Linked Open Data RDF Graphical Databases A Conversation with Karen Miller School of Library & Information Science, University of South Carolina

Linked Data: Only Four Rules  Sir Tim Berners-Lee (2009)  1) Use URIs as names for things 2) Use HTTP URIs so that people can look up those names 3) When someone looks up a URI, provide useful information, using the standards (RDF, SPARQL) 4) Include links to other URIs so that they can discover more things  URI (Uniform Resource Indicator) = persistent name for a resource  URL (Universal Resource Locator) = special type of URI pointing to web address of a resource, including file name and extension (like.html )

Resource Description Framework (RDF) = “Grammar” for “Language” of Data 1) Subject = Resource, Classes 2) Predicate = Property that links subject and object 3) Object = Data types  Subject + Predicate + Object = Triple  Triple Graph Examples  SKY had color blue  Cloud is part of SKY  SKY and Cloud are URIs  Blue is a textual literal  Connected Triples Build the Semantic Web SKY “BLUE” has color Cloud is part of

More Complex Graph Subjects and Predicates (properties) are URIs. URI Objects can be Subjects of other Triples

NoSQL (Not only SQL) Graph Databases  Definition:   Wide range of technologies and architectures solving scalability and big data performance issues, especially useful for analysis of massive amounts of unstructured data or data on multiple virtual servers in the cloud.  Only-SQL Only-SQL  RDF database systems = standardized NoSQL solutions built on a simple, uniform data model and a powerful, declarative, interoperable query language (SPARQL). 

RDF Triples in Databases and Web Pages  RDF Graph Databases are Stored in Triple Stores  SPARQL query for retrieval  Example of Roman coins SPARQL query endpoint at  Sample SPARQL queries for use at the endpoint (copy the select statement of your choice and replace the endpoint select statement):  British Museum Inventory SPARQL query endpoint at  CIDOC CRM ontology:  W3C Endpoint Wiki:

Want to Write SPARQL queries?  LinkedData Tools.com Tutorial   SPARQL by Example (W3C)   Apache Jena Tutorial 

Triples on the Web  Triples Are Marked Up in Web Pages Using RDFa (Resource Description Framework in Attributes)  Extension to HTML5 for linked data markup, works well with XML documents, HTML4, etc.  Google support in 2009, but in 2011 Google recommended Microdata for HTML5 markup after finding 3 times more coding errors in RDFa than in other markup formats.   2011 Google, Yahoo, Bing, and Yandex alliance

BiblioGraph.net  OCLC-originated project providing bibliographic extensions for schema.org  Goal:  “facilitate the integration of structured data between libraries and other information hubs, providing rich discovery, navigation and browsing experience of resources offered by libraries and associated organizations.”  BiblioGraph.net types  agent, atlas, Bluray disc, chapter, compact cassette, CD, computer file, DVD, globe, image, kit, LP record, meeting, microform, newspaper, music score, publication series, sound recording, thesis, toy, and VHS.

Library of Congress Linked Data Service   Example: “Digital Libraries” Subject Heading at  Formats in Metadata Authority Description Schema (MADS)/RDF XML, N-Triples (line-based syntax for an RDF graph), JSON, etc.  Visualizations of relations

BIBFRAME Model (High Level) “any future bibliographic framework would function primarily as a linking mechanism for the cataloger, who gradually fills in the landscape surrounding the creator’s name authority record with linked works/expressions. Users, then, can get a picture of all related works and expressions by the creator, regardless of medium, if they find either the record for the name or for a single work. The user would then be able to bring up all expressions of a work available in a single search, and choose among them.” Seikel, 2013, pp. 425–426.

What is BIBFRAME?  MARC replacement  “deconstruct and then reconstruct the informational assets that comprise MARC... into a coherent architecture that allows for cooperative cataloging at a far more granular level than before, [leveraging] the Web as an architecture for data”   “It is a framework or metamodel for discovery and exchange of library and other memory organization information using Web technology, publicly or privately. The BIBFRAME metamodel is designed to be lightweight, flexible and able to accommodate the declarative needs of both existing (RDA, DACS, VRA, etc.) and yet-to-be-developed community vocabularies.” 

Why BIBFRAME?  FRBR, RDA – concept of relationships  Provide web-searchable, structured data  SEO (Search Engine Optimization)  Knowledge creation/sharing  Example from Kansas City Public Library  FRBR, RDA, BIBFRAME, and DRUPAL (content management):  Changes in descriptive needs  New types of resources  Interoperability with other formats (content agnostic)  Extensibility to broad content  Authorities (VIAF, Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus)  Reviews, biographical materials  Preservation, rights, technical, archival metadata

BIBFRAME Core Classes  Work  Conceptual essence of the resource  Instance  A material embodiment of the work  Authority  People, places, topics, organizations, etc  Defined relationships with Work, Instance  Annotation  Enhances knowledge about a resource  Information resources that can be re-assembled

Transition from “Text” to “Data”  For “cataloging professionals—to begin working in this new environment, a change in their understanding of the anatomy of a record must occur.”  Record = components (author, title, publisher, physical description)  “To think and work with each component as data instead of text strings is the basis of the revolution.”  “Data can be recognized by machine methods, and connections between data can be made among any resources containing an identifier. These data can be organized or regarded as an assertion or a set of assertions about a resource. These assertions state a named relationship between resources.” George Washington University Library - Early Experimenter

MARC to BIBFRAME Transformation Tools  BIBFRAME Profiles  Guides for creating/modifying BIBFRAME records (comprised of a series of resource templates), profiles.html profiles.html  Transformation Service  Converts a MARCXML record to BIBFRAME   Sample MARCXML record of Sandburg’s Arithmetic at

Examples of Other BIBFRAME Initiatives  National Library of Medicine (NLM) with Zepheira, GWU, UC Davis  BF Lite vocabulary at  core, widely shareable BF vocabulary extensible for greater granularity with existing descriptive schema (libraries, archives, museums).  cataloging print monograph bibliographic data directly in BF instead of converting MARC data  Linked Data for Libraries (LD4L)  Cornell, Harvard, Stanford, & Andrew W. Mellon funding  “assemble an ontology or formal specification for sharing linked data about scholarly resources; make available bibliographic and other data from all three institutions using the LD4L ontology; and release the ontology, data, and software tools as open source for use by the library community”  Builds on BIBFRAME

Examples of BIBFRAME Initiatives (Con’t)  Innovative/Zepheira  “Output Data for Libhub Service extracts library records from the database of any Innovative ILS or Service Platform (Sierra, Polaris ILS, Virtua, or Millennium) and formats them for transformation to Linked Data vocabularies including BIBFRAME and schema.org.”  records are output in MARC/XML and sent to Zepheira  Zepheira transforms the records to BIBFRAME and publishes them on the Web through Libhub (  Schwartz & Enis, 2015  Zepheira/SirsiDynix Visible Library Beta Program  Announced June 26, 2015  convert MARC records to linked data to support web searches

BIBFRAME Challenges  Testing and Evolving Vocabulary, Tools (URIs, Triple Store)  Vendor Support/Developments  Convergence/compatibility with BF Lite, OCLC, Schema.org  Digital Repositories, other Metadata standards  New Librarian of Congress