Linked Data for Libraries, Archives and Museums: How to Clean, Link and Publish your Metadata

Madely Du Preez (University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa)

The Electronic Library

ISSN: 0264-0473

Article publication date: 1 June 2015

329

Citation

Madely Du Preez (2015), "Linked Data for Libraries, Archives and Museums: How to Clean, Link and Publish your Metadata", The Electronic Library, Vol. 33 No. 3, pp. 604-605. https://doi.org/10.1108/EL-10-2014-0175

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited


Fast growing collections and the increasing number of digital collections that are being made available challenge libraries and other information services to ensure their collections are discovered, accessed and disseminated. This process of making sources available and disseminating them in a sustainable manner requires a sound knowledge of search and discovery tools that would provide for information searches across multiple collections.

In this new book, the authors aim at bringing a sense of pragmatism to the information organisation and retrieval debate. They understand the term “linked data” as a “set of best practices for the publication of structured data on the web” (p. 3). They note that although much effort is being put into standardising all metadata creation techniques, these practices are evolving and linked data remain a moving target. In this book, the authors concentrate on core principles which should remain stable over the years to come.

With this handbook, the authors endeavour to:

  • make it easier for readers to understand the technicalities of linked data; and

  • to critically view linked data without highlighting the challenges and disadvantages that are involved.

The book is specifically written for readers with a background in library and information science and digital humanities to guide them through the principles of metadata creation and use. The book includes five core chapters which seemingly stand on their own. Each of these chapters gives a clear outline of the content, learning outcomes and reader profile. Furthermore, each chapter leads up to a concrete case study with metadata from institutions around the world. An accompanying website, http://book.freeyourmetadata.org/, allows readers to download the metadata that was used in the different case studies and to practice the skills taught at their own pace.

Chapter 2 explains that linked data theoretically holds the promise of creating a “global database” in which a linked data approach would stimulate better communication and re-use of structured data in a transparent manner. Chapter 3 focuses on cleaning metadata, while Chapter 4 addresses the importance of controlled vocabularies for linked data. These include controlled vocabularies such as classification schemes, subject headings and thesauri. Not all metadata are structured and Chapter 5 advises on how to enrich non-structured metadata. Last, Chapter 6 addresses publishing issues and advises on the issuing and management of URLs.

Van Hooland and Verborgh’s handbook is a much-needed guide to giving those digitised collections greater exposure, and in “getting” more from them. This makes the book an invaluable guide for metadata practitioners and researchers. It should also be of great interest for library cataloguers and archivists, as well as students and academics, within the information science field. It includes lists of references at the end of each chapter and a useful index concludes the volume.

Related articles