Semantic Library

We’re pulling together the content and site for the Semantic Library Learning Program, and one of the questions that has come up is what are the background skills? What do you need to know before you learn about the Semantic Web? The list includes XML, databases, and metadata amongst others.

Another more broadly defined skillset that may be important is Information Architecture. In a recent post, Kathryn Greenhill asks “Information Architecture in Australia – where are the librarians?” Librarians have skills in organising and classifying information, and creating relationships between concepts. Kathryn relates the example of developing thesauri, which most librarians will have done at some point if only at library school. In my most recent role, I used these skills to develop taxonomies, content inventories and site maps for a new website.

Given that much of the semantic web is about organising information and creating meaningful links between concepts, is information architecture a given, or assumed?

On one hand, IA is evolving, and not everyone may agree what what the range of skills and knowledge are within IA that would be useful for the semantic web. The rise of user experience (UX) has muddied the borders of what can be considered IA. Continually raising the skill bar also reduces the number of people who may feel ‘qualified’ to learn about and participate in development of the semantic web. Libraries need people from all parts of the library to be involved in these issues, not all of whom may necessarily have the technical skills or attitudes required, though they may have other skills to bring to the table – experience in client behaviour, or product design, for instance.

On the other hand, the underlying skills of organisation and relationship of information, for the purpose of retrieval, is fundamental to librarianship. It may not be asking too much for librarians to recall these skills, which nearly all will have learned if not regularly put into practice. From there, extending these skills to IA nd the web is not necessarily a great leap.

Should we consider information architecture a ‘prerequisite’ before leaping into the Semantic Web? Leave a comment!

This entry was posted on Monday, September 1st, 2008 at 9:20 pm and is filed under learning. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.