The Share Family of initiatives based on linked data comprises Share-VDE (Virtual Discovery Environment), Share-Catalogue (the Italian network of university libraries applying the Share principles), Share-Art (currently comprising the Kubikat-LOD project of the Art History libraries of the Max Planck Institut), and Share-Music (a pilot in the music domain). The different characteristics of each field are a useful asset that can be used to the advantage not only of the Share Family as a whole, but for each single discipline.
Being part of the Share Family means facilitating cataloguing and exposition of bibliographic records in linked data, thus supporting the transition from the traditional cataloguing environment to innovative models applying the linked data paradigm, and providing the LAM - Libraries, Archives, Museums domain and information professionals with a more comprehensive suite of tools at their disposal.
The platform www.share-vde.org and the other dedicated environments part of the Share Family enhance the discovery potential of library resources and unveil information that would otherwise have been hidden in archives, thus enabling the access to a rich amount of data that can be exported and re-imported by the participating institutions.
The output common to all the branches of the Share Family foresees:
- the enrichment of original MARC data and of the records converted in linked data with identifiers from external sources (e.g. ISNI, VIAF) and original Share identifiers;
- the reconciliation and clusterization of entities;
- the indexing of records in the Cluster Knowledge Base, authoritative environment in linked data;
- the conversion of library catalogues from MARC to linked data;
- delivery of converted and enriched data to libraries for reuse in their systems;
- the publication of library records in linked data on the relative Share discovery platform.
The technology underlying the systems part of the Share Family is based on the LOD Platform, that is a highly innovative technological framework, an integrated ecosystem for the management of bibliographic, archive and museum catalogues, and their conversion to linked data, extensible as needed for specific purposes.
For more details, see a summary of the main components of the LOD Platform and an extensive description of the framework.
The Share Family map is represented below and can be consulted on a dedicated web page.
The Share Family institutions are:
| Share-VDE members | Share Family members | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Share-VDE full members | LD4P cohort members | Share-Catalogue Institutions | Share-Art (Kubikat-LOD) project |
| Duke University | Cornell University | Università Degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II” | Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz |
| New York University | Frick Art Reference Library | Università degli Studi della Basilicata | Biblioteca Hertziana, Rome |
| Stanford University | Harry Ransom Center Texas A&M | Università Degli Studi di Napoli L’Orientale | Central Institute of Art History, Munich |
| University of Alberta - NEOS consortium | Harvard University | Università degli Studi di Napoli Parthenope | Deutsches Forum für Kunstgeschichte, Paris |
| University of Chicago | National Library of Medicine | Università del Salento | |
| University of Michigan at Ann Arbor | Northwestern University | Università degli Studi di Salerno | |
| University of Pennsylvania | Princeton University | Università degli Studi del Sannio RCost | |
| Yale University | University of California Davis | Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” | |
| University of California San Diego | |||
| National libraries | University Colorado at Boulder | Share-Music project | |
| Library of Congress | University of Minnesota | Bayerische Staatsbibliothek | |
| National Library of Norway | University of Texas A&M | Library of Congress | |
| National Library of Finland | University of Washington | Stanford University | |
| Smithsonian Institution | |||
| The British Library | |||
