Library Linked-Data Readings: Starting Up

The idea of a first reading list for anyone coming into library linked-data work is not realistic, for obvious reasons. We all show up with different backgrounds, skill sets, and learning styles, and this means that we’ll find different resources more and less helpful. For this reason I should say a little bit about my background as it relates to library linked-data work.

When I started my MLIS program I had no real programming experience. I did have an interest in computing, and maybe because of this, I found myself focusing on digital collections and digital preservation fairly early on. This put me in a challenging spot–I felt I had some catching up to do in terms of technical skills. I began to gain these through coursework and hands-on learning, but these things take time, and the process is ongoing. My approach to linked-data work–and this reading list–have been shaped by the fact that I’m a relative beginner.

Also, I selected from items I’ve already read to create this (very short) list, and I haven’t read everything on the subject! I hope to hear back from readers willing to share their experiences with resources not included here.

Understanding Metadata: What is Metadata, and What is it For?: A Primer
https://www.niso.org/publications/understanding-metadata-2017
Jenn Riley
2017

The subtitle of this post is “starting up,” and this resource is a fine place for someone who has never laid eyes on an RDF triple in their life to dive right in. I should be clear about the fact that the primer is about much more than linked data (in fact, the section “Linked Data and RDF” is only around five pages long), but I believe that placing linked data in the larger context of metadata can be helpful in gaining understanding of it. 

Essential linked-data concepts are laid out well here for an absolute beginner. While this may come at the expense of accuracy with regard to some complexities, I’m willing to accept that as the price of an excellent and concise first introduction. 

And for someone who truly has never looked at linked data before, the presentation of a data graph, first as an illustration with shapes and arrows indicating resources and relationships, and then in four separate machine-readable syntaxes, will be especially valuable.

Linked Data: Evolving the Web into a Global Data Space
http://linkeddatabook.com/book
Tom Heath, Christian Bizer
2011

This book was recommended to me as a starting point for working with linked data, and provides a comprehensive introduction to its principles and practice. Chapter 2: Principles of Linked Data introduces foundational concepts, and even though some material has become less relevant since the book’s publication in 2011, I’ll venture to say that this chapter holds up as an excellent primer on the basics. 

Chapter 4: Linked Data Design Considerations also stands out, and includes an introduction to the RDF Schema and guidance on selecting vocabularies for use in datasets, defining and publishing local vocabularies, and selecting external datasets for linking.

RDF 1.1 Primer
http://www.w3.org/TR/rdf11-primer/
Guus Schreiber, Yves Raimond, Frank Manola, Eric Miller, Brian McBride
2014 (most recent version)

RDF 1.1 Concepts and Abstract Syntax
http://www.w3.org/TR/rdf11-concepts/
Richard Cyganiak, David Wood, Markus Lanthaler, Graham Klyne, Jeremy J. Carroll, Brian McBride
2014 (most recent version)

Written in pencil on the first page of my hard copy of RDF 1.1 Concepts and Abstract Syntax is: “This is an excellent foundational document and I wish I’d read it long ago.” If you’re reading a blog post on linked data, there’s a good chance you’re already familiar with the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).  Much of my reading on RDF–the Resource Description Framework, a primary data model providing underlying structure for linked data–consists of W3C publications. (Take a look at this site search result to get an idea of their publications on RDF.)

These two documents worked well for me together, in sequence. Often I need to take in new ideas more than once–or more than twice! But on a repeat pass, I’m often ready to absorb additional detail and complexity.

As with the other resources here, these two lay out the RDF building blocks–triples, identifiers, literals, blank nodes, and datatypes. They do this in a highly structured and systematic way, perhaps to a greater degree than the other resources. And like all W3C publications I’ve looked at, the authors do an excellent job of linking out to standards and documentation related to each topic covered.