Category Archives: metadata

From our subjects to yours (and vice versa)

Posted on December 3, 2020 by John Mark Ockerbloom

(TL;DR: I’m starting to implement services and publish data to support searching across library collections that use customized subject headings, such as the increasingly-adopted substitutes for LCSH terms like “Illegal aliens”. Read on for what I’m doing, why, and where … Continue reading →

Posted in discovery, metadata, subjects, wikipedia | Comments Off on From our subjects to yours (and vice versa)

Build a better registry: My intended comments to the Library of Congress on the next Register of Copyrights

Posted on March 19, 2020 by John Mark Ockerbloom

The Library of Congress is seeking public input on abilities and priorities desired for the next Register of Copyrights, who heads the Copyright Office, a department within the Library of Congress.  The deadline for comments as I write this is … Continue reading →

Posted in copyright, data, metadata, open access, serials | Comments Off on Build a better registry: My intended comments to the Library of Congress on the next Register of Copyrights

The worth of the work

Posted on September 20, 2019 by John Mark Ockerbloom

A number of research libraries, including the one where I work, are increasingly interested in catalogs built on linked data rather than on MARC records. Linked data work has been going on for years, in the hopes of reaping benefits … Continue reading →

Posted in discovery, libraries, metadata, online books | Comments Off on The worth of the work

Public domain serials: Renewal inventory complete!

Posted on June 15, 2018 by John Mark Ockerbloom

I’m pleased to announce an important milestone in the IMLS-funded project I’m leading to help open access to 20th century public domain serials.  We now have a complete, openly published inventory of all serials with active issue or contribution renewals … Continue reading →

Posted in copyright, metadata, open access, serials, sharing | 3 Comments

Adding more, and more structured, information about public domain serials

Posted on December 11, 2017 by John Mark Ockerbloom

I’ve been happy to hear from a number of people and institutions interested in the IMLS-funded project we now have underway to shed light on the hidden public domain of 20th century serials that I discussed in my last post.  … Continue reading →

Posted in copyright, metadata, open access, science fiction, serials, sharing | Comments Off on Adding more, and more structured, information about public domain serials

New IMLS-funded project: Opening access to 20th century public domain serials

Posted on September 13, 2017 by John Mark Ockerbloom

I’m happy to report that over the next year, I and others at Penn will be working on a project that the Institute of Museum and Library Services has just funded to help open access to the vast public domain … Continue reading →

Posted in awards, citizen librarians, copyright, metadata, open access, serials, sharing | 2 Comments

Forward to Libraries update, and some thoughts on sustainability and scale

Posted on October 3, 2016 by John Mark Ockerbloom

It’s been a while since I posted about Forward to Libraries, but if you’ve been following my Github repo, you may have noticed that it’s had a steady stream of updates and growth.  If making connections across library collections or … Continue reading →

Posted in data, discovery, libraries, metadata, wikipedia | Comments Off on Forward to Libraries update, and some thoughts on sustainability and scale

The value of catalogs in the linked data era: Two recent talks

Posted on September 12, 2016 by John Mark Ockerbloom

I’ve recently uploaded two talks I gave this year to my Selected Works site.  I presented “How Not to Waste Catalogers’ Time: Making the most of subject headings” at the Code4lib 16 conference in Philadelphia in March.  “How to Read … Continue reading →

Posted in discovery, metadata, open access, sharing, subjects | Comments Off on The value of catalogs in the linked data era: Two recent talks

Going beyond 1922: Finding periodicals with (and without) renewed copyrights

Posted on June 16, 2014 by John Mark Ockerbloom

As mass digitization progresses, and as copyright terms grow longer, we now have access to much more literature from 1922 and the years before it than from the years that come soon after it.  This graph by Eric Crampton, based … Continue reading →

Posted in copyright, libraries, metadata, preservation, serials | 2 Comments

Some presentations on reading (and linking) libraries

Posted on October 4, 2013 by John Mark Ockerbloom

Have you ever wanted to read a library?  I know I have.  More than once when I was young, and introduced to a new library, I’d contemplate, if just for a moment, whether I could read every book in it.  … Continue reading →

Posted in discovery, libraries, metadata, reading | Comments Off on Some presentations on reading (and linking) libraries