Jennifer Bowen discusses the importance of linked data for libraries, emphasizing that it enhances discoverability and innovation in digital scholarship. She presents various use cases where linked data can improve library systems and metadata management, such as deduplication and vocabulary alignment. The presentation also covers the development of the Extensible Catalog and lessons learned from integrating linked data into library practices.

1. LINKED DATA: WHY
BOTHER?
JENNIFER BOWEN, UNIVERSITY OF
ROCHESTER
NOTSL MEETING, KENT STATE
UNIVERSITY
NOVEMBER 22, 2013

2. My Topics Today
2




The ―Vision‖ piece: Why should libraries care
about linked data?
A few linked data use cases for libraries
Can libraries achieve their metadata-related
goals WITHOUT linked data?
Lessons learned from developing the
eXtensible Catalog and what that has to do
with linked data

3. eXtensibleCatalog.org
3

4. XC User Research
Partners:
Cornell University
Ohio State University
University of Rochester
Yale University
4
Studying scholars at the UR…

5. Scholars want to read everything
on the topic that they are researching
5

6. 6
They want to be in the middle of
everything they need, all organized
so it is findable and usable

7. Scholars want their research
to be findable and usable by others.
7

8. “These other researchers cite
MY research…”
8

9. Scholars want to connect to people
whose work is interesting and useful to them.
9

10. Scholars don’t care what the technology is,
as long as it helps them do their work
10

11. A shift in how people
seek and use information
11



Systems that libraries provide (websites,
catalogs, databases) are bypassed
…not just in favor of Google and the Web in
general
…but also in favor of tailored desktop, mobile,
and web applications

12. Beyond library finding tools
12
―Even scholars who continue to use library
finding tools are turning to new
applications to aggregate and analyze
information in ways that extend their
scholarship beyond what manual
searching and analyzing allows.‖
-- Nancy Fried Foster
Senior Anthropologist, Ithaka S+R

13. Vision for how to address this…
13

Make library resources discoverable on the
open web, through applications that potential
readers are already using:
Search engines
Mobile apps
Social media

14. AN EXAMPLE…

15. An example…Mt. Hope Cemetery
15
Photo credits: ROCHESTER’S SPEAKING STONES By Th. Emil Homerin; University of Rochester
Department of Religion and Classics
http://www.rochester.edu/College/REL/faculty/homerin/REL167/reports.htm

16. An example…Mt. Hope Cemetery
16
Photo credit: www.findagrav.com/cgibin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=31&PIpi=76
016

17. 17
Photo credits: University of Rochester. River Campus Libraries. Department of Rare Books and Special
Collections. http://www.lib.rochester.edu/index.cfm?PAGE=4119

18. What’s the role of linked data?
18


Tools like this are possible today with
dedicated programming.
Linked Data will enable library resources to be
included in applications like this by allowing
application developers access to a “…a store
of machine-actionable data on which improved
services can be built”. (Linked Open Data
value statement)

19. THREE INITIATIVES
RELATED TO LINKED
DATA AND LIBRARIES

20. Stanford Linked Data Workshop (2011)
20
Linked Open
Data Value
Statements
http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub152/LinkedData
Workshop.pdf

21. Linked Open Data Value
Statements
21





Linked Open Data (LOD) puts information
where people are looking for it: on the web
LOD can expand discoverability of our content
LOD opens opportunities for creative
innovation in digital scholarship and
participation
LOD allows for open continuous improvement
of data
LOD creates a store of machine-actionable
http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub152/LinkedData
data on which improved services can be built
Workshop.pdf

22. More Linked Open Data Value
Statements
22


Library LOD might facilitate the breakdown of
the tyranny of domain silos
LOD can provide direct access to data in ways
that are not currently possible, and provides
unanticipated benefits that will emerge later as
the stores of LOD expand
http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub152/LinkedData
Workshop.pdf

23. Another library linked data
initiative: BIBFRAME
23
www.loc.gov/bibframe/

24. What is BIBFRAME?
24


Library of Congress-led effort to replace
MARC 21 with a new bibliographic model
based upon linked data
―Determine a transition path for the MARC 21
exchange format in order to reap the benefits
of newer technology while preserving a robust
data exchange that has supported resource
sharing and cataloging cost savings in recent
decades.‖

25. More goals of LC’s BIBFRAME
25



Differentiate between conceptual content and
physical manifestations (works and instances)
Focus on unambiguously identifying
information entities (e.g. authorities)
Leverage and expose relationships between
and among entities
http://bibframe.org/

26. 26
Potential Issues with
BIBFRAME



Conceptual model doesn’t fully conform to
either FRBR or RDA (e.g. no ―expression‖
level) – is this a problem?
Will organizations that have already
implemented linked data use BIBFRAME once
it is finished?
Do we really need a new serialization of
MARC dictated by LC?
http://bibframe.org/

27. Let’s get a little more specific…
WHAT CAN LIBRARIES ACTUALLY
DO WITH LINKED DATA?

28. 62 Use Cases for Library Linked Data!
―The mission of the Library Linked Data incubator
group is to help increase global interoperability of
library data on the Web, by bringing together people
involved in Semantic Web activities—focusing on
Linked Data—in the library community and beyond,
building on existing initiatives, and identifying
collaboration tracks for the future.‖
28

29. W3C Library Linked Data (LLD) Incubator
Group Use Case Areas
29








Bibliographic data
Authority data
Vocabulary alignment
Archives and heterogeneous data
Citations
Digital objects
Collections
Social and new uses
Source: Library
Linked Data Use
Cases

30. 30
Some Sample Use Cases
W3C Library Linked Data Incubator Group:
http://www.w3.org/2005/Incubator/lld/XGR-lld-usecase-20111025/

31. 31
Bibliographic Data Use Case:
Deduplication and Unification of Library
Records




Enable matching not based upon data from a
central provider
More reference data for
matching/deduplication would be available
openly for any library to use
Non-MARC metadata also need deduplication
and unification
Using linked data would result in more trusted
matches, more opportunities to automate the
Source: Library
matching process
Linked Data Use
Cases

32. Deduplication/Merging of Metadata With and
Without Linked Data
Using
Linked
Data
32
Record for
Resource
B:
Match Point
1
Match Point
2
Deduping
Records
Record for
Resource
A:
Match Point
2
Graph for
Resource A
URI:
URI:
URI:
URI:
URI:
Graph for
Resource
B
URI:
URI:
URI:
URI:
URI:
If records match
on a designated
match
point, one
record overlays
the other or a
merge algorithm
can keep data
from both
records
Algorithm
could look at
all URIs
representing
two resources
to determine a
―match‖ and
combine all
URIs into a
single graph

33. Authority Data Use Case: Authority
Data Enrichment (VIAF)
33




Enrich already existing authority data with
additional information from external data sets
by linking instead of copying & merging
Enables VIAF (Virtual International Authority
File) to be expanded with huge amounts of
data from all over the world
Align different representations of the same
real-world resource
Linked data allows the usage of remote data in
applications
Source: Library
Linked Data Use
Cases

34. Vocabulary Alignment Use Case:
Vocabulary Merging
34



Users expect to be able to search for subjects
using their own language and terms in an
unambiguous, contextualized manner.
Linked Data technologies could provide the
underlying infrastructure by semantic mapping
or merging of concepts across vocabularies.
Allow vocabularies defined by different
sources to organize (classify, index ...) legacy
data to be used together
Source: Library
Linked Data Use
Cases

35. 35
http://aep.lib.rochester.edu/hom
e

36. 36

37. Keyword =
―arrow‖
37

38. LCSH via
id.loc.gov
38

39. Vocabulary Merging:
Rochester AIDS Posters vs. LCSH
39
Arrow
[URI for UR’s
vocabulary AIDS
poster terms]
Same as
Arrow (Symbol)
id.loc.gov/authorities/
subjects/sh20130005
24

40. Archives and Heterogeneous Data
Use Case: Semantic Connections
40


A group of archives would like to better share
information about their holdings. They have
separate catalogs and these catalogs do not
necessarily use the same data formats.
Exporting and sharing their data in Linked
Data format would allow them to make
connections between the collections using
topics, names, place names, and other
information contained in their metadata.
Source: Library
Linked Data Use
Cases

41. 41

42. LCSH: AIDS (Disease)-Prevention
42

43. UR Local vocabulary: AIDS
Prevention
43

44. 44
Rochester AIDS Posters vs. UCLA
AIDS Posters: Semantic Connections
AIDS prevention
[URI for UR’s
vocabulary AIDS
prevention]
Same as
AIDS (Disease)—
Prevention [URI for
LCSH term]

45. Social and New Uses Use Case:
Search Engine Optimization
45

Make library data searchable through Web
search engines by:
 Adopting
an architecture that is compatible with
web crawling by bots, and
 Optimizing the available content so that search
engines can process it efficiently

Adding structured metadata (e.g. RDFa) to
library online catalogs could increase the
visibility and accessibility of their data.
Source: Library
Linked Data Use
Cases

46. 46
―…the entire publicly available version of WorldCat
is now available for use by intelligent Web
crawlers, like Google and Bing, that can make use
of this metadata in search indexes and other
applications. ‖

47. LET’S TURN
EVERYTHING ON ITS
HEAD…

48. 48
Envisioning The Future
Without Linked Data
Or,
What we learned from developing
eXtensible Catalog (XC) software

49. What is XC software?
49
eXtensible Catalog (XC) is open
source, user-centered, next generation
software for libraries.
XC provides a discovery system and
a set of tools for libraries to manage
metadata and build applications.

50. eXtensible Catalog Funders and
Contributors
50
Major Funding
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Major Contributors
Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries
in Illinois (CARLI)
Kyushu University
University of Rochester

51. Why Did We Build XC?
51
Empower libraries to have control
over their discovery environment
Put results of user research
into practice
Extremely customizable user
interface

52. Why Did We Build XC?
52




Create a new
metadata
management
platform
Implement a
FRBR-based
record structure
Facilitate RDA
implementation
Repurpose
MARC 21
records

53. ―FRBRized‖ MARC records
53
Parsing MARCXML records into linked
FRBR-based XC Schema records
XC
Work
Work Expressed
XC
Expression
MARCXML
Bibliographic
―Uplink‖= Record ID of
the parent record
created during OAIPMH harvest.
Expression Manifested
XC
Manifestation

54. Facilitating RDA Implementation
XC transforms MARC data into a
FRBR-informed ―transitional‖ XML
schema
The ―XC Schema‖ uses a subset of
RDA elements and roles alongside
Dublin Core, some XC data elements
More RDA elements can be added to
the schema in the future
54

55. Repurposing MARC 21 records
55
Converts MARC codes to vocabulary
values
 Removes extraneous data
 Normalizes inconsistencies
 Maps most MARC fields/subfields
and parse to appropriate FRBR
Group 1 entity records


56. 56
How XC Software Works
(in a nutshell…)

57. How XC software works
57




Harvests a copy of metadata records in an
existing repository
Processes (cleans up, transforms) those
records
Makes records available for use in other
applications
Synchronize records in XC with records in
original repositories
…it’s all about metadata records!

58. eXtensible Catalog Architecture
58
Drupal
MST
OAI
NCIP
Toolkit
Toolkit
Toolkit
Toolkit
Metadata Services
- Cleanup
- Format Convert
ILS Connectivity
Synchronize
data with XC
User Interface
- Search
- Browse
ILS Connectivity
- Circ. status
- Account info
ILS ―Driver‖
Digital
Repository
ILS
User Interface
Metadata Live Circ. Data
ILS ―Driver‖

59. eXtensible Catalog Architecture
59
Insert your
Application
with OAI-PMH
Toolkit
Harvester
User Interface
here!
- Search
Drupal
- Browse
MST
OAI
NCIP
Toolkit
Toolkit
Toolkit
Metadata Services
- Cleanup
- Format Convert
ILS Connectivity
Synchronize
data with XC
ILS Connectivity
- Circ. status
- Account info
ILS ―Driver‖
Digital
Repository
ILS
User Interface
Metadata Live Circ. Data
ILS ―Driver‖

60. 60
What we learned from ―FRBRizing‖
MARC in a live production system
…three
issues…

61. ―FRBRizing‖ MARC records
61
Parsing MARCXML records into linked
FRBR-based XC Schema records
XC
Work
Work Expressed
XC
Expression
MARCXML
Bibliographic
―Uplink‖= Record ID of
the parent record
created during OAIPMH harvest.
Expression Manifested
XC
Manifestation

62. Linked Work, Expression
and
Manifestation Records in
XC
62

63. 63

64. ―Uplinks‖ between FRBR levels
64

65. 65
Issue 1: Managing
Relationships
Parses MARCXML records into
linked FRBR-based records
How many FRBR entity
relationships
can we support with MARCXML
Bibliographic
XC software?
―Uplink‖= Record ID of
the parent record
created during OAIPMH harvest.
XC
Work
XC
Expression
XC
Manifestation

66. 66
Issue 1: Managing
Relationships
MARC bibliographic records can refer to
multiple FRBR entities of the same type
(analytics that represent multiple
works/expressions, e.g. tracks on a CD)
XC
XC
Work
Work
XC
Work
XC
XC
Expression
Expression
XC
Expression
MARCXML
Bibliographic
XC
Manifestation

67. Issue 2: Beyond FRBR Group 1
Entities
67
MARC ―Alternate Graphic Representation‖ (880
fields) can contain data that belong in records
for Group 2 and Group 3 entities
Contributor:
700 1 ‡6 880-08 ‡a Vasil’ev, Maksim.
880 1 ‡6 700-08 ‡a Васильев, Максим.
Subject:
600 10 ‡6 880-06 ‡a Putin, Vladimir Vladimirovich, ‡d 1952880 10 ‡6 600-06 ‡a Путин, Владимир Владимирович, ‡d
1952-

68. Issue 2: Beyond FRBR Group 1
Entities
68
If we were to parse this 880 data correctly, we
would need to create and link to two additional
records for Contributor and Subject that include
the alternate scripts
Contributor
Subject
(alternate forms from 880)
•Contributor in Cyrillic
characters
•Contributor in Roman
characters
(alternate forms from 880)
•Subject in Cyrillic
characters
•Subject in Roman
characters
XC
Work
XC
Expression
MARCXML
Bibliographic
XC
Manifestation

69. 69
Issue 3: Related Group 1
Entities
Language attribute for a related expression
041 1 ‡a eng ‡h ita
100 0 ‡a Dante Alighieri, ‡d 1265-1321.
240 10 ‡a Divina commedia. ‡l English
245 14 ‡a The divine comedy / ‡c Dante ; a new
verse translation by C.H. Sisson.
500
‡a Translation of: Divina commedia.

70. Managing Relationships
70
If we were to parse the original language from
041 ‡h, we would need to create and link to
another ―based on‖ expression record (if we
even have enough information to create it)
Contributor
Subject
(alternate forms from 880)
•Contributor in Cyrillic
characters
•Contributor in Roman
characters
(alternate forms from 880)
•Subject in Cyrillic
characters
•Subject in Roman
characters
XC
Work
XC
Expression
Based on
(Expression)
– from 041 ‡h
MARCXML
Bibliographic
XC
Manifestation

71. 71
What XC has taught us about
FRBR…

The GOOD news: MARC data is very rich,
and contains data about MANY relationships
described in FRBR and related data models
There are hundreds of
RDA Relationships
between FRBR
entitles!

72. What XC has taught us about FRBR
72
Maintaining links between separate
FRBR entity records in a production
environment is likely not scalable if we
continue to manipulate records.
XC
Work
•new records
•changed
records
•deleted
records
•changed
relationships
XC
Expression
XC
Manifestation

73. 73
What XC has taught us about
FRBR…

The GOOD news: MARC data is very
rich, and contains data about MANY
relationships described in FRBR and related
data models

The BAD news: managing all of these
relationships in a record-based system is
probably not feasible

74. RDA Implementation Scenario 1
(2007)
74

75. XC AND LINKED DATA:
OUR ―AHA!‖ MOMENTS!‖

76. Our first ―Aha! Moment‖
76

It would be much easier to
―FRBRize‖ MARC data using
Linked Data than by creating and
maintaining links between
separate metadata records that
have FRBR-related relationships
to each other!

77. A Second ―Aha‖ Moment!
77
Creating Linked Data triples that refer to
FRBR entities would be more meaningful
than creating triples that refer to MARC
records
XC handles the interim step, of converting
MARC data to FRBR entities

78. RDF triple
78
Subjec
t
This resource
Predicat
e
Object
has creator
J. K. Rowling

79. With and without FRBR
79








Without FRBR:
<MARCBibRecord-number> has_author ―J K Rowling‖
With FRBR:
<Work-id> has_creator ―J K Rowling‖
<Expression-id> has_language ―English‖
<Expression-id> has_parent_work <Work-id>
<Manifestation-id> has_isbn <ISBN-number>
<Manifestation-id> has_parent_expression <Expression-id>

80. 80
Why use FRBR for Linked
Data?



User research shows that users want to see
the relationships between resources, etc.
With XC, we can explore when/how FRBR
might be useful for linked data
Other data models may be more appropriate in
some contexts and those can be explored as
well.

81. Another not-quite ―AHA! Moment‖…
81
XC can serve as an interim step to create
Linked Data because XC’s underlying
schema uses elements from registered
element sets (i.e. data elements already
have URIs)

82. RDF Triple - Registered Data
Elements
82
Subjec
t
oai:mst.rochester.edu:
MST/
MARCToXCTransformatio
n/
10081
This resource
Predicat
e
Object
http://id.loc.gov/authoritie
s/sh85103735#concept
http://www.
extensiblecatalog.in
fo/Elements/subject
has subject
Poets, America
n

83. XC Schema Properties
83
DC




Dublin Core terms (all)
RDA – subset of elements and
role designators
XC elements (newly-defined) –
when necessary
All properties are from
registered element sets and
thus already have URIs
RDA
XC

84. 84
XC and Linked Data: What’s
Next?
XC facilitates associating metadata with FRBR
Group 1 entities using data elements (mostly
from RDA and Dublin Core)
Implementing FRBR may help us create more
meaningful Linked Data in some situations
How can we make XC actually output Linked
Data?

85. http://estc.bl.uk/
85

86. http://estc21.wordpress.com
/
86

87. eXtensible Catalog Architecture
87
Drupal
Toolkit
New ESTC
User Interface
Interface to be
- Search
built on Collex
- Browse
software
MST
OAI
NCIP
Toolkit
Toolkit
Toolkit
Metadata Services
Metadata Services
- - Cleanup
Cleanup
- - Format Convert
Format Convert
ILS Connectivity
Synchronize
data with XC
ILS Connectivity
- Circ. status
- Account info
ILS ―Driver‖
Digital
Repository
ILS
User Interface
Metadata Live Circ. Data
ILS ―Driver‖

88. ESTC Linked Data Benefits
88







Make data available for computational use
Transform data back to MARC for reuse in library
systems
More granularity of data (e.g. date ranges)
Collect new types of information, some not
supported by MARC
Incorporate information from other projects (VIAF)
Make ESTC data more amenable to reuse by
other projects, including discrete bits of data
http://estc21.wordpress.com/data/

89. LINKED DATA
CHALLENGES (WHY WE
SHOULDN’T CREATE
LINKED DATA?)

90. ―We won’t be able to control our data!‖
90

91. Linked OPEN Data?
91





How much data to make available?
Concerns about jeopardizing future business
models
Can we predict now how much data will be
needed to fulfill future use cases?
Metadata licensing issues
Rights management

92. How will we assess quality?
92



Provenance: where did this data come from?
Should ―triples‖ become ―quadruples‖ so we
can tell ―who said this‖?
Is the data accurate?

93. How can we maintain/improve
quality?
93





How to manage data coming from multiple
sources?
What are best practices for improving it?
Can we take advantage of information in
application profiles?
How/when should we aggregate metadata?
What tools will we need?

94. 94
Next Steps: Continue the
discussion!

95. Thank you!
Additional photo credits:
University of Rochester Photographic Services
www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=54374&picture=runningbulls-12
www.dreamstime.com/stock-photos-group-kids-children-running-image5855523
www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=49200&picture=herd-ofhorses
www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=42311&picture=oceanthrough-window-frame
www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=10217&picture=goldenstar
www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=27317&picture=hand-tools
www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=27274&picture=stair-steps
JENNIFER BOWEN
JBOWEN@LIBRARY.ROCHESTER.ED
U