It's quite disappointing that in the almost 10 years (!) since the semantic web think tank, so little progress has been made. But then, part of the reason I left the sector at that time was the COMPLETE indifference my then institution displayed towards the work I was doing with MCG, and the federated meta search tools we had developed internally (which could have been developed as a linked data source). It's great to see Richard and Mia still holding the candle, and Mike still calling the reality gaps.
>I would be delighted to be told I'm wrong, but my impression is that
most UK institutions don't really 'get' the open/linked data idea, and
where they do, they have no idea how to go about supporting or
implementing
So many institutions still do not 'get it' but is the sector now in a place where a minimum rule set or framework for data availability cannot be agreed and distributed? Enough to allow you as thought leaders to demonstrate what's possible with the data? Basically we should be working on that answer to Mike E's point 2.
> I see Linked Data URLs as a means to end: a common frame
of reference in a shared information space, full of stories. We need to
work out what concepts we share an interest in, and create Linked Data
resources for them. They will be people, places, historical events,
classes of object, /not /the individual objects in our collections.
Interesting, a top down approach! While the context of objects are the stories, it's the stories that institutions create and mediate. In fact they measure success via the impact of the stories that interpret the objects. Not sure engaging stories can emerge from linked data directly. But of course part of the vision of the semantic web was to enable people to create their own stories through searching/browsing. Linked data around objects provide the context and enable us to build new stories, but me it's still the objects (digital surrogates, pointers to physical availability) that are important, so we can experience them, make unexpected connections etc.
Also it's a shame that with the exception of Jamie, it's the same voices discussing this as 10 years ago...
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