LIBER’s Linked Open Data Working Group Publishes ‘Best Practices for Library Linked Open Data (LOD) Publication’
The original mission statement of LIBER’s Linked Open Data Working Group is to produce guidelines and best practices for libraries wishing to open their data in linked format.
Opening data allows others to make use of it which can also benefit the originators of the data in the form of data getting enriched or simply as new cooperation opportunities.
A key concept in making open data as useful as possible is that of semantic interoperability – the ability of two systems to exchange data with the meaning of the data remaining intact. In order to facilitate this, the linked data paradigm, as the name implies, links the data in a way to make semantics explicit and even machine-processable.
As such, the Linked Open Data Working Group has recently published the Best Practices for Library Linked Open Data (LOD) Publication – a practical guide for libraries wishing to publish linked open data.
The guide is based on a survey of library linked data projects conducted by the working group and further refined in a workshop during the LIBER 2020 Annual Conference.
It is important to note that there are many different types of library data and there are many different approaches to producing linked open data. The idea behind the guide was not to provide a strict technical manual but rather take a more general approach presenting the various considerations that need to be taken into account when publishing linked open data.
As such, the guide strives to function as a primer for planning a Linked Open Data publication project and goes about this by dividing the process into six steps and discussing each in turn. It also functions as a springboard for delving deeper into the specifics of each step as needed by any particular project. To this end, the guide also includes a list of recommended further reading.
Read the guide here. The Linked Open Data Working Group welcomes any feedback you may have! Feel free to make contact with them here.