Linked Data: Evolving the Web Into a Global Data Space

by Tom Heath

The World Wide Web has enabled the creation of a global information space comprising linked documents. As the Web becomes ever more enmeshed with our daily lives, there is a growing desire for direct access to raw data not currently available on the Web or bound up in hypertext documents. Linked Data provides a publishing paradigm in which not only documents, but also data, can be a first class citizen of the Web, thereby enabling the extension of the Web with a global data space based on open standards - the Web of Data. In this Synthesis lecture we provide readers with a detailed technical introduction to Linked Data. We begin by outlining the basic principles of Linked Data, including coverage of relevant aspects of Web architecture. The remainder of the text is based around two main themes - the publication and consumption of Linked Data. Drawing on a practical Linked Data scenario, we provide guidance and best practices on: architectural approaches to publishing Linked Data; choosing URIs and vocabularies to identify and describe resources; deciding what data to return in a description of a resource on the Web; methods and frameworks for automated linking of data sets; and testing and debugging approaches for Linked Data deployments. We give an overview of existing Linked Data applications and then examine the architectures that are used to consume Linked Data from the Web, alongside existing tools and frameworks that enable these. Readers can expect to gain a rich technical understanding of Linked Data fundamentals, as the basis for application development, research or further study.

Table of Contents: List of Figures / Introduction / Principles of Linked Data / The Web of Data / Linked Data Design Considerations / Recipes for Publishing Linked Data / Consuming Linked Data / Summary and Outlook

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, Computer Science

ebook

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Dan Carey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm going to violate one of my self-imposed rules and give this 5 stars even though I haven't re-read it yet. Of the various books and extended articles I've read about the Semantic Web, this may be the most useful from the "so what?" perspective. Yes, those of us who work in (or intend to work in) the SemWeb space need to understand ontologies and OWL and SPARQL, and there are other* books** that cover those topics more thoroughly than this book. But the point of the SemWeb isn't just to create nifty ontology models; it is to create and access data using web technology. And Heath's book gets into some of the nitty-gritty details about that in a way that no other book I've yet read does. It describes patterns of how to publish the data and how to consume linked data; what the conventions are for URIs and the underlying data files and directories; how to apply provenance metadata; and more. I don't know if this should be the first book you point a SemWeb novice towards, but it should almost certainly be the second.

*Semantic Web for the Working Ontologist
**Learning SPARQL

[Errrrrrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy flurking schnit I think I understand linked data! This book does a really good job of explaining it in non-technical language, and walking you through it step by step. I think basic knowledge of XML and HTML/CSS would be useful, but it might not even be necessary to have that to understand. It's also heavy on footnotes, so for anything you want to explore more deeply there is an easy resource to find. I'm not sure I could build a linked data dataset after a single read through, but I think I could read through it again and follow the steps and put something small and simple together. It's a 2011 book so some of the tools and resources might need updating, but I'm not sure, and overall this is an amazing book (bonus: free on the internet even, like $30 if you buy it which is hella cheap for this sort of book) if you want to know how linked data works and get a primer on how to create it for yourself.

Link here: http://linkeddatabook.com/book

[Vítor E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book provides a broad view of the foundations of the Web of Data, which is what we have been able to materialize towards the vision of the Semantic Web. It motivates and explains the concept of linked data, the technologies behind it and discusses design issues for publishing and consuming linked data. It's a bit outdated nowadays, but still a very good initial read to get into this area, plus the book is available online for free (in HTML, though, not the PDF or eBook). I use it in a course I offer to undergraduate and graduate students.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good resource for people just getting into the Semantic Web and linked data. I'll probably be using this as a reference source during my studies in information science.

[Aravind Raamkumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book that I have read on Linked data. Its very informative and has good references. I see this book more of as a work in progress as the Linked data world is one that is continually evolving. This book can easily have new editions every two years. Tom's simple language makes the reading easy. Recommended for linked data newbies

[Darin Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very good tour of the basic principles and technologies of Linked Data and the Semantic Web. There are a few oddities where the text contradicts itself as in the discussion of semantic URIs but overall and excellent introductory text.

[Dewi Wardani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Basic principles, must read

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good primer book. Still looking for a hands on guide.

[Iis Afriyanti · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a recommended book for those who want to start learning linked data

[Susia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I especially liked the chapter about all the dead horses, and the bit about locally storing parts of the linked global web of data (on the internet!) in local stores. Oh and the one where it says to just start publishing data sets - somebody else can do the mapping of all the different data later on.

Still, great old book. Definitely read this of you want to use linked data in applications and become part of the web of data.