December 20, 2021tgis No Comments

Gordon Dunsire on property chains and shortcuts in RDA/LRM

This is the first of two posts on the panel discussion “What role can RDA/RDF play in the transition to linked library data?” which took place during the 5th annual meeting of the BIBFRAME Workshop in Europe [1], and featured comments from five distinguished panelists [2]. This post is a transcription of the response from Gordon Dunsire (former chair of the RDA Steering Committee and current member of the RSC Technical Working Group [3]) to a question posed at the BIBFRAME Workshop, followed by an annotated version (annotated by Theo Gerontakos) engaging some of the areas discussed.

The question:

RDA/LRM/RDF contains elements that are essentially reified property chains in RDA, known as shortcuts, while BIBFRAME features many property chains that are not reified as specific elements – what many people call “nested” data. What are the pros and cons of property chains and reification, and do they cause interoperability problems?

July 22, 2020Melissa Morgan 1 Comment

Using RML to transform RDA to BIBFRAME

We have been developing a mapping document to convert RDA-in-RDF created during testing of the Sinopia Linked Data Editor at the University of Washington Libraries to BIBFRAME. In order to implement this mapping, we have been experimenting with the RDF Mapping Language (RML) produced by Ghent University’s IDLab. Using RML, we are able to transform RDA data as represented in RDF/XML into BIBFRAME data in either Turtle or N-quads.

Our progress so far is viewable in our GitHub repository, including sample data for transformation, working mapping documents, and examples of the output we have gotten using RMLMapper. Our most extensive mapping document (workMonographMap.xml.ttl) is designed to transform data created using our monograph application profile for entities classed as an RDA Work.

We hope that our RML mapping documents can serve as examples to others who are trying to utilize RML, as the current specifications for RML are an unofficial draft (last updated July 2020). The examples in the specifications represent relatively simple transformations, leaving RML users to craft their own solutions for any data or transformation slightly more complicated.

February 18, 2020Benjamin Riesenberg No Comments

A Very Brief Overview of Past Semantic Web Research at the University of Washington Libraries

2012:

Collaboration between the University of Washington (UW) Libraries and the UW iSchool launches a Semantic Web Investigator Group (SWIG)
SWIG initiates project to express the Newspaper Genre List as a Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS) vocabulary (RDF available at https://doi.org/10.6069/uwlib.55.d.5)
UW Libraries convenes a campus-wide meeting with linked data stakeholders

2012-2014:

Cataloging and Metadata Librarian Theodore Gerontakos serves as Co-Chair of the Linked Library Data Interest Group (LITA / ALCTS)

2014-2016:

UW Libraries’ Cataloging and Metadata Services (CAMS) staff provide feedback on BIBFRAME 1 and 2 through Library of Congress (LOC) listservs and GitHub code repositories
CAMS staff prepare BIBFRAME training materials and offer sessions
100+ MARC records are converted to BIBFRAME 1 and reviewed by cataloging staff
CAMS staff create an RDA Input Form as a proof-of-concept, demonstrating output of both RDA-in-RDF and BIBFRAME from input data

2016:

LoC releases BIBFRAME 2
Test conversion of MARC records to BIBFRAME 2
Comparative testing of searches on BIBFRAME data converted from MARC and digital-collections XML
CAMS publishes a mapping of BIBCO Standard Record RDA elements to BIBFRAME 2.0
First directed fieldwork in semantic web standards and data by a University of Washington iSchool student
CAMS publishes draft best practices for language tags in bibliographic linked data

2017:

CAMS XML server expanded to include an RDF triplestore for training use
SPARQL Study Group convened at the UW Libraries
UW Libraries begins participation as a Linked Data for Production: Pathway to Implementation (LD4P2) project subgrantee

November 16, 2019Benjamin Riesenberg 1 Comment

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.

October 25, 2019tgis 1 Comment

Modeling LCSH Subject Headings as RDA Linked Data in Sinopia

We are writing a metadata application profile. We are following Library of Congress’ profile syntax for creating BIBFRAME profiles (http://www.loc.gov/bibframe/docs/bibframe-profiles.html). Almost all our properties have been taken from Resource Description and Access (RDA; see https://www.rdatoolkit.org/about and the RDA Registry at https://www.rdaregistry.info). These are json profiles, intended to produce data input forms that output linked data. The data input forms will display in a linked data editor currently in development, Sinopia (https://sinopia.io/), allowing input specialists (catalogers, for example) to enter values for RDA properties. Once input, the data can be output as RDF data; that output is a presupposition of our work. In fact, we often create the profile in accordance with conceptual output we model for a given property. This entry illustrates that profile-creation practice: conceiving what data input form structures are required by modeling the form’s expected output; more specifically, this entry focuses on how the form outputs properties and values for subject headings (categories describing the content of a resource). The values are complex for library data because libraries traditionally use precoordinated headings (https://www2.archivists.org/glossary/terms/p/precoordinate-indexing) as values, which our model must accommodate. How? This illustration is not an exhaustive treatment of precoordinated headings but, rather, a clue toward a possible solution.