Awareness of Linked Open Data Among the Employees of Polish Libraries, Archives, and Museums

Purpose/Thesis: This article presents the results of a survey conducted in January 2021 among employees of Polish libraries, museums, and archives, examining their awareness of open linked data technologies. The research had a pilot character and its results will be used to improve the questionnaire and to conduct research on a wider scale. Approach/Methods: The survey method was used in the study. Results and conclusions: On the basis of answers received, it can be concluded that open linked data is not yet very well-known among employees of Polish libraries, museums, and archives. Those most aware of technologies allowing for machine understanding of content shared on the Web are doctorate degree-holders employed in research libraries. Furthermore, awareness of the projects using LOD technologies does not correlate with awareness of these technological solutions. Research limitations: The number of respondents (415) constitutes 1% of all the people employed in libraries, archives, and museums in Poland (based on data provided by the Central Statistical Office of Poland). This is not a large number, but considering the variety among the respondents, the sample can be considered representative. Originality/Value: The awareness of Linked Open Data among employees of Polish libraries, archives, and museums has not been the subject of any study so far. In fact, this type of research has not been conducted in other countries either.

Medieval manuscripts and their migrations: Using SPARQL to investigate the research potential of an aggregated Knowledge Graph

Although the RDF query language SPARQL has a reputation for being opaque and difficult for traditional humanists to learn, it holds great potential for opening up vast amounts of Linked Open Data to researchers willing to take on its challenges. This is especially true in the field of premodern manuscripts studies as more and more datasets relating to the study of manuscript culture are made available online. This paper explores the results of a two-year long process of collaborative learning and knowledge transfer between the computer scientists and humanities researchers from the Mapping Manuscript Migrations (MMM) project to learn and apply SPARQL to the MMM dataset. The process developed into a wider investigation of the use of SPARQL to analyse the data, refine research questions, and assess the research potential of the MMM aggregated dataset and its Knowledge Graph. Through an examination of a series of six SPARQL query case studies, this paper will demonstrate how the process of learning and applying SPARQL to query the MMM dataset returned three important and unexpected results: 1) a better understanding of a complex and imperfect dataset in a Linked Open Data environment, 2) a better understanding of how manuscript description and associated data involving the people and institutions involved in the production, reception, and trade of premodern manuscripts needs to be presented to better facilitate computational research, and 3) an awareness of need to further develop data literacy skills among researchers in order to take full advantage of the wealth of unexplored data now available to them in the Semantic Web.

Parlamenttisampo: eduskunnan aineistojen linkitetyn avoimen datan palvelu ja sen käyttömahdollisuudet

Semanttinen parlamentti -hankkeessa 2020–2022 luodaan eduskunnan tietokannoista ja niihin liittyvistä muista aineistoista uudenlainen linkitetyn avoimen datan (Linked Open Data, LOD) palvelu, tietoinfrastruktuuri ja semanttinen portaali Parlamenttisampo – eduskunta semant­tisessa webissä, joiden avulla tutkitaan poliittista kulttuuria ja kieltä. Dataa linkittämällä voi-daan rikastaa eduskuntadataa muilla tietolähteillä kuten biografisella tiedolla, terminologioilla ja lainsäädännön dokumenteilla. Parlamenttisampo on kieli- ja semanttisen webin teknologioihin perustuva palvelukokonaisuus tutkijoita, kansalaisia, mediaa ja valtionhallintoa varten. Artik­kelissa esitellään hankkeen visio, ensimmäisiä tuloksia ja niiden hyödyntämismahdollisuuksia: Eduskunnan kaikkien täysistuntojen 1907–2021 yli 900 000 puheesta on valmistunut linkitetyn datan tietämysgraafi (knowledge graph); data on myös saatavilla XML-muodossa, jossa hyö­dynnetään uutta kansainvälistä Parla-CLARIN-formaattia. Ensimmäistä kertaa eduskunnan puheiden koko aikasarja on muunnettu dataksi ja datapalveluksi yhtenäisessä muodossa. Lisäksi puheet on yhdistetty eduskunnan kansanedustajien tietokannasta luotuun ja muista tietolähteistä rikastettuun toiseen tietämysgraafiin laajemmaksi ontologiaperustaiseksi datapalveluksi Fin- Parla. Datapalvelua voidaan käyttää eduskuntatutkimukseen parlamentaarisesta ja edustuksel-lisesta kulttuurista sekä poliittisen kielen käytöstä analysoimalla kansanedustajien täysistunnois­sa pitämiä puheita ja poliitikkojen verkostoja data-analyysin keinoin. Palvelun rajapinnan avulla voidaan myös kehittää eri käyttäjäryhmille sovelluksia, kuten hankkeessa valmistuva Parlament­tisampo.fi-portaali.