From containers to content to context

Linked data for libraries: Creating a global knowledge space, a systematic literature review

The Semantic Web in general and the Linked Open Data Initiative, in particular, are a growing movement for organisations to make their existing data available in a machine-readable format. Thus, institutions are highly encouraged to publish, share and interlink their data publicly. The more data are opened on the Web (Open Data), the more integrated sets of data will be connected in the Semantic Web (Linked Open Data). Within this context, libraries can complement their data by linking it to other, external data sources. The purpose of this article is to identify papers that refer to linked data in libraries, emphasising the ways that linked data empower libraries to put their knowledge in the context of the open-world, thus enhancing semantic technology innovations. The study considered papers published between 2008 and 2019 in English and presents the collected literature by grouping it according to the topic each paper refers to. The results show that libraries are facing a period of continuing change which present several challenges and indicate that they are moving towards developing new practices, policies and services.

Back to the fundamentals again

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to redefine information and other associated library and information science (LIS) concepts and to reformulate the mission of the library and information profession and the problem of LIS using these concepts.

Design/methodology/approach

– This study adopts a deductive approach to conceptualization, starting from one given, a priori concept.

Findings

– This paper develops a constellation of concepts which offer mutual clarification for each other. Having defined data by drawing on its existing denotations, it defines “information” as the combined product of data and meaning, and “document” as the combined product of information and media; it defines “knowledge” as one type of meaning and “work” as one type of information. It shows that the mission of the library and information profession is to ensure maximum discoverability and accessibility of information, and that LIS is structured into two fields correspondingly, each consisting of three tiers of knowledge: philosophical foundations, theories, and technologies.

Practical implications

– The redefinition of basic LIS concepts may have practical implications for LIS curriculum design and for the cultivation of professional identity among LIS students in the all-encompassing I-Schools.

Originality/value

– This study has formed a coherent conceptual framework for LIS and has clarified the hitherto rather confusing relationship between data, information, and knowledge, and the rather nebulous structure of LIS problems; it sheds some light on the source of conflicts between the subjective and objective conceptualization of information and questions the prevailing understanding of work as ideas or meanings.