This document provides guidance on publishing linked data by describing how to (1) use URIs to identify things, (2) make those URIs accessible via HTTP, (3) provide useful information about those URIs using standards, and (4) include links between URIs. It recommends starting by describing important things and assigning them URIs, and then representing the descriptions in both human-readable and machine-readable formats like RDF. Publishers should also include links between related URIs and provide licensing information.

1. Publishing Linked Data
Getting started
Bill Roberts
bill@swirrl.com
Transmission #6
21 July 2010

2. Other data sources
Your DATA Our SYSTEM The WORLD

3. Objective
Make it easier for people to find,
understand and use your data.

4. Linked Data
1. Use URIs as names for things
2. Use HTTP URIs so that people can look up those
names
3. When someone looks up a URI, provide useful
information, using the standards
4. Include links to other URIs so that they can

5. Tom Scott of the BBC:
”...for those considering the
Linked Data approach we’d say
that 95% of the work is work you
should be doing just to build for
the (non-semantic) web. Get the
fundamentals right and the leap
to the Semantic Web is really

6. Examples to copy
• data.gov.uk
• BBC
• Ordnance Survey

7. What do I have to do?
• What are the important things to describe?
• Identifiers
• Regular web pages AND data
• Describe the things using RDF
• Links to other data and datasets
• Licensing
• Publish (flat files, CMS, DB-backed web
app...)

8. Icing on the cake
• SPARQL end point
• Data dumps
• Semantic site map
• Update feed

9. What’s the data about?

15. Identifiers

16. Linked Data
1. Use URIs as names for things
2. Use HTTP URIs so that people can look up those
names
3. When someone looks up a URI, provide useful
information, using the standards
4. Include links to other URIs so that they can

17. Identifiers
Assign a URI in your domain:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/species/
European_Water_Vole#species
http://data.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/id/50kGazetteer/
155254
http://education.data.gov.uk/id/school/135524

18. Regular web pages
AND data

21. OS approach:
Identifier: http://data.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/id/50kGazetteer/155254
HTML version: http://data.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/doc/50kGazetteer/155254
RDF version: http://data.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/doc/50kGazetteer/
155254.rdf
JSON version: http://data.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/doc/50kGazetteer/
155254.json
...

22. BBC approach
Identifier: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/species/
European_Water_Vole#species
HTML version: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/species/
European_Water_Vole
RDF version: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/species/
European_Water_Vole.rdf
...

23. “When someone looks up a URI,
provide useful information, using
the standards”

24. Content negotiation
Tell me about .../id/school/1234 and I want it in RDF
you need to look up .../doc/school/1234.rdf (“303 See Other”)
OK, give me .../doc/school/1234.rdf
RDF document

25. Describe things with
RDF
@prefix owl: <http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#> .
Thing @prefix bbc: <http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/species/> .
@prefix wo: <http://purl.org/ontology/wo> .
bbc:European_Water_Vole
owl:sameAs <http://dbpedia.org/resource/European_Water_Vole> ;
wo:order <http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/order/Rodent#order> .
Attributes and values

26. Describe things with
RDF
• Existing common ontologies - collections of
properties and types
• FOAF, Dublin Core, SKOS, Admingeo,
Geonames...
• Or make up your own

27. Linked Data
1. Use URIs as names for things
2. Use HTTP URIs so that people can look up those
names
3. When someone looks up a URI, provide useful
information, using the standards
4. Include links to other URIs so that they can

28. Linked Data
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p008ffmy#programme>
po:subject <http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/species/European_Water_Vole#species> .
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/8659760.stm>
foaf:primaryTopic <http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/species/European_Water_Vole#species> .
ex:school ex:administrativeWard <http://statistics.data.gov.uk/id/local-authority-ward/00QAMH>

29. Licence: tell people
what it is

30. Publish
• flat files
• web app (growing list of libraries, RDF
database engines...)
• third party services

31. Querying the data

33. Summary:
It’s simpler than it looks

34. Thanks
Bill Roberts
bill@swirrl.com
Transmission #6
21 July 2010