Presenter
Abby Dover (@AbbyDover)
Slides and Recordings
- Slides: SWIB25 Towards Linked Data Fluency Presentation.pdf (996.0 KB)
- Recordings: YouTube
Abstract
Right now, Wikidata has perhaps the lowest barrier for entry for traditional library catalogers who want to work with Linked Data. Wikidata is free and open, does not require specialized technical knowledge, has robust community support, and is already being used by some vendors to enhance library catalogs. Many libraries have experimented with contributing to Wikidata through project work, but this approach has one notable issue: consistency. Once a given project is completed, it is not unusual for participants to stop contributing to Wikidata, at least until the next project begins. This is understandable, given that Wikidata is likely not part of their job description or regular workflows – and yet, when a skill is not practiced consistently, it is easily lost, much in the way languages become rusty if they aren’t practiced regularly.
This presentation will present takeaways from Northwestern University’s pilot program to address the linked data fluency issue by integrating Wikidata into the regular workflow of our NACO catalogers. Participants are expected to spend an average of 2–4 hours a week either creating or editing Wikidata items, keeping to the scope of their usual NACO authority work. They also have the option to attend regularly scheduled “Wikihours” where they can ask questions, share tips and tools, and so on. The presentation will include the findings of an evaluation survey conducted at the 9-month mark, including both successes (72% feel more comfortable with Wikidata and want the program either continued as-is or expanded) and challenges (38% had difficulty with time expectations; overall staffing shortages). The presentation will also discuss the preliminary results of a Northwestern user impact study on Ex Libris’ person info cards (currently the main way Wikidata is incorporated in our library catalog), which is planned for this fall.