Finding Aid-LD: Implementing Linked Data in a Finding Aid Environment

Jacob Shelby

@jacob_shelby421

Overview

• Archival Experience as Linked Data
• Linked Data Publishing Strategies
• Proposed Framework for Publishing Finding Aids as Linked Data
• Proof-of-Concept Application of Linked Data Finding Aids
• Advantages of Linked Data
• Challenges
• Steps That Can Be Taken to Prepare for Linked Data in a Finding Aid Environment
• Future Research

@jacob_shelby421

Archival Experience as Linked Data

• The archive world deals in hierarchy
• Current practice is with EAD/XML

@jacob_shelby421

Archival Experience as Linked Data

• Linked Data hierarchy comes from linking + things

@jacob_shelby421

Publishing Strategies: Data Dump

• Large, zipped file of a provider's full dataset
• Use-case: User wants to download full dataset
• Example: DBpedia data dump

@jacob_shelby421

Publishing Strategies: Triplestore and SPARQL

• Triplestore is a database for Linked Data
• SPARQL is the query language for RDF
• Use-case: Researcher wants to run complex, semantic querying of the data
• Example: DBpedia SPARQL endpoint

@jacob_shelby421

Publishing Strategies: Triple Pattern Fragments

• Queries data using triple patterns (subject, predicate, object)
• Example: Triple Pattern Fragment server
• Example: Triple Pattern Fragment client
  • Uses triple patterns to query SPARQL-style

@jacob_shelby421

Publishing Strategies: Subject Pages

• Creation of a document for each resource (similar to a traditional metadata record)
• Content negotiation
  • URI redirects to human or machine readable file based on HTTP ACCEPT
• Use-case: User wants to dereference a URI and discover new knowledge by browsing links
• Example: DBpedia subject page for Christopher Lee

@jacob_shelby421

Proposed Method for Publishing Finding Aids

Subject page for each resource

• e.g. Collection, Series, Box, Item, *Finding Aid
• Content negotiation, HTML and RDF
• Embedded metadata in the HTML
• Flat folder structure

• Arbitrary URIs for resources

@jacob_shelby421

Proposed Method for Publishing Finding Aids

@jacob_shelby421

Proof of Concept

• Proof-of-concept Linked Data finding aid

@jacob_shelby421

Advantages of Linked Data

• Semantic data = more meaningful querying
• Strong framework for linking to and among resources
• Modular data
• Varied and specialized ways of publishing and presenting data
• Straightens out "complex reality"

@jacob_shelby421

Challenges

• Requires stable URIs
• Use Linked Data for descriptive metadata or as a replacement of EAD/XML?
  • If former, becomes an additional layer to finding aid publishing
  • If latter, will need data remodeling

@jacob_shelby421

Steps to Prepare

• Utilize @id to assign arbitrary ID's when possible
• Use (inter)national authorities and utilize @source
• Make your data as clean and consistent as possible

@jacob_shelby421

Future Research

• Triple Pattern Fragments
• Linked Data API
• Technical infrastructure for publishing Linked Data finding aids
• Actual data modeling

@jacob_shelby421

Questions?

jtshelby@iastate.edu

@jacob_shelby421

Resources

• DBpedia, Data Set 3.4. Retrieved from http://dbpedia.org/data-set-34
• Digital Public Library of America. Bulk download. Retrieved from http://dp.la/info/developers/download/?prefix=2015/12
• DBpedia, Virtuoso SPARQL query editor. Retrieved from http://dbpedia.org/sparql
• Multimedia Lab, Ghent University & iMinds. Data portal @ linkeddatafragments.org. Retrieved from http://data.linkeddatafragments.org/
• Multimedia Lab, Ghent University & iMinds. Linked Data Fragments client. Retrieved from http://client.linkeddatafragments.org/
• DBpedia, about: Christopher Lee. Retrieved from http://dbpedia.org/page/Christopher_Lee
• Shelby, J. (n.d.). Linked data finding aid example. Retrieved from http://jacobshelby.org/examples/linkedData/FindingAid_001
• Multimedia Lab, Ghent University & iMinds. In depth: what is a Triple Pattern Fragment? Retrieved from http://linkeddatafragments.org/in-depth/#tpf
• GitHub. linked-data-api/Specification.md. Retrieved from https://github.com/UKGovLD/linked-data-api/blob/wiki/Specification.md