Linking Things on the Web: A Pragmatic Examination of Linked Data for Libraries, Archives and Museums

The Web publishing paradigm of Linked Data has been gaining traction in the cultural heritage sector: libraries, archives and museums. At first glance, the principles of Linked Data seem simple enough. However experienced Web developers, designers and architects who attempt to put these ideas into practice often find themselves having to digest and understand debates about Web architecture, the semantic web, artificial intelligence and the philosophical nature of identity. In this paper I will discuss some of the reasons why Linked Data is of interest to the cultural heritage community, what some of the pain points are for deploying it, and characterize some pragmatic ways for cultural heritage organizations to realize the goals of Linked Data with examples from the Web we have today.