Working Group on Open Bibliographic Data

The Working Group on Open Bibliographic Data has a wiki to support their efforts.

Purpose

1. Act as a central point of reference and support for people interested in open bibliographic data
2. Identify relevant projects and practices. Promote best practices as well as legal and technical standards for making data open (such as the Open Knowledge Definition).
3. Act as a hub for the development and maintenance of low cost, community driven projects related to open bibliographic data.

Digital Identifiers

Abstract Modelling of Digital Identifiers by Nick Nicholas, Nigel Ward and Kerry Blinco appears in the latest Ariadne.

Discussion of digital identifiers, and persistent identifiers in particular, has often been confused by differences in underlying assumptions and approaches. To bring more clarity to such discussions, the PILIN Project has devised an abstract model of identifiers and identifier services, which is presented here in summary. Given such an abstract model, it is possible to compare different identifier schemes, despite variations in terminology; and policies and strategies can be formulated for persistence without committing to particular systems. The abstract model is formal and layered; in this article, we give an overview of the distinctions made in the model. This presentation is not exhaustive, but it presents some of the key concepts represented, and some of the insights that result.

RDA News

News from RDA.

The Co-Publishers of RDA are pleased to announce that the website at www.rdaonline.org now includes information about the RDA Toolkit, U.S. pricing for the RDA Toolkit, an updated FAQ, and web videos of the RDA Toolkit: A Guided Tour webinars given on February 8 and 9, 2010. For further information and to receive announcements and updates from the Co-Publishers about the RDA Toolkit, please send your email address to rdatoolkit@ala.org. We will add you to the RDA Toolkit email list.

Linked Data Catalogs

The column Cataloging Horizons by Karen Coyle in the latest American Libraries discusses "Navigating the bibliographic space with linked data".

Library catalogs have evolved over time as technology has changed. The last 150 years have seen a progression from book catalogs to cards, and eventually, to online catalogs. Each of these changes has provided new capabilities that can be adopted for improved user services. The next step in this evolution is on the horizon, and it will make possible some new and powerful capabilities for information seekers. Like the hypertextuality of the web, technology is being developed today that can help library catalogs become a rich web of data.