Library of Congress (LC) announced last week that it has contracted with Zepheira to help accelerate the launch of the Bibliographic Framework Initiative.
LC’s plan for the new bibliographic framework stated, released in October 2011, stated:
The new bibliographic framework project will be focused on the Web environment, Linked Data principles and mechanisms, and the Resource Description Framework (RDF) as a basic data model.
Zepheira, led by Eric Miller, has been active in the development of Semantic Web and library standards as well as open source tools to support linked data technologies and library applications. Zepheira will provide both a model (or models) to serve as a starting point for discussion and an analysis of related initiatives. LC anticipates an iterative process, drawing from feedback from the community, and a subsequent progression of requirements. The stated goals are a flexible bibliographic framework, a robust reference code, a supporting infrastructure for deployment, and an effective migration plan from MARC to a new framework.
Watch the Bibliographic Framework Transition Initiative website for new information and reports on project milestones. The Library of Congress, joined by Eric Miller, will present its plan at ALA’s Annual Conference.
LC Bibliographic Framework Transition Update Forum
Sunday, June 22, 10:30am-12:00 noon
Anaheim Marriott Grand Salon A-C
Linked Data Coverage in ALA TechSource Publications
ALA TechSource has just published Karen Coyle’s Library Technology Report: Linked Data Tools: Connecting on the Web. The Introduction (accessible in PDF or HTML) describes recent developments in standards, library systems, and LC’s studies and reports, which together point libraries in the direction of shared, linked data. In her recent blog post RDA, DBMS, RDF, Karen writes on the challenges of using RDA instructions to port as-is data to RDF, calling for an analysis of library data.
Marshall Breeding wrote on linked data and open data in the June 2012 issue of Smart Libraries Newsletter. He summarizes three OCLC projects in linked data: dewey.info, Faceted Application of Subject Terminology (FAST), and Virtual International Authority File (VIAF; a project initiated with Library of Congress, the German National Library, and later the National Library of France).
In April, OCLC hired Richard Wallis in the position of Technology Evangelist. A longtime proponent of the Semantic Web and linked data, Wallis was formerly with Talis and left in January 2012, starting a consultancy called Data Liberate. Marshall notes that the hiring comes as OCLC has been increasingly exploring linked data and as interest in the Semantic Web and linked data becomes more prevalent in libraries. ALA TechSource readers may know Richard as the host of the Library 2.0 Gang Podcast, which we syndicated for a time. He wrote a post on Data Liberate about his move to OCLC.