AUTHORIS: a tool for authority control in the semantic web
| Published date | 02 September 2013 |
| Pages | 536-553 |
| Date | 02 September 2013 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/LHT-12-20112-0135 |
| Author | Amed Leiva-Mederos,José A. Senso,Sandor Domínguez-Velasco,Pedro Hípola |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,Library technology |
AUTHORIS: a tool for authority
control in the semantic web
Amed Leiva-Mederos, Jose
´A. Senso, Sandor Domı
´nguez-Velasco
and Pedro Hı
´pola
Departamento de Informacion y Comunicacio
´n, Universidad de Granada,
Granada, Spain
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a tool that generates authority files to be
integrated with linked data by means of learning rules. AUTHORIS is software developed to enhance
authority control and information exchange among bibliographic and non-bibliographic entities.
Design/methodology/approach – The article analyzes different methods previously developed for
authority control as well as IFLA and ALA standards for managing bibliographic records. Semantic
Web technologies are also evaluated. AUTHORIS relies on Drupal and incorporates the protocols of
Dublin Core, SIOC, SKOS and FOAF. The tool has also taken into account the obsolescence of MARC
and its substitution by FRBR and RDA. Its effectiveness was evaluated applying a learning test
proposed by RDA. Over 80 percent of the actions were carried out correctly.
Findings – The use of learning rules and the facilities of linked data make it easier for information
organizations to reutilize products for authority control and distribute them in a fair and efficient
manner.
Research limitations/implications – The ISAD-G records were the ones presenting most errors.
EAD was found to be second in the number of errors produced. The rest of the formats – MARC 21,
Dublin Core, FRAD, RDF, OWL, XBRL and FOAF – showed fewer than 20 errors in total.
Practical implications – AUTHORIS offers institutions the means of sharing data with a high level
of stability, helping to detect records that are duplicated and contributing to lexical disambiguation
and data enrichment.
Originality/value – The software combines the facilities of linked data, the potency of the
algorithms for converting bibliographic data, and the precision of learning rules.
Keywords Authoritycontrol software, Linked data,Records exchange, Semantic web,Interoperability,
Cataloguing,Data management
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
The need to improve interoperability within the World Wide Web gave rise to the
development of the Semantic Web, which in turn led to the appearance of many new
ways to control and standardize the description of documents, solve problems
surrounding diverse indexing systems, and improve the interoperability of records
(SKOS, SIOC, Dublin Core, FOAF, etc.). Authority control is a global problem, affecting
not only libraries but organizations of all kinds. Publication of authority data on the
Web in a heterogeneous or arbitrary way produces inefficiency in information retrieval
and creates complications when attributing authority to a given work.
The library community has long been aware of the need for authority control.
Evidence of this aim can be traced to the 19th century, when the first Regulations for
the production of catalogues, entitled Rules for a Printed Dictionary Catalogue, came
out in 1876 by Charles Cutter (Cutter, 1986). It was followed almost immediately by
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0737-8831.htm
LHT
31,3
536
Received 7 December 2012
Revised 25 February 2013
Accepted 21 March 2013
Library Hi Tech
Vol. 31 No. 3, 2013
pp. 536-553
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0737-8831
DOI 10.1108/LHT-12-20112-0135
Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules (AACR), described in works by Fumagalli
(Fumagalli, 1887) and Tillett (Tillett, 2004). Both are still used today as control tools in
libraries and information agencies all over the world.
Libraries and organisms of international prestige such as the Library of Congress,
the Bibliothe
`que Nationale de France and IFLA unite forces to share data and thereby
contribute to authority control. These bodies acknowledge the fact that the information
exchange protocols on the Web are insufficient means of controlling authority in the
catalogues and systems of library management, since not all coun tries and
organizations can deploy the same level of technological or human resources in their
cataloguing efforts, making cooperative cataloguing nearly impossible.
The OCLC, IFLA andthe US Library of Congress have fueledinitiatives for authority
control by sharing the records of various cataloguing agencies. Fruit of this work is the
Virtual International Authority File (VIAF), which has meant advances in the
construction and generation of authority entries, though ithas not reached all the major
information institutions at the international level (Bourdon and Zillhardt,1997). The fact
that this project makes it possible to contact information organizations and recognize
authority records within an exclusive setting that embraces over ten National Libraries
is, at the same time, a matter that limits the possibilities for outside organizations
attempting to access the high quality records generated in these libraries. Developing
VIAF records to interact beyond the library framework calls for adopting a more open,
interactive, non-exclusive, and ultimately operative viewpoint for authority control. For
this reason, we need to take a better look at the processes that actually facilitate
collaboration with all organisms producing, consuming or diffusing information. The
use of learning rules and the facilities of Linked Data make it easier for information
organizations toreutilize products for authority controland distribute them in a fair and
efficient manner. Hence, the aim of the present contribution: to propose a tool that
generates authority files to be integrated with Linked Data by means of learning rules.
2. Material and methods
The proposed tool combines the potential of Linked Data with the strengths of the
protocols of the Semantic Web, to which we added working rules based on the
experience of librarians in creating access points (Tillett, 2004). To test the
effectiveness of AUTHORIS we used an efficiency measure, connected to the
catalogues of 34 libraries in Spain and the US. Two variables were used for evaluation:
capacity to create records, and quality in record creation. The indicators assessed for
each variable are defined in the evaluation section (section 6).
3. Authority control: genesis
Authority control is a matter that has exacted the effort of generations of librarians and
cataloguers. The need to uniformly record information on each author included in a
catalogue is addressed in work and research stemming from several international
organizations. Thanks to the efforts of the IFLA, LITA and ALA, among others, the
community of cataloguers has come to adopt standards for generating catalogue
entries in a homogeneous manner. The overall goal is to unify the criteria of diverse
library consortia and create bibliographic records guided by universally described and
accepted cataloguing standards. A brief outline of the development of authority control
would include the following landmarks:
AUTHORIS
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