Creating and Retrieving Linked Data: Connecting Your Library Collections to the World

Have you heard the term "linked data" and want to know how and why it would be an improvement to library services? Are you curious about BIBFRAME, a potential replacement for MARC format, and how MARC data would need to change to become BIBFRAME? 

The term Linked Data often means two things: (1) a set of best practices for publishing structured data on the Web and (2) the data created following the Linked Data best practices. BIBFRAME stands for BIBliographic FRAMEwork Initiative. It is the Library of Congress' linked data project that started in 2011 and is designed to build a foundation for the future of bibliographic description. One of the primary goals of BIBFRAME is to help boost the visibility and usage of library data on the Web. 

This six-week online course will introduce core concepts of linked data and provide an interactive learning environment where you can practice creating and retrieving linked data. Through instructor-led demonstrations, resources, and hands-on practices, you will gain practical knowledge of linked data and its applications in the library. Applying this knowledge, you will be able to work with entities (such as people, places, and events) and create BIBFRAME descriptions for resources such as books, journals, and other library resources. 

By the end of the course, learners will know how to create, search and retrieve linked data, as well as understand how linked data can boost the exposure of libraries' collections to the world. 

Course Description: This six-week course will include two interactive 60-minute online sessions:

• Wednesday, August 7, 9am (Pacific time)
• Wednesday, August 21, 9am (Pacific time)

Please make every effort to ensure that you can attend these two meetings before enrolling in the course. If this is not possible, archived recordings will be made available. 

In addition to the scheduled sessions, learners will participate in activities and discussion forums, with an opportunity to share their experiences. The instructors will provide resources, best practices, and guided activities to help learners gain practical knowledge of linked data and its applications in libraries. 

Course Outline: When you log in to the Infopeople online learning site, you will see weekly modules with these topics:

• Week 1: Overview of linked data and its importance to libraries
  • What is linked data?
  • Why is linked data important to libraries?
  • Basics of linked data (Part 1)
    • Triple and subject-predicate-object
    • URI and Prefix
    • Semantic Web
    • Serialization
• Week 2: Linked data, MARC, and BIBFRAME 
  • Basics of linked data (Part 2)
    • Triplestore
    • SPARQL query 
    • Vocabulary 
    • Data modeling  
  • What is BIBFRAME?
  • MARC to BIBFRAME: comparison 
  • SPARQL query of authors and subjects in BIBFRAME 
• Week 3: Cataloging in BIBFRAME (live session on Wednesday: 9-10am)
  • Authority control vs identity management
  • Implementation of BIBFRAME  
  • Practice cataloging in BIBFRAME 
• Week 4: Wikidata and Libraries
  • What is Wikidata? 
  • Data structure of Wikidata items 
  • Creating and editing items through Wikidata front-end 
  • Introducing Wikidata and reviewing basic elements in a Wikidata item
  • Retrieving structured data associated with an Wikidata item
  • Options for libraries to harness Wikidata potential 
• Week 5: Working with Wikidata  (live session on Wednesday: 9-10am) 
  • Practice creating and editing Wikidata items 
  • Wikidata Data Service 
  • Example of SPARQL query to retrieve structured data of Wikidata items 
• Week 6: Linked data applications in libraries
  • Library catalog enrichment 
  • Entity-based discovery portal  
  • Data modeling with Schema.org 
  • BiblioGraph and Library.Link 
  • AI model for library catalog 

Time Required: To complete this course, you can expect to spend 2½ hours per week, for a total of fifteen course hours. Although you can work on each module at your own pace, at any hour of the day or night, it is recommended that you complete each week's work within that week to stay in sync with other learners.

Who Should Take This Course: Library staff who are involved in metadata creation or any staff member who wants to gain practical skills in creating library linked data and understand its impact and applications.

After the official end date for the course, the instructors will be available for limited consultation and support for two more weeks. These extra weeks give those who have fallen behind time to work independently to complete the course. 

Do you work in a rural or tribal library? If so, you may be eligible for a course fee waiver for this course. This Infopeople course has up to five no-cost seats allocated for rural or tribal libraries. Fill out a fee waiver request, and if a no-cost seat is available you will be notified via email.

Keywords: cataloging, bibframe, data