ALCTS E-Forum: Library Linked Data

March 11-12, 2014

Hosted by Theo Gerontakos, Brad Gulliford, and Jeremy Myntti

Please join us for an e-forum discussion. It’s free and open to everyone! 

Registration information is at the end of the message.

Each day, discussion begins and ends at:

Pacific: 7am – 3pm
Mountain: 8am – 4pm
Central: 9am – 5pm
Eastern: 10am – 6pm

Join this ALCTS E-Forum for a lively discussion on what linked data means for libraries. Linked Data refers to practices for publishing and linking data—cataloging data; research or government data; subject heading  lists and authority files; and the riches of the World Wide Web. Using linked data methods (cataloging standards such as RDF, as well as Web protocols such as HTTP), the scope of the linked, and always further linkable, data space is incomprehensibly large—the potential is thrilling! The hope for libraries is that we can move our data into this massive data space and thereby increase the global interoperability of library data. Many benefits are anticipated!

Topics will include basic linked data definitions and information, current linked data activities in libraries, how workflows may change or have changed due to linked data, challenges with transitioning to a linked data environment, what will linked data mean for catalogers in the future, and more.

To prepare for the e-forum, the following list of resources are recommended for an introduction to the topic of linked data:

Carl S. Hess, “Linked Data In Libraries Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Web,” April 26, 2012 (presentation): http://www.slideshare.net/carlstephenhess/linked-data-in-libraries.

Virginia Schilling, "Transforming Library Metadata into Linked Data," Research Topics in Cataloging & Classification: http://www.ala.org/alcts/resources/org/cat/research/linked-data.

Philip Evan Schreur, "The Academy Unbound: Linked Data as Revolution," Library Resources & Technical Services, volume 55, number 4, October 2012, pages 227-237: http://alcts.metapress.com/content/u63u261g73n7150n/.

Karen Coyle, "Linked Data Tools: Connecting on the Web," Library Technology Reports, volume 48, number 4, May/June 2012: http://alatechsource.metapress.com/content/m52426p206uu/?p=6b8f0d12b99b436cb71d95b10d587a33&pi=13 (requires subscription).

 

Hosts

Theo Gerontakos has been a Metadata Librarian since 2002, and is currently Metadata Librarian at the University of Washington in Seattle. He is also currently Co-Chair of the American Library Association's interest group on Linked Library Data (ALCTS/LITA).

Brad Gulliford is a librarian in the acquisitions and collection development department of the library of the University of Texas at Arlington, in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. His subject areas are most of the sciences and engineering, and he blogs at Scholarly communication, Open Access, Open Science (http://blog.uta.edu/~bradley/).

Jeremy Myntti is the Head of Cataloging and Metadata Services at the University of Utah's J. Willard Marriott Library. He is responsible for optimizing metadata creation for the library's physical and digital collections as well as identifying innovative solutions for cataloging and metadata projects. Current research interests and projects that he is working on include authority control for digital collection metadata and transforming MARC and non-MARC metadata into linked data.

What is an e-forum?

An ALCTS e-forum provides an opportunity for librarians to discuss matters of interest, led by a moderator, through the e-forum discussion list. The e-forum discussion list works like an email listserv: register your email address with the list, and then you will receive messages and communicate with other participants through an email discussion. Most e-forums last two days. Registration is necessary to participate, but it's free. See a list of upcoming e-forums at: http://www.ala.org/alcts/confevents/upcoming/e-forum.

To register:

Instructions for registration are available at: http://www.ala.org/alcts/confevents/upcoming/e-forum/sympa. Once you have registered for one e-forum, you do not need to register again, unless you choose to leave the email list. Participation is free and open to anyone. If you have any problems, please contact alcts-eforum-request@ala.org.