In an academic landscape increasingly influenced by digital transformation, university libraries serve as critical hubs for fostering innovative modes of scholarly engagement. This presentation focuses on the role of digital scholarship within the specific contexts of historical research and cultural heritage, and its integration with Linked Open Data (LOD), using Wikidata as a case study. Digital scholarship offers powerful avenues for disseminating research outputs in the discipline of arts and humanities. It involves the creation of various digital assets ranging from digital archives to specialized databases and interactive interfaces, extending the traditional library function into a dynamic, multi-modal realm of scholarly endeavor and public engagement. LOD presents a unique opportunity to connect disparate historical and cultural datasets in a semantically rich framework. Wikidata, as an open, structured, and community-sourced repository, serves as an ideal platform for curating unique data produced by digital scholarship projects. Its implementation enables a deeper level of contextualization, interactivity, and cross-dataset linkages, thereby enriching the scholarly output and public resources available through university libraries. This presentation articulates the practical steps and considerations for embedding Wikidata into library-supported digital scholarship initiatives at the Hong Kong Baptist University. We will highlight case studies demonstrating the value of Wikidata and the use of SPARQL queries for retrieving historical dataset, cross-referencing cultural assets, and optimizing metadata for increased discoverability. Ethical issues such as data stewardship, intellectual property, and equitable access will also be discussed.

Authors:
Ho Chi Eric Chow, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong

About the Presenter(s)
Dr Eric H. C. Chow is the Digital Scholarship Manager of the Hong Kong Baptist University Library. He manages various digital research and education programmes and projects, with a focus on digitisation and digital curation of cultural heritage data.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/choweric/

See this presentation on the full schedule – Thursday Schedule

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