Introduction to the Seminar Global interoperability and linked data in libraries

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by  Mauro Guerrini

Introduction to the Seminar
Global interoperability and
linked data in libraries
MauroGuerrini
WhyalinkeddataSeminar? Linkeddataprovideanewlanguagein
theworldofglobalcommunication: fromthepublicadministration,
banks,insurancecompanies,toarchives,librariesandmuseums. In
technicalterms,linkeddatareferstoasetofbestpracticesforexpos-
ing,sharing,andconnectingstructured,readable,understandable
and, aboveall, usabledata. Throughthesemechanisms, dataare
linkedtootherexternaldatasets,which,intheirturn,canreferto
otherdatasets. Allthesedatacreateanincreasinglyvastnetwork,
consistingofontologies,orlogicallydefinedgroupswhichmean-
ing is explicitly defined by interacting words and tags. “Linked
data”and“semanticweb”representrelatedconcepts,referringto
thesameapplicationdomain,aslinkeddataisatechnologyusedfor
thepracticalrealizationofthesemanticweb. Thesemanticweb,or
webofdata,isthenaturalevolutionofthehypertextweborwebof
documents.TheSemanticwebisacontainerofthings,objects,rather
thanacontainerofrepresentationsofobjects,typicaloftraditional
weborwebofdocuments.Inotherwords,thesemanticwebisaweb
inwhichpageshaveelementsthatcanbeautomaticallyinterpreted
bymachines.Linkeddatabringstotheideaofconcreteness:thedata
JLIS.it.Vol.4,n.1(Gennaio/January2013).
DOI:10.4403/jlis.it-6307
M.Guerrini,IntroductiontotheSeminar
arecorrelatedtotheresourceparticipatinginitscontentnature;the
dataareanintegralpartoftheresourcebecausethisresourcewould
not be represented without their data. The web of data is a web
inwhichdataarepublishedandconnectedwiththetechniquesof
linkeddata;itisawebinwhicheachdataismuchmorevisibleand,
therefore,muchmore(re)usableandinteroperable. Inthiscontext
itbecomescleartheneedforanintegratedaccesstodata,beyond
its diversity, quantity, distribution and properties. This Seminar
handlesprimarilytheissueofinteroperabilityandopennessofdata
inthelibraryworld,byanalyzingstandards,experiencesandbest
practicesfortheadoptionofsemanticwebtechnologiesinthisfield.
The data, produced by libraries and maintained in their catalogs
are not on the web, but rather isolated from the web. Here it is
appropriatetowonder: “Howtomodifycataloguesanddatasothat
theycanbeofthewebandnotonlyontheweb?”. Nevertheless,
librarieshavealwaysproducedqualitativedatainhighlystructured
bibliographic and authority records, as a response to the need of
sharedrulesdisseminatedatnationalandofteninternationallevels.
Unfortunately,todaythisdatabegintorepresentnothingmorethan
ahugeamountofdata,unusedandunusable. Theadoptionofthe
linkeddataapproachwillinvolvearadicalchangeinthecreation
oftoolsofmediationbetweenuserandbibliographicuniverse. All
sectorsofthelibraryservicewilldefinitelybeinterestedintheimple-
mentationoflinkeddata.Inparticular,thewebsearch,bibliographic
control(withbibliographicdescription),access,authoritycontrol,
classification,dataportabilityanddisambiguationwillbestrongly
advantaged. The library world and the world of the internet are
bothinterestedintheintegrationwithinaglobalnetwork. Firstly,
there is a need to ensure a global visibility and usability of data
and,secondly,toexploitinformationandcreateincreasinglylarge
andsignificantnetworks. Howwoulditbepossibletoachievethe
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objectivepursued?
• firstofall,thereisaneedtotransformthetextualdescription
indatasetsusableforautomaticprocessesandelaborationsby
machines;
• besides,thereisanecessitytomakedataitemsuniquelyiden-
tifiablewithinthewebinformationcontext;
• then, it is important that data become compatible with the
technologiesandwebstandards;
• aswellasitisofbigimportancetouseacross-interoperable
languagewithintheweb.
ThisSeminaraimstohighlightthebenefitsthatthelinkeddatacan
offertolibraries,providingadvicesonoperationalproceduresby
whichtheycanparticipateinthedevelopmentofthesemanticweb.
ThisSeminarintends,therefore,topresentanoverviewofinitiatives
andevolvingtechniquesatthenationalandinternationallevels. It
also aims at facilitating the discussion in Italy about the benefits
oflinkeddataasanewcommunicationlanguagetoreducecosts,
improveservicesanddelivergreatervaluetotheneedsoflibrary
users, throughmoreeffectiveand, aboveall, moreshareddesign
ofdigitalinformationenvironments. Finally,thisSeminarintends
to encourage institutions and, in particular, libraries to invest in
terms of skills and economic resources. Public institutions and
individuals,whichchosetoopenandsharetheirdataontheweb,
haveeverythingtogainfromthecreationofhighly-organizedand
usefulinformation.
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M.Guerrini,IntroductiontotheSeminar
Acknowledgment
IwouldliketothanktheScientificCommittee,inparticularGinevra
PeruginelliandGianfrancoCrupi,andtheOrganizingCommittee
(representedbySandraTorreandAntonellaMarinaro),MariaTeresa
NataleofICCUwhoworkedonthewebsite,AndreaTurchini,the
creator of the logo, as well as translators of reports from English
andItalian,andtheeditorialstaffof”JLIS.it“(whichhaspublished
thepreprintversionofthepapersstartingfrom11June)fortheir
decisivesupportgiven. Ialsothanktheco-sponsorsofthisSeminar,
togetherwiththeUniversityofFlorence: ICCU,NationalCentral
LibraryofFlorence,CasaliniLibri,theCityofFlorence,CRUI,IEA,
Institute of Legal Information Theory and Techniques of the Na-
tionalResearchCouncil,DigitalRenaissanceFoundation,AIB;the
sponsors: Ex-Libris,JLIS.it,LinkedHeritage,AtCult,ItaleeSpace.
MAUROGUERRINI,UniversitàdegliStudidiFirenze.
mauro.guerrini@unifi.it
Guerrini,M.”IntroductiontotheSeminarGlobalinteroperabilityandlinkeddatain
libraries”.JLIS.it.Vol.4,n.1(Gennaio/January2013):Art:#6307.DOI:10.4403/jlis.it-
6307.Web.
Published:2013-01-15
JLIS.it. Vol.4,n.1(Gennaio/January2013).Art.#6307 p.24