In the Name of the Name: RDF literals, ER Attributes and the Potential to Rethink the Structures and Visualizations of Catalogs

📝 Abstract

The aim of this study is to contribute to the field of machine-processable bibliographic data that is suitable for the Semantic Web. We examine the Entity Relationship (ER) model, which has been selected by IFLA as a “conceptual framework” in order to model the FR family (FRBR, FRAD, and RDA), and the problems ER causes as we move towards the Semantic Web. Subsequently, while maintaining the semantics of the aforementioned standards but rejecting the ER as a conceptual framework for bibliographic data, this paper builds on the RDF (Resource Description Framework) potential and documents how both the RDF and Linked Data’s rationale can affect the way we model bibliographic data. In this way, a new approach to bibliographic data emerges where the distinction between description and authorities is obsolete. Instead, the integration of the authorities with descriptive information becomes fundamental so that a network of correlations can be established between the entities and the names by which the entities are known. Naming is a vital issue for human cultures because names are not random sequences of characters or sounds that stand just as identifiers for the entities; they also have socio-cultural meanings and interpretations. Thus, instead of describing indivisible resources, we could describe entities that appear in a variety of names on various resources. In this study, a method is proposed to connect the names with the entities they represent and, in this way, to document the provenance of these names by connecting specific resources with specific names.

💡 Analysis

The aim of this study is to contribute to the field of machine-processable bibliographic data that is suitable for the Semantic Web. We examine the Entity Relationship (ER) model, which has been selected by IFLA as a “conceptual framework” in order to model the FR family (FRBR, FRAD, and RDA), and the problems ER causes as we move towards the Semantic Web. Subsequently, while maintaining the semantics of the aforementioned standards but rejecting the ER as a conceptual framework for bibliographic data, this paper builds on the RDF (Resource Description Framework) potential and documents how both the RDF and Linked Data’s rationale can affect the way we model bibliographic data. In this way, a new approach to bibliographic data emerges where the distinction between description and authorities is obsolete. Instead, the integration of the authorities with descriptive information becomes fundamental so that a network of correlations can be established between the entities and the names by which the entities are known. Naming is a vital issue for human cultures because names are not random sequences of characters or sounds that stand just as identifiers for the entities; they also have socio-cultural meanings and interpretations. Thus, instead of describing indivisible resources, we could describe entities that appear in a variety of names on various resources. In this study, a method is proposed to connect the names with the entities they represent and, in this way, to document the provenance of these names by connecting specific resources with specific names.

📄 Content

In the Name of the Name: RDF Literals, ER Attributes, and the Potential to Rethink the Structures and Visualizations of Catalogs Manolis Peponakis ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to contribute to the field of machine-processable bibliographic data that is suitable for the Semantic Web. We examine the Entity Relationship (ER) model, which has been selected by IFLA as a “conceptual framework” in order to model the FR family (FRBR, FRAD, and RDA), and the problems ER causes as we move towards the Semantic Web. Subsequently, while maintaining the semantics of the aforementioned standards but rejecting the ER as a conceptual framework for bibliographic data, this paper builds on the RDF (Resource Description Framework) potential and documents how both the RDF and Linked Data’s rationale can affect the way we model bibliographic data. In this way, a new approach to bibliographic data emerges where the distinction between description and authorities is obsolete. Instead, the integration of the authorities with descriptive information becomes fundamental so that a network of correlations can be established between the entities and the names by which the entities are known. Naming is a vital issue for human cultures because names are not random sequences of characters or sounds that stand just as identifiers for the entities—they also have socio-cultural meanings and interpretations. Thus, instead of describing indivisible resources, we could describe entities that appear in a variety of names on various resources. In this study, a method is proposed to connect the names with the entities they represent and, in this way, to document the provenance of these names by connecting specific resources with specific names. INTRODUCTION The basic aim of this study is to contribute to the field of machine-processable bibliographic data. As to what constitutes “machine processable” we concur with the clarification of Antoniou and van Harmelen, who state, “In the literature the term machine-understandable is used quite often. We believe it is the wrong word because it gives the wrong impression. It is not necessary for intelligent agents to understand information; it is sufficient for them to process information effectively, which sometimes causes people to think the machine really understands.”1 Also, in the bibliography used, the term “computationally processable” is used as a synonym to “machine­ processable.” Manolis Peponakis (epepo@ekt.gr) is an information scientist at the National Documentation Centre, National Hellenic Research Foundation, Athens, Greece. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND LIBRARIES | JUNE 2016 19

With regard to machine-processable bibliographic data, we have taken into consideration both the practice and theory of Library and Information Science (LIS) and Computer Science. From LIS we have chosen the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) and the Functional Requirements for Authority Data (FRAD) while making comparisons with the Resource Description and Access (RDA) standard. From the Computer Science domain we have chosen the Resource Description Framework (RDF) as a basic mechanism for the Semantic Web. We examine the Entity Relationship (ER) model (selected from IFLA as a “conceptual framework” for the development of FRBR), 2 as well as the potential problems that may arise as we move towards the Semantic Web. Having rejected the ER model as a conceptual framework for bibliographic data, we have built on the potential of RDF and document how its rationale affects the modeling process. In the context of the Semantic Web and Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs), the identification process has been transformed. For this reason we have performed an analysis of appellations and names as identifiers and also explored how we could move on from an era where controlled names play the role of identifiers to one of the URI dominion: “While it is self-evident that labels and comments are important for constructing and using ontologies by humans, the OWL standard does not pay much attention to them. The standard focuses on the syntax, structure and reasoning capabilities. . . . If the Semantic Web is to be queried by humans, there will be no other way than dealing with the ambiguousness of human language.”3 It is essential to build on the “library’s signature service, its catalog,”4 and use it to provide added- value services. But to get there, first there has to be “a shift in perspective, from locked-up databases of records to open data shared on the Web.”5 This requires a transition from descriptions aimed at human readers to descriptions that put the emphasis on computational processes to escape the rationale of records being a condensed description in textual form and move towards more flexible and fruitful representations and

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