+1 for schema.org as one of the first steps. COinS are another useful simple mark-up if the data is already there.

I'm looking forward to the book.

Sincerely,
David Bigwood
Lunar and Planetary Institute


-----Original Message-----
From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Karen Coyle
Sent: Tuesday, November 19, 2013 10:10 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] linked data recipe

Eric, if you want to leap into the linked data world in the fastest, easiest way possible, then I suggest looking at microdata markup, e.g. 
schema.org.[1] Schema.org does not require you to transform your data at
all: it only requires mark-up of your online displays. This makes sense because as long as your data is in local databases, it's not visible to the linked data universe anyway; so why not take the easy way out and just add linked data to your public online displays? This doesn't require a transformation of your entire record (some of which may not be suitable as linked data in any case), only those "things" that are likely to link usefully. This latter generally means "things for which you have an identifier." And you make no changes to your database, only to display.

OCLC is already producing this markup in WorldCat records [2]-- not perfectly, of course, lots of warts, but it is a first step. However, it is a first step that makes more sense to me than *transforming* or
*cross-walking* current metadata. It also, I believe, will help us understand what bits of our current metadata will make the transition to linked data, and what bits should remain as accessible documents that users can reach through linked data.

kc
[1] http://schema.org, and look at the work going on to add bibliographic properties at http://www.w3.org/community/schemabibex/wiki/Main_Page
[2] look at the "linked data" section of any WorldCat page for a single item, such ashttp://www.worldcat.org/title/selection-of-early-statistical-papers-of-j-neyman/oclc/527725&referer=brief_results