The PCC is launching a URIs in MARC Pilot to engage metadata practitioners in formally applying techniques to further the PCC’s linked data transition. In recent years several PCC task groups and committees have been laying the groundwork for practical implementation of linked data: PCC Linked Data Advisory Committee, PCC Task Group on Identity Management in NACO, PCC Task Group on URIs in MARC, PCC Task Group on Linked Data Best Practices, and the PCC ISNI Pilot. Other PCC groups, including the Standing Committees, are also looking at linked data topics.
Much of the work on linked data is in response to the PCC Strategic Directions 2018-2021, specifically Strategic Direction 3: Apply understanding of linked data, and Strategic Direction 4: Accelerate the movement toward ubiquitous identifier creation and identity management and the network level. As a result of the efforts of various PCC groups, resources available to catalogers now include a set of recommendations from the Linked Data Best Practices Task Group, and the FAQ and Formulating URIs documents developed by the PCC Task Group on URIs in MARC.
Here is an opportunity to move the PCC further into the linked data environment with a pilot to test subfield $0 and subfield $1 data in bibliographic records and in authority records.
Participants in the Pilot can experiment with one or more relevant areas of interest to them, and share their findings, without each being required to delve into all the areas that are covered by the pilot. Projects of any size, however small or large, and at any stage of progress are welcome.
The PCC URIs in MARC Pilot will test and develop PCC best practices for some of the areas the Linked Data Best Practices Group has identified, and some of the topics addressed in the FAQ developed by the PCC Task Group on URIs in MARC:
- Use of RWO URIs vs traditional library identifiers
- Use of identifiers from traditional as well as nontraditional sources
- How to record alternative identifiers from multiple sources
- Preference among vocabulary sources
- Use of the 024 field in NACO authority records to end the temporary moratorium on adding 024 fields
- Implications for local and shared practice
- Other use cases
Pilot members will work with bibliographic records and/or authority records. The bibliographic work may be done in participants’ local systems, or WorldCat, or both. We expect the pilot participants to be drawn mostly from PCC institutions or existing partner communities, but others are welcome.
Reports of subfield $0 and $1 editing activity in non-local environments (shared files) may be obtained during the initial months of the pilot and they could be used to identify any policy issues that need discussion in the PCC Task Group on Identity Management in NACO. Members of the PCC URIs in MARC Pilot are welcome to express interest in assisting with this review.
The PCC URIs in MARC Pilot will have immediate oversight and guidance from the PCC Task Group on Identity Management in NACO, with consultative roles by the Linked Data Advisory Committee, the Standing Committee on Applications, the Standing Committee on Standards, and OCLC.
But the real work will be done by PCC members.
Here is an opportunity to help move the PCC further into the linked data environment. You might have heard about the “NACO lite” concept -- here is the chance to see how it can work in practice!
