Building a Linked Data Model for Archival Collections Related to Slavery:
Channel: LD4
Date: 22/07/2021

Speakers: Sharon Leon, Samantha Smith, Emily Baldoni
Moderator: Michelle Futornick

On These Grounds is a Mellon-funded project focused on creating a shared descriptive approach for archival collections that document historical connections between institutions of higher education and slavery. Composed of an interdisciplinary team of historians, archivists, and librarians from Michigan State University, Georgetown University, and University of Virginia, the On These Grounds team has been working since July 2020 on developing a Linked Open Data model for representing archival collections that document the lives of enslaved people, as well as resources for creating and publishing this linked data using Omeka S. In July 2021, the project will enter a new phase, inviting additional partner institutions to participate in testing the On These Grounds model.

In this panel, members of the On These Grounds team will discuss the process of building and revising the OTG ontology and the use of Omeka S as a linked data publishing platform, and will share reflections on the testing process so far.