Croatia Linked Data project wins 2020 International Relations Round Table (IRRT) Awards Mission Enhancement Grant

CHICAGO — The “Croatia Linked Data International Symposium” project is this year’s recipient of the American Library Association’s International Relations Round Table (IRRT) Mission Enhancement Grant. 

This project assists the Croatian Library Association’s (CLA) efforts in fostering the transition from current technologies rooted in Machine Readable Cataloging (MARC) to linked open data both for traditional technical services workflows and discovery. 

The project will organize an international training symposium in October 2020 at the National Library of Croatia, with librarians from Croatia, neighboring countries, and US librarians from IRRT, participating.  The symposium will feature presentations, panels, and demonstrations on developing linked data programs and the creation and curation of metadata for discovery and access.

The project will also include online complements to the symposium.  A website of resources and activities will be created (hosted on Google Sites), and three free webinars—during the months prior to the October Symposium—will be broadcast.  Webinar speakers will feature US (IRRT) librarians, as well as other international librarians.  Website content will be in both Croatian and English.

Funds from the IRRT Mission Enhancement Grant will support the costs for organizing the symposium, as well as three in-country travel grants to Croatian librarians limited in their ability to attend the symposium in Zagreb.  Grant applications will be judged on statements and financial need by a subcommittee of the Croatian Library Association.

This year’s project was submitted by IRRT member Raymond Pun.

The International Relations Round Table Endowment fund was established in 2016. Interest from the Endowment is used to fund member-initiated proposals for international activities and initiatives which contribute to ALA’s role in international librarianship.  Goals for the funding are to provide support for international projects or partnerships; promote a global dialogue about librarianship; increase visibility of international opportunities for U.S. and international librarians, and encourage international collaboration in librarianship. For additional information about the grant, please visit the IRRT Mission Enhancement Grant.