For the time-challanged, here are a few of my notes taken from the recently published drafts on Library Linked Data (LLD) from the W3C. Stuff well-worth reading:
* DraftReportWithTransclusion - Makes the case for Linked Data in
libraries. Distinguished between metadata elements, value
vocabularies, and data sets. Advocated the Semantic Web as a way
for people to "follow their nose", or, in other words, facilitate
browse. A cool quote included, "In a sea of RDF triples, no
developer is an island", and echoed "The best thing to do with
your data will be thought of by somebody else." Was aptly
critical of the professions slowness to change, lack of the
necessary resources, and top-down approach to standards creation.
Contrasted library metadata as record-based and Web metadata as
graph based. [1]
* LLD Vocabularies and Datasets - Enumerated various
library-related metadata element sets, value vocabularies, and
datasets. In combination, these thing support the creation,
maintenance, ad use of Library Linked Data (LLD). I was
pleasantly surprised at the number of items in each enumeration.
The next step is to put them into practice to a greater degree.
[2]
* UseCaseReport - Outlined a number of use cased for Library
Linked Data, including: bibliographic, authority, vocabulary
alignment, archives, citations, digital objects, collections, and
social networks. The list of possible use cases was quite long
demonstrating the great potential usefulness of LLD. [3]
[1] draft report - http://bit.ly/jtPrL0
[2] vocabularies - http://bit.ly/ksioyK
[3] use cases - http://bit.ly/m7Lf0A
--
Eric Lease Morgan
