From strings to things
| Date | 08 February 2016 |
| Pages | 2-6 |
| Published date | 08 February 2016 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/DLP-10-2015-0020 |
| Author | Robert Fox |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,Library technology |
DIGITAL LIBRARIES: THE SYSTEMS
ANALYSIS PERSPECTIVE
From strings to things
Robert Fox
University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, USA
Abstract
Purpose – This paper aims to explore current developments in the semantic Web and the role libraries
can play in exposing institutional and bibliographic content using linked data and unique identier
systems.
Design/methodology/approach – This is a regular journal column.
Findings – There are many ways in which libraries can contribute to the scholarly community
through the description as well as traditional authority control work ow to integrate research and
bibliographic content with the larger semantic Web.
Originality/value – The theory behind linked data is commencing to have a more pronounced impact
on the way the Web operates. Major players including publishers and commercial entities are
contributing to the semantic Web through partnerships with the wider Internet community as well as
data providers such as Universities. Given the open nature of many of these systems as well as
consortial participation, this is an opportune time for libraries to contribute to these efforts in service of
their constituencies.
Keywords Linked data, Data integration, Knowledge base, Semantic Web, Authority control,
Unique identiers
Paper type Conceptual paper
In the most general sense, the term “reication” refers to the act of bringing something
into being. This could mean a wide range of creative activities ranging from the creation
of something from nothing or ex nihilo, which is usually considered to be a divine
activity all the way to the shaping of a pre-existing substance like clay into the shape of
something else such as a human being. There is obviously a set of extremes
encompassed by the term, but usually in every day life, we engage in this activity in a
modest fashion. In computer science, the term refers to the instantiation of a particular
digital object using the scaffolding of a denition that exists in computer code. For
example, a programmer might dene a class of objects, “Item”, and encapsulated in that
denition are behaviors and properties that correspond to Items. The denition though
is not a particular Item, it is just the description of Item characteristics. To drill down to
the specicity of an individual Item, the program would be run and individual Items
would come into being or be reied. The life span of one of these objects might be
milliseconds but for a brief time, the denition encoded by the programmer is used to
bring an object “to life”.
If computers were only useful to invisibly bring digital objects into being and then
plummet them into nothingness in fractions of a second, their utility would be limited
indeed. For the vast majority of use cases, computers connect data to real things in the
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2059-5816.htm
DLP
32,1
2
Received 2 October 2015
Revised 2 October 2015
Accepted 2 October 2015
DigitalLibrary Perspectives
Vol.32 No. 1, 2016
pp.2-6
©Emerald Group Publishing Limited
2059-5816
DOI 10.1108/DLP-10-2015-0020
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