making the leap towards linked data

Making the Leap Towards Linked Data

ANNUAL CONFERENCE, 2016 January 21

Iris Lee, Metadata Analyst at AMNHJennifer Cwiok, Digital Projects Manager at AMNHNick Krabbenhoeft, CodedCulture

ANTHROPOLOGYPALEONTOLOGYINVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGYVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGYPHYSICAL SCIENCE plus RESEARCH LIBRARY

34.5 MILLION SPECIMENS & ARTIFACTSand

25,000 LINEAR FEET OF ARCHIVESincluding• Thousands of film reels• Over a million negatives• Almost a petabyte of digital data

2005-2007IMLS RISK ASSESSMENTResearch Collections

2009-2012IMLS RISK ASSESSMENTPermanent Exhibits

2011-2012IMLS RISK ASSESSMENT & INVENTORYLibrary & Archives in Science

CLIR HIDDEN COLLECTIONSCatalog Library Archives

2013-2016CLIR HIDDEN CONNECTIONSFinding Aids & Biographical/Historical Notes for AMNH Expeditions

Expeditionary Field Work at the American Museum of Natural History2013-2016

• Finding aids for archival collections (EAD)

• Entity records for expeditions and personnel (EAC-CPF)

Expeditionary Field Work at the American Museum of Natural History2013-2016

• Finding aids for archival collections (EAD)

• Entity records for expeditions and personnel (EAC-CPF)

Central Asiatic Expeditions (1921-1930)

Nest of dinosaur eggs!

What did they

bring back?

• Specimens & artifacts

• Notes & sketches

• Diaries• Journals• Specimen

books• Photographs• Recorded

sound• Moving

images

Encoded Archival Context – Corporate Bodies, Persons, Families (EAC-CPF)• Reconnect collections• Increase resource discovery• Reuse biogHist notes across finding aids• Reduce redundant work• Linked data friendly

Metadata Matters

One Biog/hist to Describe Them All

Entity Record

EAC

AnthroEAD

PaleoEAD

Vertebrate Zoology

EAD

Physical Sciences

EAD

LibraryEAD

Vertebrate Zoology

EAD

EAC

EAC-CPF linked to Finding Aid

EAC

Vertebrate Zoology

EAD

EAC

Leads to Resource Discovery

EAC

AnthroEAD

PaleoEAD

Physical Sciences

EAD

LibraryEAD

Data Conversion

Templates are converted into xmlNo hand codingFiles stored on network or Archivists’ ToolkitAdditional conversion to html for review

Where are the Gaps?

Mgmt

Access

Storage

Creation

Data Management

xml ingested into a systemFile managementEnhanced admin tools

Data Management

xml ingested into a systemFile managementEnhanced admin tools

?

xEAC

xEAC• Open source web-based application

developed by Ethan Gruber• XForms-based framework • Built for the creation, management and

publication of EAC-CPF records• Publishes and uses linked data • Map visualization built into front end

FOR NOWSuite of Apps for Archives

ASpace

xEAC

NEAR FUTUREHook Systems with Linked Data

ASpace

xEACRDFRDF

RESEARCH COLLECTIONS OBJECTS ON DISPLAY

ENTITIESARCHIVES

RESEARCH COLLECTIONS OBJECTS ON DISPLAY

ENTITIESARCHIVES

THE DREAMLinking Resources

EAC entity records can link to other systemsInternal to Museum: Digital Special Collections AMNH Science databasesWider network: International Authority Cooperative (SNAC)

RESEARCH COLLECTIONS OBJECTS ON DISPLAY

ENTITIESARCHIVES

Library as a repository of relationships

The standardization of the following entities enhances discoverability and makes linking resources possible:• Expedition Names• Personal Names (Scientists, Donors, Museum

Staff, etc.)• Department Names• Permanent Hall Names• Temporary Exhibition Names

Use Case for Linked Data within the LibraryWhitney South Sea Expedition of the American Museum of

Natural History (1920-1941)

Charles Curtis at wheel of schooner, The FranceWhitney Hall of Oceanic Birds, 1945

Library’s Current Application Landscape

DSpace: Scientific Publications, supplemental data, dissertations, manuscripts, field books, etc.

Omeka – Digital media web publishing

Innovative Sierra OPAC – Proprietary online catalog

WordPress – Hidden Collections Archives Project blog

Archives Space – Accession records, EAD Finding Aids

xEAC – EAC-CPF Collections

Whitney South Sea Expedition

xEAC Beck, Rollo Howard

Extracts from the Journal of Rollo H. Beck

Hall & Diorama construction Logbook of the yacht “France”Extracts from the Journal of Rollo H. Beck

Whitney Hall of Oceanic Birds

Item#: 107956

Researching the ForgottenParticipants of the WSSE

AMNH Databases

Anthro

Phys Sci

Research Library

Virtual Machine

RDFxEAC

ASpace RDF

Partnered with IT to installxEAC and Archives Space ona Virtual Machine

RDF Triplestore selection & installationnext phase of project

AMNH Databases

Anthro

Phys Sci

Research Library

Virtual Machine

RDFxEAC

ASpace RDF

Ingest

Data Mgmt

Access

Storage

Preservation Planning

Administration

UserProducer

American Museum of

Natural History

ExpeditionsResearch

Publications...

VisitorsResearchersStaffExhibitions...

Library

Vertebrate Zoology

Earth & Planetary Science

Anthropology

American Museum of

Natural History

ExpeditionsResearch

Publications...

VisitorsResearchersStaffExhibitions...

Library

Vertebrate Zoology

Earth & Planetary Science

Anthropology

VisitorsResearchersStaffExhibitions...

Library

Vertebrate Zoology

Earth & Planetary Science

Anthropology

VisitorsResearchersStaffExhibitions...

American Museum of

Natural History

ExpeditionsResearch

Publications...

VisitorsResearchersStaffExhibitions...

Thank you!

AttributionsIcons provided by the Noun Project: http://thenounproject.com/Artists: Matthew Exton, Mister Pixel

Contact informationIris Lee, ilee@amnh.org Jen Cwiok, jcwiok@amnh.orgNick Krabbenhoeft, nick@codedculture.org