Working with data.open.ac.uk,

the linked data platform of the OUMathieu d’Aquin and the LUCERO team

@mdaquin

Knowledge Media Institute, the Open University

LUCERO project

lucero-project.info – data.open.ac.uk

Linked Data

• As set of principles and technologies for a Web of Data– Putting the “raw” data online in a

standard, web enabled representation (RDF)

– Make the data Web addressable (URIs)

– Link with other data

Graph (up to date)

So Linked Data for the OU?

ORO

Archive of Course Material

Library’sCatalogueOf Digital Content

OpenLearnContent

A/V MaterialPodcastsiTunesU

Data from Research Outputs

BBC

DBPedia

DBLP

RAE

geonames

data.gov.uk

Currently: OU public data sit in different systems – hard to discover, obtain, integrate by users.

Exposed as linked data, our data interlink with each other and the external world: become part of the “global data space” on the Web

Why is it important?• The OU has been the first University to expose its data as

linked data: http://data.open.ac.uk• Now widely recognized as a critical step forward for the

HE sector in the UK (and worldwide)– Favor transparency and reuse of data, both externally and

internally– Reduces cost of dealing with our own public data: integration

and reuse by design– Enable both new kinds of applications, and to make the ones

that are already feasible more cost effective

• At least 3 other UK universities have now followed our example: – http://data.online.lincoln.ac.uk/, http://data.ox.ac.uk/,

http://data.southampton.ac.uk/– And others in other countries are setting up similar initiatives

“if you are working in an IT department within a University you better read this report, as soon your department will need to be making these same decisions.” David Flanders,

JISCExpo Programme Manager,http://code.google.com/p/jiscexpo/wiki/luceroproject#Site_Visit_Report

The data.open.ac.uk Stack

Technical infrastructure

Organizational infrastructure

Institutional repository data

Research Data (Arts)

Applications

data.open.ac.uk

Technological principle: Everything has a URI• Example:

– http://data.open.ac.uk/course/m366 – the course M366

– http://data.open.ac.uk/oro/21166 – an article in ORO

– http://data.open.ac.uk/page/person/ext-911ee9dfa3db572830b00bd8a9983e39 – an Person, who authored the article above

– http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/Person – the type person

– http://purl.org/dc/terms/creator – the property that links an author to an article

Technological principle: Content negotiationAccept: text/html Accept: application/rdf+xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rdf:RDFxmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"><rdf:Description rdf:about="http://data.open.ac.uk/oro/9719"> <label xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#" rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string">Aptamers directed to MUC1</label> <authorList xmlns="http://purl.org/ontology/bibo/" rdf:resource="http://data.open.ac.uk/oro/9719#authors"/> <title xmlns="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string">Aptamers directed to MUC1</title> <abstract xmlns="http://purl.org/ontology/bibo/" rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string">Aptamers against the glycosylated form of MUC1 are described, along with their use in treatment and diagnosis of conditions associated with elevated production of MUC1.</abstract> <isPartOf xmlns="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" rdf:resource="http://data.open.ac.uk/oro/repository"/> <status xmlns="http://purl.org/ontology/bibo/" rdf:resource="http://purl.org/ontology/bibo/status/peerReviewed"/> <status xmlns="http://purl.org/ontology/bibo/" rdf:resource="http://purl.org/ontology/bibo/status/published"/> <creator xmlns="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" rdf:resource="http://data.open.ac.uk/person/ext-07bcb3718cb0de7883dc7b8fde7e283d"/> <creator xmlns="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" rdf:resource="http://data.open.ac.uk/person/b7fc322e6386517c5ebef3c09d13bd9e"/> <creator xmlns="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" rdf:resource="http://data.open.ac.uk/person/ext-7c8b5252e28115f91640559c2fe64ca3"/> <date xmlns="http://purl.org/dc/terms/">2007-11-15</date> <rdf:type rdf:resource="http://purl.org/ontology/bibo/Article"/> <rdf:type rdf:resource="http://purl.org/ontology/bibo/Patent"/></rdf:Description></rdf:RDF>

RDF <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rdf:RDFxmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"><rdf:Description rdf:about="http://data.open.ac.uk/oro/9719"> <label xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#" rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string">Aptamers directed to MUC1</label> <authorList xmlns="http://purl.org/ontology/bibo/" rdf:resource="http://data.open.ac.uk/oro/9719#authors"/> <title xmlns="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string">Aptamers directed to MUC1</title> <abstract xmlns="http://purl.org/ontology/bibo/" rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string">Aptamers against the glycosylated form of MUC1 are described, along with their use in treatment and diagnosis of conditions associated with elevated production of MUC1.</abstract> <isPartOf xmlns="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" rdf:resource="http://data.open.ac.uk/oro/repository"/> <status xmlns="http://purl.org/ontology/bibo/" rdf:resource="http://purl.org/ontology/bibo/status/peerReviewed"/> <status xmlns="http://purl.org/ontology/bibo/" rdf:resource="http://purl.org/ontology/bibo/status/published"/> <creator xmlns="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" rdf:resource="http://data.open.ac.uk/person/ext-07bcb3718cb0de7883dc7b8fde7e283d"/> <creator xmlns="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" rdf:resource="http://data.open.ac.uk/person/b7fc322e6386517c5ebef3c09d13bd9e"/> <creator xmlns="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" rdf:resource="http://data.open.ac.uk/person/ext-7c8b5252e28115f91640559c2fe64ca3"/> <date xmlns="http://purl.org/dc/terms/">2007-11-15</date> <rdf:type rdf:resource="http://purl.org/ontology/bibo/Article"/> <rdf:type rdf:resource="http://purl.org/ontology/bibo/Patent"/></rdf:Description></rdf:RDF>

By the way…

• On Study at the OU:– http://data.open.ac.uk/course/m366

– if HTML requested, goes to http://www3.open.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/course/m366.htm

– Try http://www3.open.ac.uk/study/under

graduate/course/m366.rdf

Technological principle: link… also to external datasets

Using URIs makes pieces of data directly addressable and linkable on the Web, independently of where the data is:– http://data.open.ac.uk/course/m366 isAvailableIn

http://sws.geonames.org/458258/ (Republic of Latvia)– http://data.open.ac.uk/organization/

the_open_university sameAs http://education.data.gov.uk/doc/school/133849

– http://data.open.ac.uk/location/building/mbbn (Berrill Building North) postcode http://data.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/id/postcodeunit/MK76AA

And others can link to our data…

SPARQL• The “SQL” of RDF and linked data• Fits the graph data model of RDF

– Select [variables: ?x ?name, etc.]– From [graph, or all graphs if nothing]– Where [triple patterns and filters]– Order by, limit, offset, etc.

• SPARQL protocol: simply based on HTTP– A SPARQL endpoint is a URL that takes a

“query” parameter– And return results in the SPARQL xml format– See http://data.open.ac.uk

SPARQL: example queries

select distinct ?course where {?course <http://data.open.ac.uk/saou/ontology#isAvailableIn> <http://sws.geonames.org/2328926/>. ?course a <http://purl.org/vocab/aiiso/schema#Module>}

Courses available in Nigeria

http://data.open.ac.uk/query?query=select%20distinct%20%3Fcourse%20where%20{%3Fcourse%20%3Chttp%3A%2F%2Fdata.open.ac.uk%2Fsaou%2Fontology%23isAvailableIn%3E%20%3Chttp%3A%2F%2Fsws.geonames.org%2F2328926%2F%3E.%20%3Fcourse%20a%20%3Chttp%3A%2F%2Fpurl.org%2Fvocab%2Faiiso%2Fschema%23Module%3E}

SPARQL: example queries

select distinct ?course where {?course <http://data.open.ac.uk/saou/ontology#isAvailableIn> <http://sws.geonames.org/2328926/>. ?course a <http://purl.org/vocab/aiiso/schema#Module>}

Courses available in Nigeria

http://data.open.ac.uk/query?query=select%20distinct%20%3Fcourse%20where%20{%3Fcourse%20%3Chttp%3A%2F%2Fdata.open.ac.uk%2Fsaou%2Fontology%23isAvailableIn%3E%20%3Chttp%3A%2F%2Fsws.geonames.org%2F2328926%2F%3E.%20%3Fcourse%20a%20%3Chttp%3A%2F%2Fpurl.org%2Fvocab%2Faiiso%2Fschema%23Module%3E}

SPARQL: example queriesVideo podcasts related to postgraduate courses in computing

http://data.open.ac.uk/query?query=select%20%3Fx%20%3Ft%0Awhere%20{%0A%20%20%20%3Fc%20%3Chttp%3A%2F%2Fpurl.org%2Fdc%2Fterms%2Fsubject%3E%20%3Chttp%3A%2F%2Fdata.open.ac.uk%2Ftopic%2Fcomputing%3E.%0A%20%20%20%3Fc%20%3Chttp%3A%2F%2Fdata.open.ac.uk%2Fsaou%2Fontology%23courseLevel%3E%20%3Chttp%3A%2F%2Fdata.open.ac.uk%2Fsaou%2Fontology%23postgraduate%3E.%0A%20%20%20%3Fx%20%3Chttp%3A%2F%2Fdata.open.ac.uk%2Fpodcast%2Fontology%2FrelatesToCourse%3E%20%3Fc.%0A%20%20%20%3Fx%20%3Chttp%3A%2F%2Fpurl.org%2Fdc%2Fterms%2Ftitle%3E%20%3Ft.%0A%20%20%20%3Fx%20%3Chttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F1999%2F02%2F22-rdf-syntax-ns%23type%3E%20%3Chttp%3A%2F%2Fdata.open.ac.uk%2Fpodcast%2Fontology%2FVideoPodcast%3E%0A}&limit=0

select ?x ?t where {?c <http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject> <http://data.open.ac.uk/topic/computing>. ?c <http://data.open.ac.uk/saou/ontology#courseLevel> <http://data.open.ac.uk/saou/ontology#postgraduate>.?x <http://data.open.ac.uk/podcast/ontology/relatesToCourse> ?c.?x <http://purl.org/dc/terms/title> ?t.?x <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#type> <http://data.open.ac.uk/podcast/ontology/VideoPodcast>}

SPARQL: example queriesThings related to “earthquake”

http://data.open.ac.uk/query?query=select%20%3Fc%20%3Fdesc%20where%7B%0A%3Fc%20%3Chttp%3A%2F%2Fpurl.org%2Fdc%2Fterms%2Fdescription%3E%20%3Fdesc%20.%0A%7B%7B%3Fc%20%3Chttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F1999%2F02%2F22-rdf-syntax-ns%23type%3E%0A%3Chttp%3A%2F%2Fdata.open.ac.uk%2Fopenlearn%2Fontology%2FOpenLearnUnit%3E%7D%0AUNION%0A%7B%3Fc%20%3Chttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F1999%2F02%2F22-rdf-syntax-ns%23type%3E%0A%3Chttp%3A%2F%2Fdata.open.ac.uk%2Fpodcast%2Fontology%2FVideoPodcast%3E%7D%7D%0AFILTER%20regex(str(%3Fdesc)%2C%20%22earthquake%22%2C%20%22i%22%20)%0A%7D&limit=0

select ?c ?desc where {?c <http://purl.org/dc/terms/description> ?desc .{ {?c <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#type> <http://data.open.ac.uk/openlearn/ontology/OpenLearnUnit>}UNION{?c <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#type> <http://data.open.ac.uk/podcast/ontology/VideoPodcast>} }FILTER regex(str(?desc), "earthquake", "i" )}

Planning + Logging

Collect Extract Link Store Expose

OntologiesScheduler

RSS Updater Triple Store

Delete (1)Add (2)

Index Search

SPARQLendpoint

Web Server

RSS Extractor

XML Updater

RDF Extractor

RDF Cleaner

Cleaning rules

Each datasets

Lib, courses, loc

ORO, podcast

URL redirection rules

RSS feed

New itemsObsolete items

RDF file (add) RDF file (delete)

RDF file (add) RDF file (delete)

Generic process Dataset specific process

Entity Name

SystemURI creation rules

Method for a exposing a dataset

Initial Meeting with Data Owner

- Identify data- Get sample data- Identify Copyright Issues- Identify possible links- Identify users and usage

Data Modeling sessions

Lucero Core Team

Data Owner

Lucero KMi Team

Lucero members

- Find reusable ontologies- Map onto the data- Identify uncovered parts- Define URI Scheme

Data Modeling Validation

Lucero Core Team

Data Owner

Development of Extractor

URI Creation Rules

DefinitionDeploymentLucero KMi

Team

Datasets• Already “officially” in place:

– ORO: more than 18,000 publications from OU researchers– Podcasts: 2,500 audio and video tracks from

podcast.open.ac.uk, linked to the relate courses– Study at the OU: more than 600 live module descriptions– OpenLearn: more than 550 Units of course material– KMi Staff and Planet newsletter

• Currently being processed:– OU Buildings in MK and regional centers– Library Catalogue– YouTube channel– Old Courses– “Reading Experience Database” project – People Profiles

Screenshot of the dataset page

Building applications with Linked Data

• Everything is based on HTTP/XML– In principle, just need a Web

connection…

• Libraries available in many languages to manipulate RDF data– Java: Jena (http://openjena.org/)– PHP: ARC2

(https://github.com/semsol/arc2)– Python: RDFLib (http://www.rdflib.net/)– …

Example: Accessing data.open.ac.uk with PHP/Arc2include_once("arc2/ARC2.php");

// declare the SPARQL endpoint$config = array('remote_store_endpoint' => 'http://data.open.ac.uk/query’,);$store = ARC2::getRemoteStore($config);

// Execute a SPARQL query$postcodesq = 'select distinct ?p where {[] <http://data.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/ontology/postcode/postcode> ?p.}’;$rows = $store->query($postcodesq, 'rows');

// Display the resultsforeach ($rows as $row) { echo $row[‘p’].”</br/>”;}

Applications• For education

– Mobile podcast explorer, podcast explorer on TV – OU Building Map, OU location tracker (cf.

foursquare)– OU Expert Search– Connecting courses/OpenLearn to relevant

podcast– OU Course Profile Facebook app using list of

courses, “Study Buddy” app connecting facebook users to relevant courses

• For Research– Display connections in a research community– Research Data/Impact Analysis– Connection research datasets to external data

Example application: Link OpenLearn to relevant course/podcasts

Example Application: keep track of location, meetings, tutorials, at the OU

EXAMPLE APPLICATION:Expert Search using publication information and connecting to contact information within the OU

Example application: Explore Information about a person in the “Reading Experience Database” based on data provided by DBPedia (Linked Data version of Wikipedia) New ways to look at humanities research data

Example application: exploring research communities

The future• More data… always more data• More links, especially to external entities

– BBC– Government agencies– Other universities

• More applications:– Integration into main OU websites (e.g., study at the OU)– Integration into common OU applications (people profile, Facebook

course profile, etc.)– Support for common OU processes (REF audit, course

recommendation, providing resources to AL and lecturers)

• Connecting to other Universities– Many other universities in the UK and abroad are making the move to

linked data (see linkeduniversities.org)– Linked data has the potential to create connections across institutions,

a data-based network on higher education course providers

Conclusion• Linked data is more than an emerging,

academic trend. • data.open.ac.uk and linked data in general are

fast becoming very valuable resources for developers, internally and externally

• We are very proud to have been the first university to really deploy a linked data platform

• Needs to sustain and evolve as a core service at the OU…

• … and as a key component of the Web of University Linked Data

Thank You Carlo Allocca

(Dev)

Mathieu d’Aquin(PD)

Salman Elahi((Ex)-Dev)

Enrico Motta(SGP)

Andriy Nikolov(linking)

Jane Whild(Admin)

Fouad Zablith(Dev)

Library Specialists

Owen Stephens(PM)

Richard Nurse((ex-)PM)

Non ScantleburyArts Specialists

Suzanne Duncanson-HunterJohn Wolfe

Paul Lawrence

Stuart Brown

Data Owners

KMi

OU Library

Com./StudentComp.Services

Arts