Re: One step?

From: Martin Malmsten <martin.malmsten_at_nyob>
Date: Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:37:23 +0100
To: NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU
My one step: Linked Open Data. Our ecosystem is hurting because the  
data is not free. We have less innovation (than other sectors) because  
our data is not free.

So, basically I second Owen's suggestion with the addition that the  
resource the URL points to should be able to describe itself and  
provide links to other resources in a machine readable (machine  
understandable?) way.

/martin

On Mar 17, 2009, at 4:07 PM, Stephens, Owen wrote:

> OK, spurred by Bernhard's question (below) how about sharing the  
> 'one step' that you would like to see taken to move us in the right  
> direction (with the reason why)? I know we won't all agree on this  
> 'one step' - in my mind the point of this thread is not to reach  
> agreement but to see if we can build a set of very practical steps.  
> If you like the idea, please join in...
>
> My 'starter for 10' (does that work outside the UK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starter_for_Ten?) 
>  - anyway, my step:
> ------------------------------
> Ensure that every bibliographic record in your catalogue has a  
> persistent URL, which can be easily found and bookmarked when  
> viewing the record.
>
> My reason for suggesting this is that it would be a good first step  
> to making library catalogues part of the web - allowing people to  
> link to a bibliographic record. I also think the mainstream ILSs can  
> support this, but sometimes need some 'tweaking' to make a permanent  
> link clear and visible to the end user.
>
> Although it doesn't go far enough in terms of integration with the  
> web (IMO) I think it is a first step, and achievable by the vast  
> majority of OPACs right now. Also it should be easy to share how to  
> do this - so once one person in a particular ILS community has done  
> it, hopefully the barrier is very low for others.
> ------------------------------
>
>
> Owen Stephens
> Assistant Director: eStrategy and Information Resources
> Central Library
> Imperial College London
> South Kensington Campus
> London
> SW7 2AZ
>
> t: +44 (0)20 7594 8829
> e: o.stephens_at_imperial.ac.uk
>
>>>
>> What might be the next "steps in the right direction"? What are
>> realistic near-term goals? Can anything substantial be done without
>> involvement of OCLC and LC? Are they assets or predicaments?
>> And what can be expected from RDA, what should be done about it then?
>>
>> B.Eversberg
Received on Tue Mar 17 2009 - 11:40:04 EDT