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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormalCxSpFirst style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>For immediate release<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Nov. 22, 2011<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Kent State faculty receive federal grant for $219,000+ to improve access to digital resources<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:normal'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Two faculty members in the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) at Kent State University, Professor Marcia Lei Zeng, Ph.D., and Assistant Professor Karen Gracy, Ph.D., have received a National Leadership Grant in the amount of $219,386 from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The funds will be used to help improve access to digital resources </span><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>within and beyond the library world</span><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> through what is known as “Linked Open Data (LOD).”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:normal'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> “With Linked Data technologies, libraries can efficiently reach a much wider range and more diverse data universe, and more effectively provide services to their users. Libraries can enhance their existing digital collections and services with linked data technologies and LOD resources without significantly increasing the library’s workload or requiring them to reengineer their existing bibliographic databases and websites,” Zeng said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:normal'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Zeng and Gracy’s project will develop effective strategies and prototype tools to help libraries and museums connect to the unfamiliar data and metadata resources in the LOD world</span><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>. In particular, their research will address the question of how </span><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>libraries can benefit from resources that have been made available in the Linked Open Data (LOD) universe. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>“In this project, Dr. Zeng and I will be aligning metadata terms from different and diverse namespaces, which means that we will be analyzing semantic relationships among many different metadata schemas to identify areas of overlap and degrees of similarity,” Gracy explained. “Our primary goal for this study will be the development and testing of a tool, the Metadata Vocabulary Junction, that will help librarians and archivists understand unfamiliar metadata schemas and discover new data sources. These librarians will then be able to help users discover and use the rich information found in the Linked Open Data universe by following the paths that we will be creating through the M-V Junction."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormalCxSpLast style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The resulting resource thus will encourage all libraries, regardless of their size and technical status, to tap into the riches of Linked Open Data. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=copy><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>IMLS Director Susan Hildreth said, “We look forward to much exciting work from this round of [National Leadership Grant] awards, including projects that will support learning and 21<sup>st</sup>-century skills relevant to a new generation of digital natives, enhanced access and ability to interact with digital content, and providing innovative services for existing and new types of library and museum users. We believe that each of these grants will advance the museum, library, and archive professions through new research and the creation and dissemination of innovative tools, models, and activities that can be shared broadly."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormalCxSpFirst style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Kent State University's School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) has the only American Library Association-accredited Master of Library and Information Science (M.L.I.S.) degree program in Ohio. SLIS is recognized by U.S. News and World Report as one of the nation's top 20 graduate schools in the field, and the youth librarianship program is ranked 13th. For more information about the school, visit <a href="http://www.kent.edu/slis">http://www.kent.edu/slis</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The institute's mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas. The institute works at the national level and in coordination with state and local organizations to sustain heritage, culture, and knowledge; enhance learning and innovation; and support professional development. For more information about the IMLS, visit <a href="http://www.imls.gov/">http://www.imls.gov/</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>CONTACT: <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Flo Cunningham, M.A. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Marketing Communications and Public Relations Director <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>330-672-0003 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>fcunning@kent.edu<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Karen Gracy, Ph.D. Assistant Professor <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>330-672-0049<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>kgracy@kent.edu <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Marcia Lei Zeng, Ph.D. Professor <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>330-672-0009<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>mzeng@kent.edu<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>