Jennifer Bowen, University of RochesterALA Annual Conference, 2009, Chicago, Illinois

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Defining Linked Data for the eXtensible Catalog (XC): Metadata on

the Bl eeding Edge

Or, Confessions of a Linked Data Rookie

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Agenda

• The eXtensible Catalog (XC): Metadata goals • Linked data for XC• What we’ve learned • Next steps for linked data in XC

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The eXtensible Catalog (XC)

• Set of open-source software tools • Facilitate resource discovery and metadata

management• Funding from Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

and from XC partner institutions• Software release: March 2009-January 2010• Coming soon: eXtensible Catalog Organization

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Metadata goals for XC

• Build open source software that reuses MARC (and other) data in an extensible environment

• Define a schema that will support XC’s user-interface functionality, including FRBR-based resource grouping/navication

• Implement an “interim” solution until RDA is completed

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Requirements for XC metadata

• FRBR-based • Waiting for RDA not an option• Retain granularity of MARC• Facilitate transformation from Dublin Core• Convert existing MARC (etc.) data to linked

data

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An Application Profile for XC

• Guidelines for Dublin Core Application Profiles– Working draft (Karen Coyle and Thomas Baker)

• Enables combining metadata terms from multiple namespaces as needed

• Does not HAVE to include DCMI terms• Can contain any terms that are defined in

accordance with RDF (Resource Description Framework)

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Namespaces for metadata elements

• Dublin Core terms• RDA elements• RDA roles• MARC vocabularies• XC elements – Newly-defined

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Metadata “shopping”

• Dublin Core terms• RDA elements• RDA roles• MARC vocabularies• XC elements – Newly-defined

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XC Schema Elements: DC Terms

• All properties from DCMI (Dublin Core) Metadata Terms namespace

• Facilitate transformation of Dublin Core records to the XC Schema

• Use properties as intended by DCMI community, follow DC Abstract Model

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XC Schema Elements: RDA

• 22 RDA elements • 11 RDA role designators • Retain granularity in current MARC data:– Frequency– Numbering of Serials– Coordinates of Cartographic Content– Plate number (music)

• Challenges: not stable

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MARC vocabularies in XC Schema

• Leader 06 – Type of record• Leader 07 – Bibliographic level• 007/00 – Category of material• 007/01 – Specific material designation• 008/33 (Books) – Literary form• 008/22 (Books) – Target audience• MARC Language Codes

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(Slightly) ahead of our time?

• Properties, element sets that we needed weren’t/aren’t defined yet– RDA Element set not locked down– MARC vocabularies not registered– FRBR entities not registered

• Vocabulary mappings not yet done• No MARC to RDA/ONIX Resource Categorization

Framework mapping

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Newly-defined XC Schema Elements

• XC namespace: 37 elements• Parallel elements to DC properties– Enable attributes that aren’t defined for DC, such

as links to authority records

• Parallel elements to RDA elements– RDA elements not defined yet – e.g. relationships

• Other elements needed for XC functionality• User-generated metadata – next step

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Reasons to use Linked Data in XC

• Flexibility• Understandability• Reusability• Permanence• Forward-thinking

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How use of Linked Data has affected XC development

• Time-consuming for the metadata specialist – A learning curve!

• Forced us to think carefully about the consequences of our metadata decisions

• Somewhat perplexing for the developers– Why are we bothering with this?

• Positive PR for the project!

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What if we’ve gotten this ALL WRONG?

XC enables experimentation

• Software enables automated handling of metadata changes via OAI-PMH

• Propagates changes throughout the system• Web interfaces for trouble-shooting• Low risk of data corruption• Platform for experimentation

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What if …

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• What if we’ve used elements incorrectly? – we can fix it easily in XC

• What if library metadata doesn’t work as linked data? – Inform future standards, future of RDA

• What if Linked Data/Semantic Web doesn’t catch on?– We will have given it our best shot

Lessons learned with XC

• Breaking new ground can be painful!• It’s ok if it’s not right the first time. Really.• It’s ok to not even understand

this stuff the first time!• This stuff is really

interesting!

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Next steps for Linked Data in XC

• “Lock down” Version 1.0 of the XC Schema• Register newly-defined XC data elements• Publish our work as a DC Application Profile• Identify/define metadata elements for user-

generated metadata, including course associations

• Enable harvesting of XC Schema data in RDF?

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eXtensibleCatalog.orgjbowen@library.rochester.edu

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