Skip to page content
Research : Activities : Linked Data Research

OCLC Linked Data Research

OCLC production units and OCLC Research are involved in Linked Data-related research and standards activities and exploring Linked Data activities and applications. This activity page provides information about a variety of OCLC-related Linked Data-related activities including activities that OCLC Research is closely involved with or leading.

Background

Linked Data is a term which describes an approach to exposing data in a machine-readable form where the data is "de-referenceable" (i.e. URIs are an integral part of the exposed data and external applications can use the URIs to perform various actions such as retrieving data, connecting same/similar/related data from multiple Linked Data stores).

This approach to exposing, sharing, and connecting data has become increasingly popular in recent years, and more and more agencies are publishing data which adheres to Linked Data principles as articulated by Sir Tim Berners-Lee:

Linked Data: Design Issues (Sir Tim Berners-Lee)

  1. Use URIs to identify things.
  2. Use HTTP URIs so that these things can be referred to and looked up ("dereferenced") by people and user agents.
  3. Provide useful information about the thing when its URI is dereferenced, using standard formats such as RDF/XML.
  4. Include links to other, related URIs in the exposed data to improve discovery of other related information on the Web..

Impact

Linked Data offers the potential for agencies and communities to publish information in a manner that permits far greater utility "in the flow" of the network. In particular, unexpected connections, uses and value may be realized by many parties, including parties with which the hosting/publishing agency might not normally have had contact.

OCLC Research is exploring Linked Data from a variety of angles—as a publisher, consumer, applications-builder, project partner, and through our involvement with Linked Data-related work with standards bodies like the W3C. This work is shaping and informing OCLC Research's and OCLC's thinking and direction with respect to our prototypes, experimental datasets, products and services.

Related Projects

OCLC Research Projects

OCLC Production Projects

Outputs

Events

More Information

Team Members




Last update: 29 April 2011.