Modelling Linked Data for Conservation

Conservation documentation serves an invaluable role in the history of cultural property, and conservators are bound by professional ethics to maintain accurate, clear, permanent about their work. Though many well-documented schemata exist for describing holdings memory organizations, none designed capture conservation data a semantically meaningful way. often includes deeply detailed observations physical structure, materiality, condition state object how these characteristics change over time. When included with descriptive catalog metadata, points typically manifest seldom-used fields as free-text notes written inconsistently applied standards uncontrolled vocabularies. Beyond traditional scope treatment event-oriented that captures sequence steps taken conservator, addition removal material, cause-and-effect relationships between observed conditions decisions made conservator. In 2020, Linked Data Consortium conducted pilot project transform unstructured into linked data. Participants examined potential models library field ultimately chose conform Comité International pour la Documentation (CIDOC) Conceptual Reference Model (CRM) its accommodation attribution. Project technologists worked real report from four institutions create XML map newly structured CRM. The group then imported CRM-modelled datasets discovery environment, developed queries reconcile divergent datasets, created knowledge maps charts response small set predetermined research questions. Feedback attending workshop activities revealed shared need guidelines those developing templates databases. outcomes signalled necessity further vocabularies ontologies link adjacent domains.