Abstract
Libraries have struggled with connecting a plethora of content and the metadata stored in catalogs to patrons. Adding more value to catalogs, more tools for reference librarians, and enriched patron search, linked data is a means to connect more people with more relevant information. With the recent transition to the Resource Description and Access (RDA) cataloging standard within libraries, linking data in library databases has become a much easier project to tackle, largely because of another standard called Resource Description Framework (RDF). Both focus on resource description and both are components of linked data within the library. Tying them together is the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) conceptual framework. Acknowledging that linked data components are most likely new to many librarians, this article seeks to explain what linked data is, how RDA and RDF are connected by FRBR, and how knowledge maps may improve information access.
Highlights
Interest in linked data has been growing
There are a number of general linked data and linked open data (LOD) blogs available to stay abreast of what is going on, such as Linked Open Data in Libraries Archives and Museums (LODLAM) (LODLAM, 2015); the LOD2 project blog which seeks to create knowledge out of interlinked data (LOD2, 2015); the W3C blogs for information such as the “Building the Web of Things” blog entry (W3C, 2015); the Association of College and Research Libraries’ (ACRL) TechConnect blog (2015) which focuses on linked data within the library sphere and Chris Bourg (2015), Director of Libraries at MIT, has a fun and interesting blog that sometimes delves into linked library data called the Feral Librarian
FRBR is different from Resource Description and Access (RDA) because it does not specify rules for entering or maintaining bibliographic information and instead frames bibliographic records as a web of connected access points centered on human, rather than machine, understanding
Summary
Libraries have struggled with connecting a plethora of content and the metadata stored in catalogs to patrons. Adding more value to catalogs, more tools for reference librarians, and enriched patron search, linked data is a means to connect more people with more relevant information. With the recent transition to the Resource Description and Access (RDA) cataloging standard within libraries, linking data in library databases has become a much easier project to tackle, largely because of another standard called Resource Description Framework (RDF). Both focus on resource description and both are components of linked data within the library. Acknowledging that linked data components are most likely new to many librarians, this article seeks to explain what linked data is, how RDA and RDF are connected by FRBR, and how knowledge maps may improve information access
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