Slides for CARARE webinar "Using Vocabularies and Linked data: #ConnectingArchaeology" 2021-04-30

1. Sigurdsristningen, Ramsundsberget, Sö 101
CC BY Bengt A. Lundberg, Riksantikvarieämbetet
Linked Data Vocabularies
for
Heritage Data
Marcus Smith, Swedish National Heritage Board

2. Linked Data Vocabularies
• There are lots of existing vocabularies
published as linked data – chances
are your domain is already covered
• If there are existing vocabularies you
can apply or map to, you should!
• If not, you can create your own, or
publish your existing vocabulary as
linked data
En pojke i golfbyxor, pullover och skärmmössa äter glass vid en
cykel
CC BY-NC-ND Gunnar Lundh, Nordiska Museet

3. From Strings to Things
Step 1: Switch from a data dictionary of
permitted terms to a list of ids
• This decouples your ids from your
values – good data hygiene
• You can then associate multiple
lookup values and attributes with
each concept
En kvinna demonstrerar Frösöstenen, J RS1928;66
Bengt Wellert, Östersund, Stiftelsen Jamtli

4. From Strings to Things
For example:
• Terms in multiple languages
• Preferred and alternate terms
• Scope notes, and other attributes
• Relations to other terms, e.g.
broader/narrower, identities
Now you have a structured vocabulary!
Igelkottar
CC BY-NC Hilding Mickelsson, Hälsinglands museum

5. From Strings to Things
Step 2: Make those ids resolvable IRIs
• Public, permanent, dereferenceable,
machine-readable ids
• This allows lets you and others refer
to them as linked data
• Often used as e.g. dcterms:type,
dcterms:subject, rdf:type, etc
• A simple list of RDFS terms with
basic Dublin Core attributes is a good
start
Princessan Margrethe av Danmark deltar I arkeologiska utgrävningar
vid San Giovenale I Italien. Här ses hon framför en kammargrav.
CC BY-NC-ND Nordiska Museet

6. From Strings to Things
SKOS (Simple Knowledge Organisation System)
• For a well-structured linked data
vocabulary, use SKOS!
• Relate terms to one another within a
vocabulary
• Relate to similar/equivalent terms in
other vocabularies
• SKOS is also a great introduction to
LOD
Ungräven grunnar på nya hyss I skogen
CC BY-NC Hilding Mickelsson, Hälsinglands museum

7. Tools for
Linked Data Vocabularies
• Ariadne – e.g. iDAI vocabulary tool
https://portal.ariadne-infrastructure.eu/services
https://archwort.dainst.org/de/vocab/
• SKOSify – https://seco.cs.aalto.fi/tools/skosify/
• SpreadSKOS – http://siskos.herokuapp.com/
• STELLAR/STAR/SENESCHAL/STE
LETO –
https://hypermedia.research.southwales.ac.uk/kos/
• ASKOSI – http://www.askosi.org/
Sigrid Olsson, Karlstads styvaste pistolskytt
CC BY-NC-SA Karlstads Tidningen, Värmlands museum

8. Linked Data Vocabularies for
Heritage Data
Use existing vocabularies/authorities!
• LoC Subject Headings –
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects
• Getty AAT – http://vocab.getty.edu/
Art and Architecture Thesaurus –
styles, periods, object types etc
• PeriodO – https://perio.do/
International gazetteer of periods and
chronologies
Inmatning av rundata
CC BY Runverket, Riksantikvarieämbetet

9. Linked Data Vocabularies for
Heritage Data
• Heritage Data –
https://www.heritagedata.org/
Monuments types, chronologies,
artefact types, techniques etc from
UK heritage agencies
• Creative Commons and
RightsStatements.org –
http://creativecommons.org/ ,
http://rightsstatements.org/
Katt
CC BY-NC Blekinge Museum

10. Linked Data Vocabularies for
Heritage Data
• VIAF – http://www.viaf.org/
For authors, bibliographic data
• Finto – https://finto.fi/
Finnish vocabulary and ontology
service
• Wikidata – http://www.wikidata.org/
Great as a node for links; see
https://pro.europeana.eu/page/get-your-vocabularies-
in-wikidata
En ring av guld från Slöingeboplatsen
CC BY Klas Höglund, Statens historiska
museum

11. In summary
• If there are existing LOD vocabularies
for your domain, use them!
• If there aren’t, make and publish your
own!
• Use IRIs as identifiers in your
vocabularies
• Structure and publish them as SKOS
RDF
Vg 169 Svedjorna, Södra Ving
PD Riksantikvarieämbetet

12. Thanks!
marcus.smith@raa.se
@carwash
Tjänsteman vid dator
CC BY-SA Järnvägsmuseet