LD4 Community

Community Charter

LD4 is a community that works together to advance library and archival practices. We focus on linking and using data on the Web to advance the mission, goals and objectives of libraries and archives.  

Participation in the LD4 Community is open to anyone--individual or institution; non-profit, government or commercial. Through direct participation, and through its various channels, projects and events, LD4 brings together thousands of individuals worldwide.

The Steering Group would like to invite anyone interested to join our Slack channel or subscribe to the LD4 Community email list.

Affinity Groups 

LD4 Affinity Groups serve as interest and/or working groups, and are self-organizing based on community interest and activity. They have chairs, objectives, and are open and transparent. Affinity groups are open to all, regardless of institutional or organizational affiliation.

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Activities and Outcomes

To achieve our mission of promoting awareness, adoption, and use of library and archival data linked with the world’s information, the LD4 Community supports the following activities and outcomes: 

• exploring, establishing, and promulgating best practices to share lessons learned and maintain and improve data quality

• fostering the development, implementation, and operation of an ecosystem of interoperable linked data tools and services, to enable creation and use of linked data 

• developing pathways between linked data and scholarly communications to foster innovation

• catalyzing new projects and grant support, through matchmaking of interests and identification of emerging needs

• facilitating communication among community members and commercial service providers for the development and enhancement of services to meet the LD4 mission

• developing, documenting, and validating standards and ontologies to ensure interoperability of data

• encouraging the development of shared terminology and meaning of concepts for linked data tools and services

• serving as a latch point for other communities interested in interoperable standards, linked data tools and services for libraries and archives so that expertise and innovation can be shared

• hosting in-person and virtual events for community learning and collaboration

• providing a home for affinity groups to bring together community members with common interests

• encouraging dialog between experts and the LD4 community for the better understanding and resolution of critical issues

• facilitating training and training programs to enable all library and archives practitioners to participate in adopting interoperable standards, linked data tools and services, including development of curricula

Principles

• The LD4 Community is an inclusive, open, welcoming, international, participatory and multivocal space that encourages engagement, collaboration, and sharing of ideas from diverse stakeholders. See our Community Participation Guidelines. 

• The LD4 Community is a hub; its value comes in brokering connections and building / accelerating work that may not happen on its own, or otherwise develop organically. LD4 seeks to create the forum where multiple approaches can be jointly explored and evaluated, rather than to mandate approaches.

• The LD4 Community is not a neutral space. It privileges open data owned and controlled by the academy and public libraries and archives, open source software, open interoperable standards, open communities, and the free exchange of knowledge. 

• The LD4 Community is led by libraries and archives, and welcomes the presence and contributions of commercial partners and providers, as well as others in the cultural heritage community. 

• The LD4 Community is an advocate and catalyst. Its goals are to advance the interests of libraries/archives and their patrons in the field of linked data. Linked data is not the goal in itself; the goal is the adoption of emerging technologies in libraries and archives to enrich data around the world.

• The LD4 Community subscribes to a plurality of approaches when using interoperable standards, linked data tools, and services; all approaches are welcome.

• The LD4 Community is enduring, transcending any individual grant, project, or movement to build a sustainable future.