for resource description are nearing obsolescence. Working for the world’s largest library cooperative, OCLC researchers have been active participants in the development of next generation standards for library resource description. By engaging with an international community of library and Web standards experts, they have published some of the most widely used RDF datasets representing library collections and librarianship. This book focuses on the conceptual and technical challenges involved in publishing linked data derived from traditional library metadata. This transformation is a high priority because most searches for information start not in the library, nor even in a Web-accessible library catalog, but elsewhere on the Internet. Modeling data in a form that the broader Web understands will project the value of libraries into the Digital Information Age. The exposition is aimed at librarians, archivists, computer scientists, and other professionals interested in modeling bibliographic descriptions as linked data. It aims to achieve a balanced treatment of theory, technical detail, and practical application.

This book describes OCLC’s contributions to the transformation of the Internet from a web of documents to a Web of Data. The new Web is a growing ‘cloud’ of interconnected resources that identify the things people want to know about when they approach the Internet with an information need. The linked data architecture has achieved critical mass just as it has become clear that library standards for resource description are nearing obsolescence. Working for the world’s largest library cooperative, OCLC researchers have been active participants in the development of next-generation standards for library resource description. By engaging with an international community of library and Web standards experts, they have published some of the most widely used RDF datasets representing library collections and librarianship. This book focuses on the conceptual and technical challenges involved in publishing linked data derived from traditional library metadata. This transformation is a high priority because most searches for information start not in the library, nor even in a Web-accessible library catalog, but elsewhere on the Internet. Modeling data in a form that the broader Web understands will project the value of libraries into the Digital Information Age. The exposition is aimed at librarians, archivists, computer scientists, and other professionals interested in modeling bibliographic descriptions as linked data. It aims to achieve a balanced treatment of theory, technical detail, and practical application.

This book describes OCLC's contributions to the transformation of the Internet from a web of documents to a Web of Data. The new Web is a growing `cloud' of interconnected resources that identify the things people want to know about when they approach the Internet with an information need. The linked data architecture has achieved critical mass just as it has become clear that library standards for resource description are nearing obsolescence. Working for the world's largest library cooperative, OCLC researchers have been active participants in the development of next-generation standards for library resource description. By engaging with an international community of library and Web standards experts, they have published some of the most widely used RDF datasets representing library collections and librarianship. This book focuses on the conceptual and technical challenges involved in publishing linked data derived from traditional library metadata. This transformation is a high priority because most searches for information start not in the library, nor even in a Web-accessible library catalog, but elsewhere on the Internet. Modeling data in a form that the broader Web understands will project the value of libraries into the Digital Information Age. The exposition is aimed at librarians, archivists, computer scientists, and other professionals interested in modeling bibliographic descriptions as linked data. It aims to achieve a balanced treatment of theory, technical detail, and practical application.

"This issue of Libary Technology Reports presents an overview of current developments in Semantic Web technology that provide the foundations for making library data accessible on the Semantic Web. Author Karne Coyle introduces basic Semantic Web concepts and then describes the metadata activites and developer tools that are being used to create Semantic Web applications. She points readers to projects within and beyond the library community that are a source of metadata elements and controlled vocabularies. for software developers, she describes available software tools in the nascent world of linked data the Semantic Web."--Publisher's website.

This highly practical handbook teaches you how to unlock the value of your existing metadata through cleaning, reconciliation, enrichment and linking and how to streamline the process of new metadata creation. Libraries, archives and museums are facing up to the challenge of providing access to fast growing collections whilst managing cuts to budgets. Key to this is the creation, linking and publishing of good quality metadata as Linked Data that will allow their collections to be discovered, accessed and disseminated in a sustainable manner. This highly practical handbook teaches you how to unlock the value of your existing metadata through cleaning, reconciliation, enrichment and linking and how to streamline the process of new metadata creation. Metadata experts Seth van Hooland and Ruben Verborgh introduce the key concepts of metadata standards and Linked Data and how they can be practically applied to existing metadata, giving readers the tools and understanding to achieve maximum results with limited resources. Readers will learn how to critically assess and use (semi-)automated methods of managing metadata through hands-on exercises within the book and on the accompanying website. Each chapter is built around a case study from institutions around the world, demonstrating how freely available tools are being successfully used in different metadata contexts. This handbook delivers the necessary conceptual and practical understanding to empower practitioners to make the right decisions when making their organisations resources accessible on the Web. Key topics include: - The value of metadata Metadata creation – architecture, data models and standards - Metadata cleaning - Metadata reconciliation - Metadata enrichment through Linked Data and named-entity recognition - Importing and exporting metadata - Ensuring a sustainable publishing model. Readership: This will be an invaluable guide for metadata practitioners and researchers within all cultural heritage contexts, from library cataloguers and archivists to museum curatorial staff. It will also be of interest to students and academics within information science and digital humanities fields. IT managers with responsibility for information systems, as well as strategy heads and budget holders, at cultural heritage organisations, will find this a valuable decision-making aid.

Libraries are at a tipping point in adoption of linked data, and this issue of Library Technology Reports explores current research in linked open data, explaining concepts and pioneering services.

Cultural Heritage (CH) data is syntactically and semantically heterogeneous, multilingual, semantically rich, and highly interlinked. It is produced in a distributed, open fashion by museums, libraries, archives, and media organizations, as well as individual persons. Managing publication of such richness and variety of content on the Web, and at the same time supporting distributed, interoperable content creation processes, poses challenges where traditional publication approaches need to be re-thought. Application of the principles and technologies of Linked Data and the Semantic Web is a new, promising approach to address these problems. This development is leading to the creation of large national and international CH portals, such as Europeana, to large open data repositories, such as the Linked Open Data Cloud, and massive publications of linked library data in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Cultural Heritage has become one of the most successful application domains of Linked Data and Semantic Web technologies. This book gives an overview on why, when, and how Linked (Open) Data and Semantic Web technologies can be employed in practice in publishing CH collections and other content on the Web. The text first motivates and presents a general semantic portal model and publishing framework as a solution approach to distributed semantic content creation, based on an ontology infrastructure. On the Semantic Web, such an infrastructure includes shared metadata models, ontologies, and logical reasoning, and is supported by shared ontology and other Web services alleviating the use of the new technology and linked data in legacy cataloging systems. The goal of all this is to provide layman users and researchers with new, more intelligent and usable Web applications that can be utilized by other Web applications, too, via well-defined Application Programming Interfaces (API). At the same time, it is possible to provide publishing organizations with more cost-efficient solutions for content creation and publication. This book is targeted to computer scientists, museum curators, librarians, archivists, and other CH professionals interested in Linked Data and CH applications on the Semantic Web. The text is focused on practice and applications, making it suitable to students, researchers, and practitioners developing Web services and applications of CH, as well as to CH managers willing to understand the technical issues and challenges involved in linked data publication. Table of Contents: Cultural Heritage on the Semantic Web / Portal Model for Collaborative CH Publishing / Requirements for Publishing Linked Data / Metadata Schemas / Domain Vocabularies and Ontologies / Logic Rules for Cultural Heritage / Cultural Content Creation / Semantic Services for Human and Machine Users / Conclusions

Cultural Heritage (CH) data is syntactically and semantically heterogeneous, multilingual, semantically rich, and highly interlinked. It is produced in a distributed, open fashion by museums, libraries, archives, and media organizations, as well as individual persons. Managing publication of such richness and variety of content on the Web, and at the same time supporting distributed, interoperable content creation processes, poses challenges where traditional publication approaches need to be re-thought. Application of the principles and technologies of Linked Data and the Semantic Web is a new, promising approach to address these problems. This development is leading to the creation of large national and international CH portals, such as Europeana, to large open data repositories, such as the Linked Open Data Cloud, and massive publications of linked library data in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Cultural Heritage has become one of the most successful application domains of Linked Data and Semantic Web technologies. This book gives an overview on why, when, and how Linked (Open) Data and Semantic Web technologies can be employed in practice in publishing CH collections and other content on the Web. The text first motivates and presents a general semantic portal model and publishing framework as a solution approach to distributed semantic content creation, based on an ontology infrastructure. On the Semantic Web, such an infrastructure includes shared metadata models, ontologies, and logical reasoning, and is supported by shared ontology and other Web services alleviating the use of the new technology and linked data in legacy cataloging systems. The goal of all this is to provide layman users and researchers with new, more intelligent and usable Web applications that can be utilized by other Web applications, too, via well-defined Application Programming Interfaces (API). At the same time, it is possible to provide publishing organizations with more cost-efficient solutions for content creation and publication. This book is targeted to computer scientists, museum curators, librarians, archivists, and other CH professionals interested in Linked Data and CH applications on the Semantic Web. The text is focused on practice and applications, making it suitable to students, researchers, and practitioners developing Web services and applications of CH, as well as to CH managers willing to understand the technical issues and challenges involved in linked data publication. Table of Contents: Cultural Heritage on the Semantic Web / Portal Model for Collaborative CH Publishing / Requirements for Publishing Linked Data / Metadata Schemas / Domain Vocabularies and Ontologies / Logic Rules for Cultural Heritage / Cultural Content Creation / Semantic Services for Human and Machine Users / Conclusions