New Product Release: Data Sharing and Navigator Coming to The Library.Link Network

By Cassi Hall, Communications Specialist at NoveList

N is for Navigator, E is for Embeddable widgets, W is for What’s next on The Library.Link Network?

Looking for ways your staff can influence the visibility of your linked data? WP Version 3.2.1 is rolling out now to Library.Link Network members as they upload new data and includes tools libraries can use to make use of their open data.

Navigator

Are you a librarian or library staff member looking for a particular linked data resource? Want to find a link for a specific Item, Person, or Concept? With the Navigator, you can! Access the Navigator under the “Services” tab on any Library.Link Network page.

East Baton Rouge Parish Library’s Navigator link.ebrpl.com

Embeddable Widgets

The folks at Novelist talked about embeddable widgets before and they are only getting better. The Navigator makes it easier to find the types of material you and your community partners will want to post on your websites and blogs. These widgets will take user directly to the library catalog and you can post them on secure websites. If a local dog trainer wants to post information about dog trainer books at the library on their website, embeddable widgets can make that happen. To pull up the widget codes, click an “embed” button on any page.

Social Sharing

After you’ve used the Navigator to find J.K. Rowling’s author page and embedded a widget of Harry Potter read-alikes on a blog post celebrating the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, social sharing will let you share that information on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn. Over time, library data shared on social media networks can establish the library as a credible source of data — a big step to increasing library visibility on the Web. Help people connect to your linked data resources via e-mail or social media by using the “Share” menu on any page.

Delaware County District Library’s Share Menu link.delawarelibrary.org

What’s Next?

Stats are coming! The Stats dashboard in currently in testing mode and will be available soon. Library.Link Network members will be able to obtain a username and password to access their Stats from any of their linked data resources.

Click and Impression Data

The new Stats dashboard will display the number of impressions presented in front of a user and clicks of the data you share on social media and in embeddable widgets. This information will be one part of how we understand the impact linked data is having on libraries.

Preview of what Cuyahoga County Public Library staff sees when they log into their Stats dashboard. Cuyahoga County Public Library is helping us test Stats to make sure it’s ready for everyone. link.cuyahogalibrary.org

Want to know what version your Library.Link Network toolkit is on? Check the Data Status panel on the bottom right corner of your main Link Domain page.

To see if your data is currently refreshed to include the new Navigator, Embed and Share functionality look at the Data Status panel in the lower right of your main Link Domain page and check for 3.2.1

These new features allow libraries to use their data and play an active role in transforming library data into one of the authoritative sources of data on the Web. Stay tuned for more information from your Library.Link Network service providers to learn how to use these features, and see examples of how other libraries are using them.

Data is being refreshed as you’re reading this, so if you don’t have 3.2.1 now, you will soon! For future updates on product releases, follow the The Library.Link Network Blog on Medium.