Semantic Library

Data seems to be the hot topic right now. It’s all about how we store it, share it, and make it play nice with other data. There is an enthusiasm for openness and a move towards standardisation of data and the ways we share it, but there’s a also a worrying trend - competing standards and protocols.

Ross Singer at Panlibus discusses a draft recommendation from the Digital Library Federation ILS and Discovery System Task Force and notes that while it’s certainly a welcome move, that -

The problem here is that they generally give multiple options for achieving the goal of any given method. So this means that any ILS vendor can choose from a variety of protocols for implementing the spec and that a different vendor can choose alternate standards for the exact same functionality.

Singer goes on to describe scenarios in which this causes all sorts of problems - for example, vendors choose differing open standards and systems still can’t communicate.

Something similar looks to be happening in data exchange, with Google, Facebook and MySpace all announcing last week that they have their own ways of sharing profile data. There are two key concepts in play - data portability, and data availability. In the first, instance, the goal of data portability is user control and options over how you use your data. In the second, companies are entering agreements with eachother and I don’t see this giving the user the level of control many really want. It’s not a huge leap further than allowing, say, Facebook to access your Gmail contacts. You still have no way to export that data for yourself - it is handled company-to-company. Data portability is definitely my preference.

As we look to the future of the ILS, which may include data sharing and embedding on other services (with formats like RDF) and other semantic developments, it’s interesting to see how we face many similar issues in different domains at the same time. On the reason why Data Portability has taken off this year, Daniela Barbosa who has been involved with the project from inception says -

Call it timing, call it good marketing, call it luck- call it what you wish- i like to say it has to do with a need…a need by users, vendors and technologists to have one forum to discuss and act on the various issues and opportunities around user data and the usage of that data (the ‘Graph’).

I will be interested to see if the wider social networking world and libraries will turn to other forms of networking and identity down the line. Laura J. Smart wrote about Thompson’s ResearchID platform, which for want of a better term you could describe as an identity service for researchers. You can post a profile of yourself, link to your papers, and in theory meet other people working in the same field as you. Other companies have similar services, like CSA’s Scholar Universe. It would be really great if these services, like Facebook and mySpace, were a part of the data/identity portability movement.

So it seems that we’re all moving in the same direction at the moment, and though there may never be just one protocol or standard to rule all of our identities, hopefully they will at least talk to eachother.

I’ve written previously about the importance of the mobile web and the role of mobiles in social change. Now the United Nations Foundation (with Vodafone) has released a report on the use of mobiles by relief, advocacy, and development organisations (via Read/Write Web, Report: ‘Mobile Activism’ on the Rise).

One of the most interesting case studies look at the use of mobile devices is collecting and using health data [PDF]. Forms were created that health workers can use on a PDA to collect and update health statistics. The system is much more time-efficient and reliable than paper-based methods used previously.

Mobile Learning

Other mobile web initiatives include mobile learning. Dr Steve Yuen describes a project he is developing at Cell Phone Learning Support System (CPLSS) (Tech Learning blog) -

“My current (CPLSS) project is attempted to deliver instructional content and learning materials in way that fits into students’ cell phones - their digital lives. The CPLSS is designed to work with many cell phones, smartphones, or PDA phones and will have four major modules: Java book, Web book, audio book, and video book.”

While the concepts themselves aren’t new, as we’ve had previous learning systems developed for online learning, and mp3 players, what I like about this idea is simply the idea of shifting technology to new platforms.

Designing for all

Something we have to keep in mind as we create and modify information for new devices is the breadth of people who will use them. A post that linked to my earlier post about the mobile web asks if we are taking into account the needs of older mobile users. In Mobility issues or digital natives as seniors? from C3 Library -

“…this IS the main communication link up for so many but what will it morph into for the aging digital native? Not something we have to solve but an interesting issue given that the current devices aren’t really usable by the majority of the senior population. As we size everything down to be lighter and portable we also exclude and narrow the user group.”

I agree that it is essential to design for all. Not just those who are of a certain socioeconomic group or age, but also those with disabilities. If your site is built to mobile and web-accessibility standards, that takes care of the content, but what about the devices that you use the content on? There are some mobile screen reader programs available, such as Mobile Speak and Magnifier and TALKS&ZOOMS which magnify, highlight and read text much like PC software does now. Some phones can also use voice commands instead of the buttons. But on the whole, it is true that everything is getting smaller, with only a few exceptions of phones designed for older users that seem to appeal based on their being basic and excluding most features - like web browsing and email.

Learn More - on your phone!

If you want to learn more about the Mobile Web, the W3C is running a free online training course (keep your eye on the next one, registration for May 2008 just closed), An Introduction to W3C’s Mobile Web Best Practices.

More information about the work covered in the UN Foundation report can be found at Mobile Active, billed as “A resource for activists using mobile technology worldwide”.

Allan Cho and Dean Giustini have recently published an article on Web 3.0 and Health Libraries [PDF]. It’s a good introduction to Web 3.0 and the Semantic Web in their field of librarianship. They discuss some of the definitions of Web 3.0 and their own vision, noting -

“The common theme here is a focus on information organization and retrieval”

Cho and Giustini explain why Web 3.0/Semantic Web will be good for health librarians - because it will improve the accuracy and efficiency of searching. Searching for health information now is difficult - not only because there is a great deal of specificity in searching some of the big databases (MeSH helps some, but not everyone can/will use it) but trying to work out what information is reliable can be very difficult.

The article describes other problems with current search technologies - it is easy to miss important information because of the way searches are constructed and limitations of databases. Findability and trust is important.

Library standards and other projects are also discussed, like RDA and RDF. But one very important point that Cho and Guistini make is that,

“there is a sense that the two groups - library professionals and semantic technologists - do not communicate or see their potential synergies.”

It is important that librarians are participating in discussions about the Semantic Web and RDF, but at the same time, we should be welcoming in those who might be interested in how we do things.

Reference:
Cho, A., Giustini, D. (2008). Web 3.0 and health librarians: an introduction. Journal of the Canadian Health Libraries Association, 29(1), 13-18.

Several blogs have posted about Web 3.0 recently, most trying to come up with a central set of ideas about what it might be. For some, Web 3.0 = Semantic Web, for others, Semantic Web is just a part of it. My take on it that I wrote in October last year, if there is such a thing as Web 3.0, can be found on the About page of this blog:

• Semantic web: True write once, publish many: hamstrung until now by proprietary software, proliferation of XML schemas, and a lack of end-user tools.
• Metadata: Meaning and context within and between objects, new languages.
• Rich open data: Geotagging, eScience data for everyone
• Content anywhere, especially mobile
• Make your own software: bringing software and tool creation to the masses
• Two opposing ends: on demand anywhere (video, TV, radio, text), lightweight flexible architecture

Politics and governance issues will continue to evolve to bring;

• Ubiquitous Open Access
• Access to Knowledge (A2K) in the developing world

I think it is important to keep in mind the political and governance issues surrounding the web. The technical part of Web 3.0 is not possible without supportive research, funding, and policies. Additionally, if Web 3.0 impacts people’s lives by making communication and managing information easier, it has to include all kinds of knowledge (social, government, entertainment, scholarly) and be accessible by people all over the world regardless of language, socioeconomic and geographical barriers.

While I enjoyed all the good things the supposed Web 2.0 movement offered - community, interaction, etc - I am hoping that Web 3.0 will pay attention to the difficult issues around data, scholarly communication, and dissemination of research. Linked data is an area of research on this topic, but I hope to see more standards, policies and funding in this area.

A study of all the different ideas people have about Web 3.0 was posted by Jonas Bolinder, and fell into four categories -

• Semantic Web
• APIs and Web Services
• Mobile Web and other devices
• Implicit Web (personalisation and recommendation)

There’s a little bit of each of these in my view of Web 3.0

A post on Read/Write Web, Web 3.0 Through the Ages, sums up some of the current thinking around the term, valid or not and concludes -

“…the discussions we have about defining the next web help to solidify our vision of where we’re going — and you can’t get there until you decide where you want to go. “

I agree, and I’m interested to see where the discussions lead next.

Other recent posts on Web 3.0:

• It’s all still alpha in my eyes, Liako.biz
• After Web 2.0: WOW (Wide Open Web) - enough of version numbers for the web!!, Trends in the Living Networks

Over on the wiki, we’ve started putting together a very basic outline of what an online course to learn about the Semantic Web and Libraries might look like. My aim is to provide something for the middle-ground of early adopters - those who are enthusiastic about these new technologies and are keen to learn more, but who might not have gotten around to sitting down with a book on RDF yet. I hope it will be a gentle introduction, not overly code-heavy, and with plenty of examples and discussion of practical applications in libraries and research.

Watch us try to build a course from the ground up or get involved and have your say about what your want to learn, or what you might teach!

More details available on the learning program page on the Semantic Library wiki.