An A+ Plan to Transform Your Library With Linked Data
Jeff PenkaExecutive Director, Product and Channel [email protected]
NISO Two-Day Virtual Conference, October 21-22: Using the Web as an E-Content Distribution Platform: Challenges and Opportunities
Hi, I’m Jeff• Zepheira
– Product Management– Organizational Strategy
• OCLC– End User and Reference
Service Portfolio Director– Worldcat.org, FirstSearch,
QuestionPoint, Partnerships
• NISO – D2D, NetRef• Passion
– Helping bring ideas to life – Identifying and solving
problems through iteration– Audience centered design– Learning
Zepheira - Broad Experience and Specific Leadership
Overview
• Focus on – Semantic Web, Linked Data, BIBFRAME, schema.org– Zepheira’s market research, client experiences, solutions– Library visibility– BIBFLOW– Libhub Initiative
A Three Part Plan
Awareness Assessment Action
Awareness
Moving from web pages to “a web of data”
There is a significant gap between what browsers and humans see on the Web
Remember when sites were just link lists and there was a web master…
Now the Web plays a central role for the library and most staff
But we aren’t speaking in a way the Web understands
• We have a wealth of content and resources locked behind legacy, closed technology systems and niche vocabularies
The traditional, Visible Web focuses on Harvesting and Links to Pages
The emerging Invisible Web focuses on Data, Resources, Vocabulary, and Connections
New Interfaces and Uses Mobile, Weather, Sports, Personalization, Geo
New Vocabularies and CharacteristicsRetail – items, reviews, geo, descriptions, inventory, hours, social, events
New Vocabularies and CharacteristicsMovies – Geo, reviews, ratings, images, previews, times, tickets
New Vocabularies and Characteristics Restaurants – locations, reviews, hours, reservations, menus
How does the Web see Libraries?
Libraries = Community BusinessesLocation, photos, hours, reviews, social, events
External Perspectives
• Are websites and systems harvestable?
• Is there a unified and accessible industry vocabulary?
• Are there strong connections and relationships?
• What is the consistency and reliability of the user experience and available data?
Electronic and Physical Resources
Still harvesting pages, not data assets
The Time is Right
Standard, adopted technologies and practices • Linked DataEmerging shared vocabularies• BIBFRAME, schema.orgA motivated, collaborative community
Linked Data
”a recommended best practice for exposing,
sharing, and connecting pieces of
data, information, and knowledge on the
Semantic Web using URIs and RDF."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linked_Data
Unifying Vocabularies
• Schema.org– Bib Extend - W3C group – group focused on discussion and
preparation of proposals to extend schema.org for improved representation of bibliographic information markup and sharing.
• BIBFRAME – Extensible replacement for MARC– “The Initiative aims to re-envision and, in the long run,
implement a new bibliographic environment for libraries that makes "the network" central and makes interconnectedness commonplace.”
A Descriptive Blueprint
• BIBFRAME common model – flexible, designed to
accommodate the needs of our community.
• Recognize creative tension between past and future
• Profiles are a blueprint for a specific community or entity description
http://zepheira.com/ala2014
Assessmentwhere are you today, where do you want to go
• Assets– Data, Formats, Access– Resources– Collections– Events
• Providers & Partners– Systems– Services– Content
• Organization– Goals– Staff– Culture– Relationships
• Impact and Assessment– Priorities– Baselines– Measures
Actionwhat can you do to begin actively learning
1. Invest in Staff Professional Development2. Pilot Projects3. Define Organizational Priorities4. Baseline Web Visibility5. Talk with Providers and Partners6. Monitor and Engage in Community Activities
Staff Professional Development
Zepheira’s Practical Practitioner Community
http://zepheira.com/training
http://zepheira.com/ala2014
Learning through action
Library Web Visibility
We believe that everyone benefits from the visibility of libraries and their content on the Web, and we feel this problem can be addressed in a relatively short timeframe.
Learning, Leading, Linking• Build on existing investments• Use BIBFRAME to reflect content in the Web• Leverage the Web’s cooperative infrastructure • Accelerate and support libraries’ cooperative nature• Link between shared assets to test impact on search results• Help the Web understand libraries
Incremental Steps
1. Make it extremely easy to project Library data to Linked Data (BIBFRAME)
2. Start with Visibility – publish to the Web in a way the Web understands– Relationships! – RDFa (schema.org, BIBFRAME)
3. Increase discoverability– accelerate linking among / across assets
4. Learn! Inform! Educate! Iterate!
Moving the Needle and Transforming the Webhttp://libhub.org
1. Take the pledge2. Get Involved3. Offer your support
Define your A+ Plan
1. Awareness2. Assessment3. Action
Thank you!
Learn more @http://zepheira.com/solutions/library/http://libhub.org