OCLC Research Releases Results of International Linked Data Survey for Implementers

From OCLC Research:

Karen Smith-Yoshimura, Senior Program Officer of the OCLC Research Library Partnership, conducted the 2018 International Linked Data Survey for Implementers earlier this year, and she has now scrutinized the responses, and summarized the results.
Eighty-one institutions responded to the 2018 survey, describing 104 linked data projects or services, compared to 71 institutions describing 112 linked data implementations in 2015. Of the 104 linked data implementations, only 42 had been described previously.
Highlights

• This was the first time we received responses from service providers, which provide linked data services for their customers.

• 40% of the linked data implementations in production that were described in the 2018 survey have been in production for more than four years.

• More respondents reported that their linked data project or service was successful or “mostly” successful in 2018 than in 2015 (56% compared to 41%); fewer didn’t know yet as their projects were still at an early stage (either not yet in production or implemented just recently).

• Among those publishing linked data, we observe substantial increases in the use of Schema.org and BibFrame, and decreased usage of SKOS and FOAF, in particular.

• Among the top ten linked data sources consumed, the biggest change was the surge in consuming Wikidata, more than four times that reported by respondents in 2015. This change was so marked, that Smith-Yoshimura wrote about it on HangingTogether in the post The rise of Wikidata as a linked data source. There were also big increases in consuming WorldCat.org and ISNI.

Smith-Yoshimura walked through the responses in a recent Works in Progress webinar that you can watch below, and presented at the DLF Forum in Nevada, “What’s changed in linked data implementations in the last three years?” (.xlsx).
Explore the full results from the 2018, 2015, and 2014 surveys on the Linked Data section of the website.

See Also: Video: Lessons Learned from a Linked Data Prototype for Managing Bibliographic Data (OCLC Research “Works in Progress” Webinar)

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