Prompted by the interest among metadata managers within the OCLC Research Library Partnership in the potential of linked data applications to make new, valuable uses of existing metadata, OCLC Research conducted an International Linked Data Survey for Implementers in 2014 and 2015, receiving responses from a total of 90 institutions in 20 countries. Curious about what might have changed in the past three years since the last survey, and eager to learn about new projects or services that format metadata as linked data or make subsequent uses of it, OCLC Research repeated the survey between 17 April and 25 May 2018. The survey questions were mostly the same so we could more easily compare results. This presentation will summarize the 2018 survey results, and focus on comparing them with the results of the previous two surveys, including: 1) Which institutions have implemented or are implementing linked data and for what purpose. What linked data sources these institutions are consuming, and why. Which linked data sources are cited more or less frequently than in the previous surveys? Have motivations changed? 3) What data are these institutions publishing as linked data, and why. Are there different types of data being published as linked data since 2015? Have the drivers for publishing linked data changed? 4) What barriers have implementers had to address, and how would they advise others who are considering starting a project or service that consumes and/or publishes linked data. 5) A sampling of linked data projects or services in production to represent a variety of different uses, scales, domains, and maturity, especially those described as "successful in achieving the desired outcome(s).” The surveys provide a partial view of the linked data landscape, as the analysis is confined to the implementers who responded, primarily from the library domain. |