Linked Data (LD) is about communities agreeing on the meaning of their data and sharing it in a massively networked information space. For libraries, LD provides a way to represent the library community's resources on the web as "entities" with interconnected relationships. It improves the efficiency of data publishing, increases the discoverability of resources, and has wide applications to cataloging, discovery portals, institutional repositories, and etc..
The mission of Linked Data Task Force is to develop a deeper understanding of LD user cases, explore its potential benefits to the CSU libraries, recommend a LD approach in cataloging and authority and metadata management, develop standards, and make recommendations for implementation opportunities at a systemwide level. In collaboration with the ULMS Resource Management and Discovery teams, the Linked Data Task Force will focus on a wide range of topics including but not limited to: LD cataloging in BIBFRAME, URI enhancement of MARC data, authority management on LD platforms, and LD applications on ILS and discovery portal. Through those LD experiments, the Linked Data Task Force will prepare members for future transition to LD, adapt to LD data structures and cataloging interfaces, and create LD workflows that can maximize the possibilities for descriptive, search and discovery.
The work of this task force will be exploratory and it’s continuation will be dependent on initial findings about how linked data can serve the CSUs. The membership will be a two year commitment. Membership in this group would be open to any interested parties, with a particular focus on those with cataloging and metadata expertise. Recruitment will be done via the
ULMS mailing list as well as the Technical Services Open Forum. Expected contribution is 2-5 hours per month.