Linked Data and AI Part 1: A Primer (DCMI Academy)

Description

This course explores how generative AI can support linked data creation in libraries. We'll cover foundational concepts including entities, relations, and semantic web technologies. We will briefly explore historical continuities with symbolic AI and knowledge representation, and contrast these with modern generative AI approaches. The course examines how the reasoning and expressiveness tradeoffs manifest in practical metadata work, particularly through grounded integrations within the BIBFRAME ontology, Library of Congress BIBFRAME Linked Data Service, and BIBFRAME metadata application profiles. Through lectures and a generative AI case study of linked data creation, students will gain practical understanding of how to navigate reasoning and expressiveness tradeoffs when applying AI to bibliographic data. Students will learn about current experiments and tools that leverage generative AI while maintaining connections to formal knowledge structures. No technical background is required, though prior experience with linked data is helpful.