Hardesty, Juliet L. “Transitioning from XML to RDF: considerations for an effective move towards linked data and the semantic web.” Information Technology and Libraries Mar. 2016: 51+. Expanded Academic ASAP. Web. 2 Sept. 2016.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.6017/ital.v35i1.9182

Notes

• RDF is the language of BIBFRAME, Semantic Web, Fedora 4, Linked Data - replacing XML.
• RDF focuses on sets of statements describing relationships and meaning. These statements consist of a subject, a predicate, and an object
• RDF ontologies are sets of properties for a particular domain.
• A source of honest confusion, however, is that RDF can be expressed as XML. But RDF is not an XML schema. RDF/XML is the XML Language for RDF.
• The addition of more schema, beyond XML, is RFDS (RDF Schema) - This is used to better define the relationships between entites.
• RDF is metadata as data
• OpenRefine can import XML just as it imports CSV, so this described case shows the tools that can be used and decisions to be made in processing that data into RDF statements.
• “Having metadata in XML means information is encoded in a specific way that allows for interchange and sharing. Having metadata in RDF is making statements that have direct meaning and can be used independently.”
• Complex RDF ontologies are more challenging to support over time (obvs)
• “Technologies for incorporating RDF into web applications and truly connecting triples across the web… require further work.”
• “The real goal is going through the process of producing Linked Data to learn how that (process) works.”

Concepts to Follow-Up On

• Fedora 4 vs. Fedora 3 (Fedora leverage RDF?)
• Hydra technology stack

Possible Future Readings from BibliographY

• Southwick, Silvia B. “A Guide for Transforming Digital Collections Metadata into Linked Data Using Open Source Technologies.” Journal of Library Metadata 15, no. 1 (March 2015): 1–35. doi:10.1080/19386389.2015.1007009.
• Estlund, Karen, and Tom Johnson. “Link It or Don’t Use It: Transitioning Metadata to Linked Data in Hydra,” July 2013. http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/handle/1957/44856.