# Explore the Potential of Linked Data: Project Passage Report Summary

The OCLC report on the _Passage_ project explored whether Wikibase could serve as a useful platform for libraries working with Linked Data. The aim was to test how Wikibase supports creating, managing, and sharing structured data, and whether it meets the needs of library communities moving toward more open and interconnected systems of knowledge.

Wikibase is a software suite for managing structured, linked data. It is the technical backbone that powers _Wikidata_ and allows users to create and maintain their own structured datasets without requiring advanced programming skills. One of its standout features is its built-in multilingual support. It can natively handle non-Latin scripts and multiple language labels. This offers significant advantages over traditional cataloging systems, where transliteration is often required, making records harder to use for native speakers. In contrast, Wikibase’s native multilingual design supports the creation of a more inclusive and linguistically diverse data environment.

This is just one of several key observations identified in the report. Others are outlined below:

## 1. Open and Flexible
One of Wikibase’s greatest strengths is its open and flexible nature . It’s relatively easy for other tools and systems to access and reuse its datasets, enabling innovative applications and cross-platform integrations.

## 2. User-Friendly, But Guidance Still Needed
Wikibase’s workflow is straightforward and easy to understand. Whether creating new items or editing existing ones, its design is user-friendly and requires little extra training to get started. However, in the absence of proper documentation or onboarding materials, new users may still find the system confusing or difficult to understand. This highlights the importance of support materials and community guidance to ensure a smoother entry point.

## 3. Precise Modeling, But Ontology Gaps Create Complexity
Wikibase allows for detailed, precise data modeling far beyond what current library systems can achieve. However, working with it can quickly become complex. One of the main difficulties lies in gaps in the ontology — structures that defines and relates concepts. With gaps dotted randomly throughout the ontology, even a straightforward attempt to describe a resource can accidentally spiral into a complicated task of manually patching missing links or defining new items that diverge from the original goal. This creates inconsistency in the workflow and increases the burden on users' limited resources.

## 4. Mature But Not Standardized
Wikibase is mature enough to be functional and widely usable, but it hasn’t reached the level of full standardization. This means that while the software works well, there’s still ambiguity around best practices. Different communities may have different expectations regarding data quality, how to achieve it, and what workflows to follow. As a result, collaboration between groups, even those working in the same discipline, can become complicated.

## 5. From Catalogs to Knowledge Graphs: A Paradigm Shift
Wikibase supports a move from traditional, human-readable cataloging to machine-readable knowledge graphs. A knowledge graph is a more flexible, dynamic way of organizing information. Instead of storing data in static fields, it connects concepts through clearly defined relationships which computers can interpret. This shift has deep implications for how libraries think about cataloging, authority control, and the future of metadata. It changes not only how we store data, but how we understand and interact with knowledge itself.

## 6. Challenges: Technical and Political
### Technical challenges:
Wikibase excels at creating and curating linked data, but it needs further development in data consumption aspects; that is, querying, visualizing, and other end user utilities. It also lacks a mature framework for ensuring interoperability between different datasets and external systems. Until these issues are addressed, using Wikibase at a larger scale remains potentially challenging.

### Political and social challenges:
Equally important are the governance questions that come with open, community-driven systems. In such environments, it's critical to ask:

- How do we build and sustain a healthy, collaborative community of contributors?
- Who is responsible for ensuring the quality and accuracy of the data?
- How do we balance openness with stability and consistency?
- What mechanisms are needed to agree on and enforce best practices?

These are not merely technical issues; they are core to making Wikibase a viable foundation for a federated, democratic information system and require active discussion and engagement from all stakeholders to reach a desirable outcome for all beneficiaries.

## Conclusion
Wikibase holds real promise for institutions exploring Linked Data workflows. Its system supports detailed, precise, multilingual, and reusable data structures, and it can be used effectively with minimal technical training. It opens the door to richer, more inclusive representations of knowledge and makes it easier to share information across systems and institutions.

That said, the ecosystem is still maturing. Wikibase is not yet a turnkey solution to all Linked Data issues Its flexibility and openness are powerful, but also require thoughtful implementation, active discussion, and ongoing investment in tools, documentation, and governance.

In short: Wikibase may not be the destination, but it is certainly a strong and evolving foundation, one that brings the library community closer to a more interconnected, equitable, and future-proof data infrastructure.

* Read [Full Paper](https://hackmd.io/@wikidata-tw/oclc2019report)