Session IX: Libraries

Session Organizers:

Abstract:

This session describes OCLC's recently completed pilot using MediaWiki and WikiBase as a platform for creating and editing Linked Data. Our local installation was populated with linked-data entities mined from the OCLC WorldCat database, which were synchronized with descriptions from corresponding Wikidata pages. Pilot participants representing 16 OCLC member libraries explored, created, modifed, and evaluated the dataset and assessed the implications of the Wkibase platform for a next-generation resource-description environment in the library and cultural heritage communities. This session will contain three presentations: 1) a technical assessment of the Wikibase platform and a description of companion applications developed at OCLC; 2) a walkthrough of a library resource description task comparing the Wikibase entity-centered workflow with traditional record creation; and 3) a set of implications and lessons learned compiled from the pilot participants.