Collaboration looks at open metadata

OCLC Research and the University of Cambridge are working together on a six-month, JISC-funded investigation into the value of making collection metadata openly available in a sustainable manner.

The COMET (Cambridge OPen METadata) project will release a sub-set of bibliographic data from Cambridge University Library catalogues as linked data in multiple formats. This activity will test a number of technologies and methodologies for releasing open bibliographic data including XML, RDF, SPARQL, and JSON.

COMET will document the availability of metadata for the library's collections which can be released openly in machine-readable formats and the barriers that prevent other data from being exposed in this way.

To enhance linking options, records will also be enriched using two OCLC Research services to assign FAST (Faceted Application of Subject Terminology) and VIAF (Virtual International Authority File) headings. This will allow for effective information retrieval and semantic interoperability.