The Internet has been redefining library work for two decades, but the
development of the Semantic Web is driving new requirements for data
preparation. Metadata for human consumption is becoming less relevant as
the Internet of Things allows machines to converse with each other and to
consume and comprehend data directly. Americans submit nearly 20 billion
queries each month to commercial Internet search engines (comScore, 2014),
but few libraries optimize their data for the machines that have become the
center of the discovery process. Libraries have also been slow to engage
in new methods that authoritatively establish their semantic identities for
search engines. Library content and services are more effectively discovered
and used after these identities are established and optimized according to
evolving Semantic Web protocols and services.
It’s not only libraries that face this challenge. Every organization in an
academic institution benefits from visibility that drives the use of its products
and services, and most of these organizations struggle with piecemeal efforts
that are often ineffective in the long term and don’t benefit the institution
at large. Central IT organizations rarely have the resources or knowledge
to successfully and consistently deploy optimization services to campus organizations
to ensure their visibility on the Web, which in turn leads some
organizations to contract with students or other Web site service providers.
Only sometimes do those consultants understand the complex array of elements
that comprise a successful Web presence; in many cases the efforts
prove unsustainable when the consultant moves on or the funding expires.
Opportunity accompanies change. Librarians may enjoy new roles as
trusted facilitators who can develop effective and replicable optimization
services by delivering measurable value based on metrics that matter to each
organization’s leadership. The Montana State University (MSU) Library is
engaged in Semantic Web research on several fronts, which we will describe
in this article. Our concept of “new knowledge work” encompasses the
discoverability, accessibility, and usability of content and services in the
Semantic Web. In this article, we survey the following new services that
libraries can offer their users and campus partners to aid discovery and
understanding of resources at the network scale: