Linked Open Data
Updated: August 6, 2024
Linked Open Data offers connectivity across library resources, and formats, including interoperability with external sources, to connect resources visually between people, subjects, places, and more. Forging such relationships enables users to deep-dive into a topic they are interested in by clicking through to directly related entities or even simply benefiting from using Autocomplete, or to expand users' reach with navigation and browsing by exploring relations that are either new to them or peak their interest.
Why are we doing it?
All data is interconnected. By enriching our data with additional entities, such as the Person Entity, and linking them together, we can provide users with more relevant information and explanatory discovery experience.
When was it rolled out to customers?
The Person entity functionality, which was released in the May 2024 update, uses Linked Open Data that is sourced from the Library of Congress Name Authority and Wikidata.
Person entity has been added to the user journey and is included in the following flows:
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Autocomplete – While entering a Primo search query, suggestions are provided for Person entities.
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Info Cards in Full Record Page – Bibliographic records are potentially linked to persons.
Selecting a Person entity using either flow opens a Person page containing information about that individual.
At this stage, Person entities are linked to local records associated with LC authorities, regardless of the record format (MARC family or BIBFRAME).
What is currently being done?
We plan to enhance Linked Open Data by supporting additional links to catalogs using authorities, such as BNF and GND, which are included in VIAF. Potential future enhancements include language support, linking CDI records to persons, and adding support for additional entities such as Subjects, Geographic, and so forth.