Resources, resources, resources: the three rs of the Web

Resources, resources, resources: the three Rs of the Web. Tony Ross Centre for Digital Library Research, University of Strathclyde Email: anthony.ross@strath.ac.uk

We will look at … Some disparate web resources: Resource Discovery iKit Controlled vocabularies declared in RDF/SKOS Wikipedia entries And how they can all be leveraged to assist resource discovery …

Question: What constitutes a resource?

The OED says … “ a stock or supply of materials or assets that can be drawn on when needed” “ a source of help or information”

The W3C say … “ ...anything that has identity. Familiar examples include an electronic document, an image, a service … as well as a collection of other resources.” (Berners-Lee et al., 1998) “ All things described by RDF are called resources … This is the class of everything.” (Brickley and Guha, 2004)

Wikipedia says … “ The concept of [a web] resource has evolved … from the early notion of [a] static addressable document or file, to a more generic and abstract definition, now encompassing every thing or entity that can be identified, named, addressed or handled, in any way whatsoever, in the Web at large, or in any networked information system.” (Wikipedia, 2008)

We might observe … It’s a bit complicated … It seems everything is a resource … This is about right – if we can call it something, find it somewhere, and use it for some purpose, it’s a resource.

RD iKit : what is it? A resource (website) which makes it easier to discover resources ( reports, case studies, software, etc.) which relate to resource discovery solutions, created by JISC projects and services. A dynamic, database-driven website which uses a faceted taxonomic framework of controlled terms to classify resources.

Brophy, P. (2005). The formative evaluation of the 5/99 Programme and its broader environment: the EDNER Project. VINE. 35(1/2), pp. 105-112. Available: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/. Accessed 21 November 2007. Grout, C. (2001). Information Environment Development Strategy 2001-2005. Available: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/themes/infoenvironment/ie_strategy.pdf Accessed 4 December 2007.Harris, N. (2002). ANGEL: Authenticated Networked Guided Environment for Learning vocabulary. Available: http://www.angel.ac.uk/public-files/htmldoc004.htm. Accessed 7 Apr 2008 . Powell, A. (2003). JISC Information Environment Architecture Portal FAQ . Bath: UKOLN, University of Bath. Available: http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/distributed-systems/jisc-ie/arch/faq/portal/. Accessed: 7 Apr 2008. Powell, A. (2003). Mapping the JISC IE service landscape. Ariadne. Issue 36. Available: http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue36/powell/. Accessed: 7 Apr 2008.Powell, A. (2004). The JISC Information Environment and Google: a discussion paper. UKOLN, University of Bath. Available: http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/distributed-systems/jisc-ie/arch/ie-google/ie-google.pdf. Accessed 7 Apr 2008 . Powell, A. (2005). A service oriented view of the JISC Information Environment . Bath: UKOLN, University of Bath. Available: http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/distributed-systems/jisc-ie/arch/soa/jisc-ie-soa.pdf. Accessed 7 Apr 2008 . Powell, A. (2005). JISC Information Environment Architecture Glossary. Bath: UKOLN, University of Bath. Available: http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/distributed-systems/jisc-ie/arch/glossary/. Accessed 7 Apr 2008. Powell, A. (2005). The JISC Resource Discovery Landscape - a personal reflection on the JISC Information Environment and related activities . UKOLN, University of Bath. Available: http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/distributed-systems/jisc-ie/arch/resource-discovery-review/. Accessed 7 Apr 2008. Powell, A. (2006). JISC Information Environment Technical Standards (Version 1.1). Bath: UKOLN, University of Bath. Available: http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/distributed-systems/jisc-ie/arch/standards/. Accessed 7 Apr 2008. Powell, A. and Lyon, L. (2001). The DNER Technical Architecture: scoping the information environment. Bath: UKOLN, University of Bath. Available: http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/distributed-systems/jisc-ie/arch/dner-arch.html. Accessed 7 Apr 2008 . Powell, A. and Lyon, L. (2002). The JISC Information Environment and Web services. Ariadne. Issue 31. Available: http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue31/information-environments/. Accessed: 7 Apr 2008. Powell, A. and Lyon, L. (2005). JISC Information Environment Architecture Functional Model. Bath: UKOLN, University of Bath. Available: http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/distributed-systems/jisc-ie/arch/functional-model/. Accessed 7 Apr 2008

This taxonomic framework can be a resource in its own right … Metadata schema registries can provide a common, openly-accessible location for the registration of metadata schema. Thus, a locally produced vocabulary – e.g. JISC IE Vocabulary – can be made interoperable and remotely accessible to all. This means it can be referred to and reused both within JISC and across communities. But we need a common language for the declaration of Web metadata schema…

Resource Description Framework (RDF) [1] A framework allowing the specification of metadata for (especially web) resources. Simple logical assertions based on “triples”. {subject} {predicate} {object} {Document A} {has title} {“Romeo and Juliet”} {Document A} {has author} {“Shakespeare, William”} Allows machines to “reason” via simple logic. {“Romeo and Juliet”} {has author} {“Shakespeare, William”}

Resource Description Framework (RDF) [2] RDF doesn’t itself specify attributes or vocabularies – it is only an enabling framework. Hence it can be used in conjunction with emergent standards such as RDFS, OWL, FOAF, Dublin Core and SKOS.

Simple Knowledge Organisation Systems (SKOS) Aims to allow expression of the basic structure of controlled vocabularies via a standardised notation for the attribution of classes of resource and properties of those classes

There are other sources of definitions on the Web … We needed to find definitions of technologies used in JISC research (standards, protocols, applications, etc.) Defining these would be a major task out of scope of our project. Luckily, definitions already exist…

Wikipedia “ scholars and librarians … question the accuracy, comprehensiveness and writing quality of Wikipedia entries and the authority of its contributors.” ( Holman Rector, 2008).

Some statistics … Britannica Online has 118,270 articles (the print version 65,000). Wikipedia has 2,045,007 in the English version. It has 5,300,000 entries in all 100 languages. ( Holman Rector, 2008, p9)

Some statistics … Of 42 science entries tested, the average entry in Wikipedia contained around four inaccuracies; Britannica, about three. (Giles, 2005) 25 Wikipedia biographies were compared to those in American National Biography Online and Encarta. Wikipedia found to be less comprehensive and detailed than American National Biography but more so than Encarta. (Rosenzweig, 2006) Halavais (informally) tested Wikipedia by purposefully submitting erroneous material and found all 13 errors had been corrected within three hours of posting. (In: Holman Rector, 2008)

Wikipedia Wikipedia is a resource which has value in many instances. It undoubtedly has its faults, but … For some concepts, especially emergent technological concepts, it is the most agile and up to date resource available.

The next step? Maybe we could declare Wikipedia articles in RDF/SKOS …

Conclusion Q: So what constitutes a Web resource? A: “every thing or entity that can be identified, named, addressed or handled, in any way whatsoever, in the Web at large, or in any networked information system.” (Wikipedia, 2008)

Bibliography Berners-Lee, T. et al, 1998, Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI): Generic Syntax. Available: http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2396.txt/ , retrieved 03 May 2008. Brickley, D. and Guha, R.V. (eds.), 2004, RDF Vocabulary Description Language 1.0: RDF Schema , W3C Recommendation. Available: http://www.w3.org/TR/rdf-schema / , retrieved 03 May 2008 Giles, J. (2005). Internet encyclopaedias go head to head. Nature. 438(900-901). Available: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v438/n7070/full/438900a.html/ , accessed 30 May 2008. Holman Rector, L. (2008). Comparison of Wikipedia and other encyclopedias for accuracy, breadth, and depth in historical articles. Reference Services Review. 36(1), pp.7-22. Available: www.emeraldinsight.com / , accessed 1st May. Rosenzweig, R. (2006). Can history be open source? Wikipedia and the future of the past. Journal of American History. 93(1), pp. 117-46. Wikipedia, 2008, Resource (Web) article. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_%28Web%29/ , retrieved 03 May 2008

Thank you. The iKit is available at: http://cdlr.strath.ac.uk/rdinfokit/service/index.cfm I am available at: [email_address] Any questions?

Resources, resources, resources: the three rs of the Web

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Resources, resources, resources: the three rs of the Web