A proposal to create a 'union' of library catalogues using WordPress MU and Scriblio, providing the opportunity for independently managed library catalogue sites which form an aggregated catalogue. Data could be exposed as RDF using Triplify.

1. Joss Winn Paul Stainthorp
“Bibliografreedom”
Liberating library catalogue data to the
semantic web with WordPress MU
…a work in progress

2. Hello
• Joss Winn
• Technology Officer, University of Lincoln
• jwinn@lincoln.ac.uk
• http://joss.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/
• Twitter @josswinn
• Paul Stainthorp
• E-resources Librarian, University of Lincoln
• pstainthorp@lincoln.ac.uk
• http://blogs.library.lincoln.ac.uk/
• Twitter @pstainthorp

3. The elements
• Source library catalogue(s)
• WordPress Multi-user (WPMU)
• Scriblio – example (Plymouth State Uni.)
• Site-wide tags – example (Uni. of Lincoln)
• Triplify output – example

4. Un
The Semantic Web
DF
io n
/R
m
Ca
RDF N3
to
t
/A
alo
S
gu
RS
e
Triplify
MySQL Managed on
USERS (discovery / interaction)
behalf of
Scriblio (aggregated; site-wide) libraries
Wordpress Multi-user (WPMU)
Scriblio Scriblio Scriblio
Managed by
each library
OPAC OPAC OPAC
Library “A” Library “B” Library “C”

5. Benefits
• A quick ‘n’ dirty Library 2.0 OPAC
• Easy incorporation of 3rd-party
enhancements (Amazon etc.)
• A devolved Union Catalogue; each source
catalogue managed by its owners
• The WordPress ‘ecosystem’
• Liberation of bibliographic data to the
semantic web
• Then what…?
What could you do with OPAC RDF data?

6. To-do list
• Scriblio is not very ‘atomic’ – ‘blobs’ of
data not ideal for semantic web approach
• Scriblio project is still a bit ‘raw’ – better
catalogue imports and documentation
• Triplify config file still needs customising to
make the most of Scriblio
• Needs source material! Libraries willing to
maintain a Scriblio version of their OPAC

7. Joss Winn
?
Paul Stainthorp