Exploring the Benefits for Users of Linked Open Data for Digitized Special Collections, White paper #1: Transforming special collections metadata into linked open data: mappings, entity reconciliation, workflows implemented & lessons learned

Transforming and migrating legacy metadata for special collections to a linked data compatible ontology requires metadata remediation, enhancement, and mapping. Entity reconciliation (adding the links) is a critical component as well. The first part of this white paper summarizes the mappings and workflows developed for our three digital special collections (Motley Collection of Theatre and Costume Design, Portraits of Actors, and the Kolb-Proust Archive Research), the challenges encountered, and solutions identified for these challenges. The second part of this white paper describes entity reconciliation approaches used to discover links to more information about the entities mentioned in the metadata.