Pushing the CIDOC-conceptual reference model towards LOD by open annotations

Abstract

By using a novel modelling approach, we demonstrate how the Conceptual Reference Model (CRM) of ICOM's International Committee for Documentation (CIDOC) can be complemented using the Open Annotation Data Model (OADM) in order to create semantically rich annotations. We show that domain knowledge can be combined with meaningful and linked data exposed in the so-called Web of Data (aka semantic Web) by having the necessary provenance information for annotations. The combination of domain specific knowledge with existing Linked Open Data (LOD) requires well-designed modelling decisions for linking semantic data sets in a comprehensible way. We show that our combined approach is able to address the requirements of digital heritage in more sufficient ways than each model separately. We combine the advantages of a proven domain ontology with the flexibility and semantic richness of the OADM. In order to evaluate our approach, we show with a concrete example how a museum artifact is modeled in CIDOC-CRM and how these data can be interlinked with existing LOD in meaningful and machine-processable ways by encoding provenance information for new annotations using the OADM.