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LINKED OPEN DATA START GUIDE
LINKED OPEN DATA: THE ESSENTIALS
search engine like Sindice
1
or one of the globally available Open Data
catalogues such as The Data Hub
2
. Also consider data set update cycles
and when the data was last updated.
Check the respective licenses
Evaluate the licenses for use and re-use provided by the owners of the
data. Avoid using data where no clear and understandable license is
available. If in doubt, contact the respective data holders and clarify
these questions. It is also important to know what license these data
sets provide for mashing up data sets with others.
Create consumption patterns
Creating consumption patterns specifies in detail exactly which data
is re-used from a certain data source. Not all data in a set will be
relevant to the specified use case(s), in which case you can develop
consumption patterns that clearly specify only the relevant data in the
set.
Manage alignment, caching and updating mechanisms
When LOD is consumed, the need for matching different vocabularies
of the consumed (internal and external) data sets often occurs. This is
relevant to ensure smooth data integration by vocabulary alignment
3
.
Another concern is the fact that LOD sources are not absolutely
stable nor always available to consume data in real time. To prevent
a specific data set from being unavailable at a certain time, create
caching mechanisms for specific third party data and information.
Another important issue is to consume up-to-date information; a
feasible approach here is to implement updating mechanisms for LOD
consumption. Please see the „Linked Open Data Tool Box Collection“ at
the end of this chapter for more information.
Create mash ups, GUIs, services and applications on top
To serve your users and to create powerful LOD applications or services
on top of mashed up LOD, it is crucial to provide user-friendly graphical
user interfaces (GUIs) and powerful services for end users.
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