Enhancing Semantic Expressivity in the Cultural Heritage Domain: Exposing the Zeri Photo Archive as Linked Open Data

Describing cultural heritage objects from the perspective of Linked Open Data (LOD) is not a trivial task. The process often requires not only choosing pertinent ontologies but also developing new models that preserve the most information and express the semantic power of cultural heritage data. Indeed, data managed in archives, libraries, and museums are complex objects themselves, which require a deep reflection on even nonconventional conceptual models. Starting from these considerations, this article describes a research project: to expose the vastness of one of the most important collections of European cultural heritage, the Zeri Photo Archive, as LOD. We describe here the steps we undertook to this end. First, we developed two ad hoc ontologies for describing all issues not completely covered by existent models (the F Entry and the OA Entry Ontology). Then we mapped into RDF the descriptive elements used in the current Zeri Photo Archive catalog, converting into CIDOC CRM and into the two new aforementioned models the source data based on the Italian content standards Scheda F (photography entry, in English) and Scheda OA (work of art entry, in English). Finally, we created an RDF dataset of the output of the mapping that could show a result capable of demonstrating the complexity of our scenario.