LD Informal Learning series

The UT Linked Data Informal Learning series from fall 2018 - spring 2020 was coordinated in large part by Itza Carbajal, Latin American Metadata Librarian for LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Special Collections, a branch of the University of Texas at Austin Libraries.

This section of the wiki archives all the documentation for the Linked Data Informal Learning Group sessions:

Vision

This informal learning discussion group hopes to introduce a basic overview of linked data principles as they pertain to library, archives, and other cultural heritage work. As these spaces prepare to transition to using linked data concepts and technologies in an effort to utilize the full capabilities of the web, the University of Texas LLILAS Benson project staff team seeks to develop opportunities for all library staff to prepare themselves intellectually for these changes. Discussion participants should leave with solid grasp of how linked data applies to their work, a common understanding amongst themselves of what Linked Data is, as well as some core foundations including the role of URIs, RDF, and SPARQL in the semantic web. No prior knowledge of Linked Data needed.

Follow up discussions have focused on analyzing local or external case studies that use or explore the use of Linked Data technologies. These intermediate level discussions hope to introduce ongoing projects at the University of Texas that incorporate or plan to utilize linked data principles and applications. These projects pertain to library, archives, and other cultural heritage work as well as education and research initiatives. As these spaces transition to using linked data concepts and technologies in an effort to utilize the full capabilities of the web, the University of Texas Library staff seeks to develop opportunities for all library staff, students, faculty, and visitors to prepare themselves intellectually for these changes. Discussion participants should leave with more information on the exciting work of libraries and how linked data applies to their work.

Also join the listserv for communication and sharing between and beyond these sessions: https://utlists.utexas.edu/sympa/info/ld-learning.

Request invitation to UT Libraries, Archives, Information Ecosystem Slack Workspace: http://bit.ly/37Eudwj.

Focus

Discussion topics will focus on Linked Data principles and their applications with a minor focus on triplestore, RDF (Resource Description Framework) and SPARQL, all foundational semantic web technologies. The focuses on RDF and SPARQL lay the foundation of the semantic web and most related web standards.

Approaches

Discussion participants will use a mixed approach including readings, personal reflections, interactions with digital tools, individual hands on assignments, the Socratic Method, and presentation style debriefings from discussion group members.

Targeted Audience

This informal learning discussion group aims to attract current library and archival staff at the University of Texas at Austin in particular those currently working with digital libraries or digital archival collections. Attendees do not need to possess familiarity with linked data principles, but should be either aware of its existence or currently being in the planning stages of implementing all or some of the core principles. While this is the core-targeted group, discussions are open to the general UT community including faculty, staff, and students.

Objectives

Discussion participants should leave with solid grasp of what Linked Data is, how linked data applies to their work, and what sorts of environments does linked data manifests itself in. Participants will also learn the basic concepts of the RDF framework and SPARQL, a querying language for RDF. These two discussions will also cover common ontologies used in RDF, basic tools for querying RDF files, and how RDF can be represented in various formats such as XML format, JSON-LD, and Turtle.

Discussion Topic Schedule

Date	Topics	Assignments or Notes	Presentation Slides
Mon. 09/13/2018	Overview of Semantic web; Introduction to Linked Data principles; overview of triple statement; Hands on triple statement activity	readings; participants will create RDF statements using designated "resource" to present at next discussion	UTDiscussion1Slides_LinkedDataIntroduction2018.pdf
Mon. 09/10/2018	Participants present triple statements and reflect on Linked Data readings; Overview of existing digital libraries/archives using linked data	readings; participants will explore (1) linked data case study to present to group	UTDiscussion2Slides_WhyLinkedData2018.pdf
Mon. 09/24/2018	Participants present selected case study; Review the use of graphs with RDF data; Discuss benefits/pitfalls of transitioning and using linked data technologies and approaches	participants will explore readings on linked data formats and general how tos	UTDiscussion3Slides_LinkedDataApplication2018.pdf
Mon. 10/01/2018	Overview of existing ontologies and linked data; Introduction to 2 RDF serialization (RDF XML & Turtle)	Participants will brainstorm 1-3 potential future topics or project for future informal discussion groups	UTDiscussion4Slides_LinkedDataImplementation2018.pdf
Mon. 10/15/2018	Introduction to SPARQL (the query language for RDF), deep reflection of overall discussion topics, plan for report backs, identify further discussions topics	LAST DISCUSSION MEETUP	UTDiscussion5Slides_LinkedDataSPARQLnextSteps2018.pdf
Wed. 1/30/2019	Topic: Buildings of Texas and GIS Facilitators: Michael Shensky, Jessica Trelogan, Katie Pierce Meyer, Josh Conrad	Spatial Data on the Web Best Practices: https://www.w3.org/TR/sdw-bp/	https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/75689
Wed. 2/27/2019	Ongoing investigations on the Alexander Architectural Archives and GIS Facilitators: Michael Shensky, Jessica Trelogan, Katie Pierce Meyer, Josh Conrad	Import into Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Tools/OpenRefine/Editing/Tutorials/Basic_editing	https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/75689
Wed. 3/27/2019	Introduction to PeriodO & definitions of historical, art-historical, and archaeological periods Facilitators: Adam Rabinowitz, Classics Dept.	Rabinowitz pre-print. Draft for internal use only and not for circulation.	https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/75689
Wed. 4/24/2019	Explore the Linked Data for Production (LD4P) project & discuss metadata creation for better user discoverability Facilitators: Paloma Graciani Picardo, Harry Ransom Center	Linked Data for Production (LD4P) wiki pages: https://wiki.duraspace.org/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=74515029 LC BIBFRAME training (CLW): http://www.loc.gov/catworkshop/bibframe/
Fri. 10/04/2019	Subject Headings as Linked Data	Suggested reading: "Archival description and linked data: a preliminary study of opportunities and implementation challenges" By Karen F. Gracy ( DOI:10.1007/s10502-014-9216-2)	UTDiscussion1Slides_LinkedDataSubjectHeadings2019.pdf
Thurs. 11/07/2019	Case Study of Latin American Digital Initiatives Subject Headings or Thesaurus as Linked data Proposal draft from LLILAS Benson Metadata Librarian Itza Carbajal; Participants will discuss and provide feedback	Carbajal (LLILAS Benson Metadata Librarian) investigation and proposal. Draft for internal use only and not for circulation.
Mon. 12/16/2019	Brainstorm future topics, reflect on topics covered between 2018-2019
Wed. 01/29/2020	Introduction to Wikidata
Wed. 02/26/2020	Wikidata Structure Breakdown
Wed. 03/25/2020	Using and Contributing to Wikidata
Wed. 04/29/2020	Wikidata Project Workshopping part 1 of 2
Tues. 06/23/2020	Wikidata Project Workshopping part 2 of 2
Tues. 07/21/2020	Intro to Technical Side of Wikidata
Tues. 08/25/2020	Wikidata Project Pitches and Feedback Session

Linked Data Case Studies

TITLE	URL	Video Resources
Europeana + data.europeana	https://www.europeana.eu/portal/en	https://youtu.be/BgLW8fd1M0I
DBpedia	https://wiki.dbpedia.org/about
Schema.org + Google Knowledge Graph	https://schema.org/	https://youtu.be/mmQl6VGvX-c
DIVE	http://dive.frontwise.com/ http://diveplus.frontwise.com/
Biblioteca Nacional de España	http://datos.bne.es/inicio.html
Bibliothèque Nationale de France	http://data.bnf.fr/

Aggregated Informal Learning Resources

DOWNLOAD UT Linked Data informal learning group fall 2018 reading bibliography: https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/75689
DOWNLOAD Comprehensive UT Linked data informal learning group readings: https://utexas.box.com/v/UT-LearnLinkedData
DOWNLOAD Bibliography and presentation slides at: https://hdl.handle.net/2152/75689

Online Readings

Linked Data: Evolving the Web into a Global Data Space - http://linkeddatabook.com/editions/1.0/#htoc17
Why Linked Data - https://wiki.duraspace.org/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=43910411
Linked data for libraries - https://www.ifla.org/best-practice-for-national-bibliographic-agencies-in-a-digital-age/node/8549
UCLA Semantic Web and Linked Data Research Guide - http://guides.library.ucla.edu/semantic-web
Drupal Introduction to RDF - https://www.drupal.org/docs/8/core/modules/rdf/rdf-introduction