A Nicely Built Linked Data Web Never Resists Destruction
Yesterday was a bit of a downer in the office when Ed filled me in on what was going on in with lcsh.info. And it was sadder still to log on tonight and see the site down and replaced for good, though it's nice to see that the in-its-place blog post's comments coming in are encouragingly positive.
I didn't really have much to do with this project, nor with its demise. I'd guess, though, that this will be one of those things that can feel like something of a failure today, in the immediate now(), but will be remembered as a clear success later on. Here's why I think that way:
- It worked. It showed off what was possible, and was useful, in just the way it was supposed to be.
- It was fun for humans to explore.
- People noticed it. Lots of people.
- People at LC were proud of it. This is from first-hand discussions, and from having heard it trumpeted as an important experiment by LC leaders in public statements.
- People got it. Even the non-semwebbers in the room saw what it was about and could relate to that.
- It filled a need. Many people had called for something like lcsh.info, and when it appeared, it seemed a plausible promise of answering their calls.
- It's not just the geeks and semwebbers who were calling for it and things like it. The wogrofubico report explicitly recommended several steps much like the ones taken with lcsh.info.
- It was, in part, the output of diverse staff at LC who, in part, have been active participants in a related w3c initiative.
- It looked cool. Those graphs were nifty.
- It was an important enough success that it was taken down. If it never gained notice, if it weren't useful, if it didn't promise something bigger, if it didn't make sense, if nobody cared, it would still be up. Yknow?
Ultimately, if linked data is going to work as infrastructure -- which, as something beyond linked data for linked data's sake, I hope it becomes -- there will be more fits and starts on the way to What Works. It seems cheap to remember that "this was always labeled an experiment", even though it was, and rightly so, but to get things right in the long run you have to try some stuff and learn from it along the way. Even simply having this minor crisis is going to drive people, hopefully, to taking issues of persistence and stewardship very seriously as they figure how to move this exciting idea ahead.
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(Title appropriated, with apologies, from William Kentridge.)
Jonathan Rochkind (not verified) on December 21st 2008
This is the first I heard of this, very disappointing. Two steps forward, two steps back. Sometimes I feel like giving up on the library world in general these days.
dchud on December 21st 2008
Gosh, I'm working to find enumerate positive outcomes here... and there are plenty. Really!
Bruce D'Arcus (not verified) on January 09th 2009
Been out of town for a few weeks, so missed this. I can't say I'm surprised, but it's definitely disappointing to see: a public agency closing down access to public data. To whom do I write to express that disappointment?
Step Schmitt (not verified) on April 27th 2009
I can't believe so much time has passed--any news on lcsh.info?
dchud on April 28th 2009
I've seen what looks like a final codebase running in testing. Seems like a matter of days-to-weeks now, not months or even weeks.
It's funny, why is it so hard to believe that it's taking a government agency a month or two more than they promised to release a new site?
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