Smile and nod

Karim Tharani - University of Saskatchewan

Exploring and Experimenting with Linked Data

-    exposing, sharing and connecting pieces of data, information and knowledge on the semantic web using URIs and RDF

-    using the web to create special kind of hyperlinks between data from different sources

-    I love this comment about typical web behaviour - click and pray

-    improved results through linked data, metadata

-    evolution into digital humanities and linked library metadata

-    description and discovery

-    what does that mean for us?

-    metadata does not communicate any better than individual cards in the card catalogue

-    what if it could?

-    uri, protects content against dead links, similar to using a P.O. Box instead of a home address

-    markup behind the web, is what needs to change, web of data

-    the semantic web allows machines to understand the meaning of the information

-    subject, predicates and object

-    distinguishes between written about a person, from written by a person

-    BIBFRAME, from Library of Congress, allows the expertise of the librarian to take hold again and affect the future of the web

Although a lot of this presentation was over my head, I appreciated Karim's use of analogy so that individuals in the audience would have a frame of reference to the concept that he was presenting.  He also has a brilliant sense of humour and an approachable presentation style.