News & Events

Jun 3, 2010

Europeana White Paper on Linked Data

Europeana's first White Paper looks at the key role linked data will play in Europeana's development and in helping Europe's citizens make connections between existing knowledge to achieve new cultural and scientific developments. Without linked data, Europeana could be seen as a simple collection of digital objects. With linked data, the potential is far greater. This is because linked data gives machines the ability to make associations and put search terms into context. The value-add of linked data is illustrated through the experimental Thought Lab showing how a search for ‘Paris’ intuitively leads to connected concepts like items in the Louvre, a Paris-based institution.
Category: NewsFlash
Posted by: stephanie

It also gives the option to see paintings portraying people named Paris, such as the Greek prince, who abducted of Helen of Troy. From there, more links point the way to topics like the ‘myth of Paris’ or the mythical Apple of Discord – a golden apple that sparked a dispute and eventually led to the Trojan War – and then on to the forbidden apple eaten by Adam and Eve. There are, however, many other examples.

The ultimate value of connecting pieces of information together lies in generating new ideas and knowledge regarding our cultural heritage at a scale not possible before.

The White Paper, entitled "Knowledge = Information in Context: on the Importance of Semantic
Contextualisation in Europeana", is by Stefan Gradmann, Berlin School of Library and Information Science / Humboldt Universität zu Berlin. Stefan Gradmann is a member of DL.org's Content Working Group.