This class provides an introduction to the principles of Linked Data, the methods of making data available in such a form, and illustrates interesting applications that libraries are developing.
Linked Open Data is a feature of the Semantic Web that has been gaining attention in recent years. "Linked Data" refers to data published in accordance with principles designed to facilitate linkages among all kinds of resources on the Web; it goes beyond hypertext links between documents to include links to anything that has identity, such as people, controlled vocabularies, geographic places, etc. Linked Data opens up the wealth of resources in libraries and exposes it to the wider world of the Web, enabling sharing and reusability. This class provides an introduction to the principles of Linked Data, the methods of making data available in such a form, and illustrates interesting applications that libraries are developing.
Learning Outcomes
- Gain an understanding of what Linked Data is and why it is beneficial to libraries and other cultural heritage institutions
- Outline how library data may be structured to make it useable as Linked Data on the Web
- Review relevant technologies that are in use to enable this approach
- Understand what steps libraries and other cultural heritage institutions might take to be able to participate in making their data available in this way
- Review current use cases and applications of Linked Data in libraries
Instructor: Rebecca Guenther
Rebecca Guenther has 35 years of experience in national libraries, primarily working on library technology standards related to digital libraries. She has a bachelors’ degree from Beloit College in Wisconsin and a Masters of Science from Simmons College of Library Science. She started her career at the National Library of Medicine as a cataloger and later moved to the Library of Congress. Most of her professional life has been at the Library of Congress developing national and international standards related to metadata, including MARC, MODS, PREMIS, METS, and ISO language codes. She has served on numerous standards and implementation committees, several as chair, is widely published in professional literature, and has given many tutorials, workshops and presentations. She is currently living in New York, working remotely for the Library of Congress on MODS, PREMIS, LC's Linked Data Service, and the Bibliographic Framework Transition Initiative. In addition she is an adjunct professor in NYU's Moving Image Archiving and Preservation Program and does consulting on metadata issues.
