A Division of Labor: The Role of Schema.org in a Semantic Web Model of Library Resources

This chapter describes some of OCLC’s experiments with Schema.org as the foundation for a linked data model of library resources. The most important reason for giving Schema.org serious consideration is that this is the vocabulary endorsed by the world’s major search engines at a time when a user’s quest for information is more likely to begin on the broader Web than in a library or even a library website. But there is a simpler and more pragmatic reason for taking a serious look at Schema.org. At a time of unprecedented uncertainty, Schema.org offers the promise that at least some of the effort involved in designing the next-generation standards for library data can be undertaken by a trusted third party. As a general-purpose vocabulary that is compliant with linked data principles, Schema.org addresses the requirements expressed in the Library of Congress publication On the Record for a solution that recognizes the Web as a technology platform and as a means for the discovery and delivery of resources that fulfill a user’s information request.

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