Semantic Library

Web sites and applications burst on the scene out of nowhere, attract massive usage and undergo continual improvements to make them better. We wonder how we ever got along without them, until they get bought out, put up access or paywalls, or just disappear.

Libraries have long been concerned with preserving information for the future, and increasingly that includes digital information and websites (for example, Pandora at the National Library of Australia which archives everything from blogs to the 2000 Games site).

So where do they intersect? And how can we take a more proactive approach to design for sustainability rather than saving retrospectively? The Semantic Web is all about linking, openness, and relationships between data. In some ways the Semantic Web is, in my view, how we will move towards a more Sustainable Web.

What might the Sustainable Web be?

Adapting the Triple Bottom Line approach to sustainability, web developers and those who create data could take a lifecycle approach to how they create, manage and produce sites and information. When planning a new website, dataset or service, in addition to deciding on purpose, standards and features, you could also include a statement about how you would -

• Distribute the data if you were no longer maintaining the site (using a LOCKSS principle, perhaps?)
• Migrate to future standards
• Ensure that your site is indexed in the Internet Archive (all pages and data, not just the index)
• Give people ownership of their data (if you’re running an online service where people store or save information) so they can get it out when they want, or own it if the site closes or the terms of service changes significantly (eg, in the instance of a buyout).

Depending on what type of site it is, there may be governance and political impacts now or in the future. If you’re running a scientific research portal, how might changes in government policy affect the site? What obligations might be imposed on sharing or accessing the data you provide?

Using open standards as the backbone

A starting point is to use open standards. In addition to W3C standards most of us already know (like HTML and CSS), we can extend this to Semantic Web standards like OWL and RDF. Adherance to standards allows information to be interpreted correctly, exchanged, and migrated to newer standards in the future. Standards may also make it easier to hand datsets over to someone else or distribute copies to keep it accessible. It’s a key part of understanding the potential of the Semantic Web according this summary of a talk by Nova Spivack at last week’s The Next Web -

“The semantic web is not so much about “semantics” as it is set of open standards defined at W3C. The semantic web approach builds on open standard meta data which is in line with previous presentations that supported the open data approach. The idea is that everyone profits from everyone’s metadata. The semantic web is a compromise in making the data smarter and the software smarter. It is the best of both worlds.”

Keeping data usable

Over the past two years, libraries, museums, companies and other organisations have set up pages in Facebook, mySpace and other social networking sites. In some libraries, this is the work of an emerging technologies specialist, in others it’s an added role for an individual that may or not be sustained if that person leaves or changes job focus.

Whatever the situation, it’s not the best use of time to have to create a new profile and create networks in every service. This is where a move towards data standards and portability is a plus. Being able to move data between and in/out of these services saves time and sustains online networks and communities. Data Portability is one of the major projects looking at these issues. According to Chris Saad from the project, “The new innovation platform is data” and this is certainly true if looking at things from a Semantic Web point of view.

Libraries and the sustainable web

A recent article in Interactions stresses the importance of designing for sustainability of content on the web - the authors note that libraries and other cultural insitutitions will be at the heart of these efforts,

“Digital technology makes it possible to extend the walls of the archive beyond a single space or person, as well as ensure preservation and acccess in locations around the world [...] Libraries, museums, and archives will need to collaborate with business interests to build lasting social structures that are sustainable over time.” (Churchill E, Ubois J, 2008)

Libraries have played a significant role in participating in a variety of digital and web preservation projects over the years, but what’s the next step? How do we get more involved in conversations that take place in business?

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Churchill, E, Ubois J. 2008. Designing for Digital Archives. Interactions. March/April 2008. Retrieved from: http://interactions.acm.org/content/?p=1089 (full text via ACM Portal)

Two articles out this week describe semantic projects which aim to improve findability and personalisation:

An EU-funded project is described in Next-generation hi-fi: deepening the musical experience. One of the aims of the projects, called Semantic Hi-Fi, is to increase the number of ways in which you can search for music -

As a result of this work, users of future hi-fi can expect to be able to navigate easily through their collections using search criteria, such as tempo, genre, instrumentation, in addition to the traditional search criteria of artist and title. If you have a particular tune running through your head, but no information on it, you can simply hum the tune into the system’s microphone and it will find it for you!

When I worked in a music library, we used to include all of this information in the catalogue, but it was done manually, and only if the information was included on the CD. This project goes much further by analysing the audio file itself to extra the data.

Libraries which circulate music may have an interest in this type of semantic technology - it could assist with research and reference questions about music, especially classical and jazz in academic environments, and in recommending new titles for clients. Further information is available on the project’s website.

The second article is about ubiquitous computing, but has some interesting possibilities for the semantic web and libraries. Democratic Parties: An Interview With UCLA Computer Scientist Kevin Eustice discusses applications which establish social and location and make recommendations. Eustice gives the example of providing local information at museums -

A pretty straightforward application we’ve considered is extending this to support context-aware museum experiences. You can provide media content directly to a device; you can customize it to social groups; you can customize based on the age or language of a person visiting the exhibit.

There are some libraries in Asia that have started to use barcode technology to activate downloads of audio and data to mobile and other handheld devices. Technology like Eustice describes is another way of providing tailored experiences to individuals.