Relationship status: libraries and linked data in Europe

Libraries shared metadata long before the advent of the Internet by utilising standards such as MARC and AACR to enable interoperability (Tallerås, 2013). A difficulty with their use in the networked environment has been the inability to exchange data at scale, due to the diversity of descriptive standards and schemas adopted as well as the diversity of languages in use (Breeding et al., 2016). Linked data offers libraries the means for enabling interoperability, improving data management, and enhancing the amount and quality of information available to more people (Byrne & Goddard, 2010). It can enhance discoverability of library data, eventually helping libraries realise their dream of appearing within those coveted first ten results when searching the open Web. With linked data, people lacking knowledge of library jargon and metadata standards can finally benefit from the rich information stored in libraries’ catalogues and other online resources (Rasmussen Pennington, 2016). We are approaching the end of cataloguing records containing siloed library-provided data, and moving towards enriched data coming from various resources. This requires library data to be structurally flexible and applicable to multiple online contexts (Coyle, 2009). Essentially, “We are moving from cataloguing to catalinking” (Wallis, 2013, slide 19). This presentation will include the convergence of two related studies: linked data implementation across European national libraries (Cagnazzo, 2017), and linked data awareness and use among Scottish libraries (Rasmussen Pennington, 2017). Whilst the first offers a more global view, the latter provides a targeted lens on one country.