NISO Virtual Conference: BIBFRAME & Real World Applications of Linked Bibliographic Data

In mid-June, NISO hosted a virtual conference, BIBFRAME & Real World Applications of Linked Bibliographic Data.  The theme of the conference was explorations of BIBFRAME and related approaches to sharing and interacting with bibliographic data. The "morning" presentations concentrated on providing an overview of BIBFRAME and linked data development, and available resources for learning to work with linked data.  The afternoon sessions concentrated on competencies and linked data applications. Presentation slides are available via NISO's SlideShare page.

The introductory presentation given by Georgetown University Library's Shana L. McDanold, covered the somewhat familiar background of linked data and the development of BIBFRAME. She reminded attendees of basic linked data concepts, the web of data which is structured and machine readable, composed of triples constructed using de-referencable URIs and controlled vocabularies. An addition to the subject - object - predicate triple was "context", which morphs the triple into a quad. This was a first time I had heard this concept mentioned, and it became an "aha" moment for me.


The second speaker, Carolyn Hansen from the University of Cincinnati, covered the evolution of  BIBFRAME from the initial concept through BIBFRAME 1.0 to BIBFRAME 2.0 and BIBFRAME LITE. She described the differences in core concepts between the versions, shared graphics of the effects of these differences in modeling same bibliographic object and discussed the pluses and minuses of BIBFRAME lite.

The third presentation, by Ted Lawless of Thomson Reuters, discussed some of the skills needed to navigate the world of linked data.



Melanie Wacker, Metadata Coordinator, Columbia University, spotlighted the PCC Standing Committee on Training's efforts to develop and document training materials to help library staff navigate the linked data landscape. While there is a wealth of introductory and advanced materials, there is a little appropriate to the intermediate linked data learner. The PCC plans to work with CONSER and others to provide discussion platforms, sandboxes and testbeds for experimentation with linked data.

Mike Lauruhn from Elsevier Labs presented on project planning and linked data competencies, specifically the Linked Data Competency Index (LD4PE) and the Linked Data Exploratorium.

The remaining presentations covered specific linked data projects. Tim Thompson, Princeton University Library demonstrated the use of linked data concepts to encode annotations and other information about their recently acquired Derrida collection. Beecher Wiggens provided an  update on the Library of Congress' BIBFRAME pilot. A representative of Zepheira provided an overview of  their Library.Link Network (http://library.link) designed to enhance the collective visibility of libraries and their resources on the Web. The final presentation focused on UC Davis' experimentation with bibliographic description in a linked data environment with particular focus on authorities.

Say Goodbye to THOMAS…

From http://sd.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/i/keep-calm-and-say-goodbye-thomas-1.png 

THOMAS.gov, the online legislative information system, officially retired July 5^th, completing its multi-year transition to Congress.gov.

THOMAS originally came on the map in 1995, launched by the Library of Congress as a bipartisan initiative of Congress. Over the years, the system has been updated, but eventually its essential foundation couldn’t accommodate the desires and expectations of modern users – somewhat similar to our cataloging-world outgrowing the framework of AACR2 and beginning fresh with RDA. The Congress.gov system, launched in beta in September 2012, offers mobile-friendly access, single search across all collections and all dates, meaningful persistent URLs, faceted search, and other new features such as videos explaining the legislative process.

All available THOMAS data is available to users at Congress.gov, and both Thomas.loc.gov and www.thomas.gov now redirect visitors to Congress.gov. Although many THOMAS URLs will be automatically redirected, updating your links is a recommended best practice, as THOMAS URLs that are not redirected to a specific page will go to the Congress.gov homepage – so don’t forget to update your bookmarks, Libguide links and more. You can find a chart providing Congress.gov URLs for popular THOMAS pages as well as additional information about link updating and redirects at https://www.congress.gov/help/faq.  

Want to learn more about Congress.gov?  The Law Library of Congress offers webinar and in-person orientation overviews of Congress.gov focused on searching legislation and Congressional member information as well as highlighting new Congress.gov features. To register for a webinar, complete their Seminar Form here (http://www.loc.gov/law/opportunities/congress-form.php).

Building Bridges with Logs: Collaborative Conversations about Discovery across Library Departments

The process of implementing a discovery tool can be filled with questions, and even after its implementations, questions about its efficacy and the quality of search results can remain. This article describes an interesting approach used by librarians at Virginia Commonwealth University to evaluate their discovery tool.

According to the article’s abstract:

“This article describes the use of discovery system search logs as a vehicle for encouraging constructive conversations across departments in an academic library. The project focused on bringing together systems and teaching librarians to evaluate the results of anonymized patron searches in order to improve communication across departments, as well as to identify opportunities for improvement to the discovery system itself.”

The authors of the article conclude that, overall, the experience was a positive one for the staff members involved and that it led to some valuable insight into the quality of the search results retrieved by the discovery tool.

Jimmy Ghaphery, Emily Owens, Donna Coghill, Laura Gariepy, Megan Hodge, Thomas McNulty, Erin White. Code4Lib Journal, Issue 32, April 2016, http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/11355

Upcoming Joint Reception of the CS/OBS/RIPS/TS Special Interest Sections (AKA the "Alphabet Soup Reception")

Calling all CS, OBS, RIPS & TS-SISers - While in Chicago for AALL this year, please stop by and have some fun during the Joint Reception of the CS/OBS/RIPS/TS Special Interest Sections (AKA the "Alphabet Soup Reception").

SAVE THE DATE! 

Joint Reception of the CS/OBS/RIPS/TS Special Interest Sections (AKA the "Alphabet Soup Reception").

WHERE:  Hyatt-Crystal Ballroom B

WHEN:  Saturday, July 16 from 7pm to 9pm

WHAT: Hors D'oeuvres and Drinks with Old and New Colleagues

Special thanks to Innovative Interfaces for their generous support in making this joint reception happen!

See you there!

Preventing Digital Government Information from Falling Through the [Preservation] Cracks

In the analog world the preservation of government information has a clear flow. Content is created by a federal agency. When the need arises for distribution, it is sent to GPO (Government Publishing Office) and when the time comes to archive materials for the permanent record, they go to NARA (National Archives and Records Administration). Today this workflow is still effective for print materials, however much of the content produced by government agencies is no longer produced in an analog form, which means that the flow of content through GPO and NARA doesn’t happen in the same way, and potentially not at all.

To address these concerns, the Digital Preservation of Federal Information Summit was held in San Antonio in early April. This meeting looked at the need for cross-sector collaboration to preserve and provide access to digital government information that may be falling through the cracks without an updated workflow to address the temporariness of web-based content. The end result was a report that outlines the events’ sessions and outcomes including discussions about the need for an environmental scan, development for a coalition of interested institutions representing the public and private sectors, and the need for a common vocabulary.