A new post by Tina Gheen on the In Custodias Legis blog from the Law Library of Congress provides a good overview of the new linked data classification beta made available by the Network Development and Metadata Standards Office (NDMSO) at the Library of Congress.
The post includes examples, screenshots, and a number of helpful links.
What does the beta offer?
Gheen writes:
[The] classes [currently available] are B (Philosophy, Psychology, and Religion), M (Music), N (Fine Arts), and Z (Bibliography, Library Science, and Information Resources). For this initial beta release, the Linked Data Service has generated linked data resources for each classification number and classification range within the entire class hierarchy for B, M, N, and Z.
Direct to Library of Congress Classification Web Page.
Here, you can not only search the LCC scheme but also find data from:
+ LC Subject Headings
+ LC Name Authority File
+ LC Children’s Subject Headings
+ LC Genre/Form Terms
+ Thesaurus of Graphic Materials
+ Preservation Events (and More)
+ MARC Relators
+ MARC Countries
+ MARC Geographic Areas
+ More
Finally, many entries include a visualization of the data.
Look for the “Visualization” tab next to the details tab near the top of the each entry. Here’s an example.