Implementing Linked Library Data

What are the "entities that matter?" And how much should we say about them?

In this presentation, I will discuss the work of catalogers who participated in OCLC's Project Passage in 2018. This study was the subject of the report Creating Creating Library Linked Data with Wikibase: Lessons Learned from Project Passage, published in August 2019. 

One of the key conclusions as is that cataloging in a linked data environment will be governed by different priorities. To paraphrase Kalan Davis, Special Collections Metadata Librarian at the University of Minnesota and one of the co-authors of the report, the most important task will be the identification of "the entities that matter." This goal will perhaps supersede the traditional rationale for bibliographic description, which focuses on the item in hand. 

My presentation will develop this theme, and will conclude with a brief update on OCLC's post-Passage activities involving resource description in Wikibase.

Enabling Descriptive Data to be Linked at the Smithsonian Libraries

Since the mid 2010’s, the Smithsonian Institution (SI) has been steadily moving toward reaching its vision of building on its unique strengths to engage and inspire users of its resources. In align with the SI’s strategic goals, the Smithsonian Libraries’ (SL) pursuit of linked and open data projects began with the FAST headings projects. Through which, library data quality and data assurance were elevated. New workflows and tools were introduced which challenged and expanded staff’s existing routines and their assumption of their ability.  Staff was inspired and enthused. With greater confidence, staff welcomed opportunities to explore external resources to broaden their professional knowledge and technological skills, such as OpenRefine for clustering and deduplications, Wikidata a potential alternative to authority control, etc. The SL’s linked open data efforts will benefit other SI units, e.g. archives and museums colleagues when they prepare to migrate their respective metadata to a linked open data environment.

BIBFRAME Implementation at the University of Alberta Library

The University of Alberta Library (UAL) has made BIBFRAME implementation a strategic priority. The move from MARC to BIBFRAME involves a full update of cataloguing tools to support BIBFRAME and linked open data, transitioning all library systems for resource discovery so they work with linked open data formats, and developing new workflows, both internal and with associated vendors and partners, to support these steps. Focusing on our local efforts and our involvement in the Share Virtual Discovery Environment (Share-VDE) and Linked Data for Production (LD4P) Cohort projects, this presentation will highlight UAL’s contributions to BIBFRAME development and ongoing work to prepare staff and our technical infrastructure for BIBFRAME implementation. 

Contributing to this work, but not speaking in this webinar is Ian Bigelow. Ian Bigelow is the Cataloguing Coordinator at the University of Alberta Library. He completed his MLIS at Western University and has undergraduate degrees in mathematics and classical studies.  He is currently a member of the Canadian Committee on Cataloguing, Canadian BIBFRAME Readiness Task Force, Share-VDE Advisory Council, Share-VDE Work ID Working Group, LD4P Profiles Working/Affinity Group, and PCC Linked Data Advisory Committee. Ian is also the UAL PI for the LD4P Cohort.