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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LIBRARIANSHIP, 3(1), 104 

ISSN:2474-3542 

 

Linked Data for Cultural Heritage. eds. Ed Jones & Michele Seikel, Chicago: ALA Editions, 
2016, $75. ISBN 978-0-8389-1439-7. 
 
Linked Data for Cultural Heritage is a collection of chapters on linked data and its application in 
cultural heritage institutions such as libraries, archives, and museums (LAMs). The editors, Ed 
Jones and Michelle Siekel, are both experienced LIS professionals and this curated collection 
provides a succinct overview of the state of linked data in LAMs.  

Each of the six chapters covers a different aspect of how linked data can be utilized in 
LAMs with case studies and project highlights, with some conceptual overlap in chapters three 
and four. The first chapter provides a wealth of information on large, ongoing linked data projects, 
such as Europeana and DPLA, while taking time to explain the background and scope of each 
highlighted project. The second chapter explores the benefits of utilizing linked data and RDF 
triples due to its flexibility. Chapter three delves into linked data for authority control, covering 
the ways thesauri and controlled vocabularies can be enhanced; chapter four focuses on controlled 
vocabularies for Science, Technical, and Medical resources. Chapter five describes the uses of 
schema.org and the ways that OCLC Research has utilized the ontologies found there. To conclude, 
the last chapter discusses BIBFRAME and the Library of Congress’ efforts with linked data and 
provides some insight as to where it stands as a potential replacement for MARC21. 

This book is very timely, written when the profession is looking to the future and possesses 
a greater need to openly share the rich bibliographic data generated by LAMs. Aimed at 
practitioners, Linked Data for Cultural Heritage is written in a manner that is accessible to 
someone who may not specialize in cataloging or be a metadata expert. The purpose of this book 
is to serve as a detailed introduction to linked data. Professionals who want more details on what 
exactly a RDF triple might be or how an ontology fits into the larger linked data picture will find 
this text useful. Linked Data for Cultural Heritage is more informational and less of a how-to 
guide on implementing similar linked data projects—unlike the van Hooland and Verborgh 2014 
text, Linked Data for Libraries, Archives and Museums. 

Linked Data for Cultural Heritage is ideal for busy librarians or archivists who may have 
heard a presentation on linked data or have minimal experience with the topic and desire an easy 
to digest text that will increase their familiarity. I highly recommend this book as a part of a 
collection that supports an information and library science degree program and for any library with 
a collection of professional texts to be used by their faculty and staff librarians. 

References 

Van Hooland, S., & Verborgh, R. (Eds.). (2014). Linked Data for Libraries, Archives and Museums: 
How to Clean, Link and Publish Your Metadata. Chicago: ALA Neal-Schuman. 
 
--- Tiffany Henry, University of North Carolina Greensboro, NC, USA