The Potential of IFLA LRM and RDA Key Entities for Identification of Entities in Textual Documents of Cultural Heritage: The RunA Collection

Abstract

This paper addresses the potential to employ IFLA Library Reference Model (LRM) and Resource Description and Access (RDA) key entity classes in annotating textual documents of cultural heritage (RunA collection). It describes methods (comparison and analysis) and procedures (identification of entity classes and annotation classes in unstructured data with a special annotation tool) for the evaluation of international data models based on the need to develop a cross-sectoral linked data collection. The article identifies key entities – works, agents (persons, institutions), concepts, places, timespans, and events – for reflecting simple or hierarchical relationships between different objects, which can be used as nodal points for semantic connection and networking in digital collections, including unstructured data sets, e.g., correspondence. The article concludes with a discussion of the challenges of correctly applying LRM’s WEMI structured entities to free-form textual data.