Semantic Digital Libraries Bringing Libraries to Web 3.0

• Sebastian Ryszard Kruk, Digital Enterprise Research Institute, National University of Ireland, Galway
• Stefan Decker, Digital Enterprise Research Institute, National University of Ireland, Galway
• Bernhard Haslhofer, University of Vienna, Austria
• Predrag Knežević, Fraunhofer IPSI Institute in Darmstadt, Germany
• Sandy Payette, Cornell University, USA
• Dean Krafft NSDL, USA

The aim of this tutorial is to educate attendees on the applications of Semantic Web and Social Networking (Web 2.0) technologies in digital library systems. These technologies include metadata management, semantic search and browsing, personalized and community-aware services, and semantically empowered federations of digital libraries. The semantic digital libraries can be used in enterprise scale systems such as knowledge management systems, medical records systems, legal research systems and others will be discussed at some depth. These applications can benefit in manners which directly impact the ROI for the effort of including semantic encoding and metadata into an enterprise’s digital library based systems and services. After this tutorial, the audience will be able to start using existing semantic digital libraries or apply Semantic Web technologies to digital library systems.

We will start by defining problems in the domain of semantic digital libraries and present solutions that provide building blocks for semantic digital libraries, such as WordNet, DMoz, and SKOS. We will then present the architecture of existing semantic digital libraries, elaborate on resource management, search and browsing features, identity management and communication interfaces. We will discuss in detail the problems and solutions for bibliographic metadata management and interoperability, followed by a presentation of semantic search and browsing solutions, and other personalized and community-aware services. We will discuss the future of federations of digital libraries in the context of the Semantic Web and Web 2.0 Internet.

Finally we will present four initiatives that adhere to the idea of a semantic digital library:

• SIMILE which leverages and extends DSpace by enhancing its support for arbitrary schemata and metadata;
• Corrib.org, which delivers semantic aware digital library components like JeromeDL, MarcOnt, FOAFRealm, and HyperCuP;
• BRICKS, the largest cultural heritage project in the EU’s 6th framework program, which applies semantic web technology for managing metadata in a European wide digital library network.
• FEDORA, a flexible service-oriented architecture for managing and delivering digital content

The tutorial will be followed by a hands-on session where participants will be able to try out existing prototypes of semantic digital libraries.
We will wrap up the whole tutorial by encouraging everyone to take part in the discussion on the future of semantic digital libraries:

• Do we need them?
• What are the requirements they should meet?
• Which solution from the presented ones to choose?
• How do semantic digital libraries affect user experience?
• Does the addition of semantics improve library access performance?
• What is the economic value add to the addition of semantics to digital libraries?

This tutorial was presented at the World Wide Web Conference 2007 in Banff, Canada.

The aim of this tutorial is to educate attendees on the applications of Semantic Web and Social Networking (Web 2.0) technologies in digital library systems. These technologies include metadata management, semantic search and browsing, personalized and community-aware services, and semantically empowered federations of digital libraries. The semantic digital libraries can be used in enterprise scale systems such as knowledge management systems, medical records systems, legal research systems and others will be discussed at some depth. These applications can benefit in manners which directly impact the ROI for the effort of including semantic encoding and metadata into an enterprise’s digital library based systems and services. After this tutorial, the audience will be able to start using existing semantic digital libraries or apply Semantic Web technologies to digital library systems.

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The aim of this tutorial is to educate attendees on the applications of Semantic Web and Social Networking (Web 2.0) technologies in digital library systems. These technologies include metadata management, semantic search and browsing, personalized and community-aware services, and semantically empowered federations of digital libraries. The semantic digital libraries can be used in enterprise scale systems such as knowledge management systems, medical records systems, legal research systems and others will be discussed at some depth. These applications can benefit in manners which directly impact the ROI for the effort of including semantic encoding and metadata into an enterprise digital library based systems and services. After this tutorial, the audience will be able to start using existing semantic digital libraries or apply Semantic Web technologies to digital library systems.
We will start by defining problems in the domain of semantic digital libraries and present solutions that provide building blocks for semantic digital libraries, such as WordNet, DMoz, and SKOS. We will then present the architecture of existing semantic digital libraries, elaborate on resource management, search and browsing features, identity management and communication interfaces. We will discuss in detail the problems and solutions for bibliographic metadata management and interoperability, followed by a presentation of semantic search and browsing solutions, and other personalized and community-aware services. We will discuss the future of federations of digital libraries in the context of the Semantic Web and Web 2.0 Internet.
Finally we will present four initiatives that adhere to the idea of a semantic digital library:

• SIMILE which leverages and extends DSpace by enhancing its support for arbitrary schemata and metadata;
• Corrib.org, which delivers semantic aware digital library components like JeromeDL, MarcOnt, FOAFRealm, and HyperCuP;
• BRICKS, the largest cultural heritage project in the EU 6th framework program, which applies semantic web technology for managing metadata in a European wide digital library network.
• FEDORA, a flexible service-oriented architecture for managing and delivering digital content

The tutorial will be followed by a hands-on session where participants will be able to try out existing prototypes of semantic digital libraries.
We will wrap up the whole tutorial by encouraging everyone to take part in the discussion on the future of semantic digital libraries:

• Do we need them?
• What are the requirements they should meet?
• Which solution from the presented ones to choose?
• How do semantic digital libraries affect user experience?
• Does the addition of semantics improve library access performance?
• What is the economic value add to the addition of semantics to digital libraries?

This full day tutorial will consist of two parts:

1. During the morning session the attendees will learn how Semantic Web and Web 2.0 technologies can be applied to digital library systems; they will also get introduced to existing prototypes of semantic digital libraries.
2. During the afternoon session, which will be the hands-on session, the attendees will learn how to install and use existing prototypes of semantic digital libraries.

We recommend registration for Part I for people who want to get familiar with digital library, Semantic Web and Web 2.0 technologies in general, and to learn how they can be combined together. Additionally registering for Part II will allow you to get familiar with specific applications of semantic digital libraries and gain hands-on experience.

We suggest registration for afternoon (Part II) session only, for people already familiar with the topics presented in the morning session, who want to learn more about specific applications of semantic digital libraries.

SemDL Tutorial - Part I (morning)

• Introduction to Semantic Digital Libraries [1h 15min]
  • Introduction to Semantic Web and Web 2.0
  • Introduction to Digital Libraries and Knowledge Organization Systems
  • Definition of Semantic Digital Library system
  • How Semantic Digital Library is different?
  • Semantic Digital Libraries applied to everyday scenarios (eLearning, eGovernment)
• Coffee break [15min]
• Existing Semantic Digital Libraries solutions (SIMILE, JeromeDL, BRICKS, FEDORA; with short demos) [1h 45min]
• Lunch break

SemDL Tutorial - Part II (afternoon)

• Parallel Hands-on session [part 1] (SIMILE, JeromeDL, BRICKS, FEDORA) [1h 30min]
  • BRICKS: http://semdl.corrib.org/Tutorial/ESWC2007/Bricks
  • JeromeDL: http://www.jeromedl.org/guide/
• Coffee break [15min]
• Parallel Hands-on session [part 2] (SIMILE, JeromeDL, BRICKS, FEDORA) [1h 30min]
• Panel discussion: Future of Semantic Digital Libraries - Conclusions [30min]

• Sebastian Ryszard Kruk, Digital Enterprise Research Institute, National University of Ireland, Galway
• Bernhard Haslhofer, University of Vienna, Austria
• Philipp NuŸbaumer, ARC - Research Studios, Austria
• Sandy Paytte, Cornell University, USA
• Tomasz Woroniecki, Digital Enterprise Research Institute, National University of Ireland, Galway