The Linked Open Data Special Interest Working Group is collaborating with Ex Libris and the community of interest to bring to fruition those linked data features that Ex Libris has released or is developing in Alma and Primo, and to gauge interest and commitment in the community for adding more features to Ex Libris products in future. November saw release of BIBFRAME Linked Data MARC conversion, API and publishing features in Alma. We asked Josh Weisman, Development Director, to give a roadmap update and “Show and Tell” along with a question/answer that was well attended on November 30. The recording, slides and answers are publicly available and we’ve linked to them on our News and Updates page. We have also published, and aim to keep current, a Development Dashboard that details the features, status, issues and location of documentation in the Knowledge and Developers sites.

The Working Body and other community members are involved in testing and critiquing linked data conversion and technical issues, in raising complex questions involving, for example, support for RDA and the IFLA Library Reference Model, and in connecting with other groups such as the PCC Task Force for URIs in MARC and others. We have recently started discussions on the Linked Data Roadmaps, and on what actions Ex Libris could take to increase experimentation with and adoption of linked data features in ways that bring value to customers. If these things interest you, join our mailing list. We publish updates roughly once a month, and occasionally use the list for discussions. If you want to be involved in the development testing and discussions you may also join our Basecamp – send an email to LOD WG Coordinator Laura Akerman, [email protected] requesting to be added. We are planning a live update session and question/answer at our business meeting at ELUNA, as well as some demos of linked data feature use at Developers Day. Stay tuned for more!

Laura Akerman, Emory University
Coordinator, Linked Open Data SIWG (Joint)