About the Linked Data Competency Index (LDCI)

The Linked Data Competency Index, or LDCI, is a set of topically arranged assertions of the knowledge, skills, and habits of mind required for professional practice in the area of Linked Data. The LDCI provides an overview, or map, of the Linked Data field both for independent learners who want to learn Linked Data methods and technology, and for professors or trainers who want to design and teach courses on the subject.

The assertions enumerated in the LDCI are identified with unique, Web-based identifiers (URIs) that can be used to tag corresponding resources, from books or Web-based tutorials to YouTube videos, for indexing and retrieval.

The LDCI is the product of two projects: the Learning Linked Data Project, twelve-month planning activity funded in 2011 and 2012 by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to explore the creation of a software platform for learning to interpret and create Linked Data, and its follow-up project, LD4PE, or Linked Data for Professional Education, funded by IMLS from 2014 to 2017.

To create this index, the LD4PE Competency Index Editorial Board devised its own stylistic principles. The Board strove for stylistic coherence, consistent granularity, manageable length, and general readability. The goal was to formulate a Competency Index that could be printed out by interested learners and profitably be read from start to finish, with language evocative enough to convey the general drift of the subject matter even to newcomers.

A living document, the index is now maintained by the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative through crowdsourcing. Interested users can contribute to its improvement by forking the LDCI Github repository, making edits to your copy of the index, and submitting those edits to the Competency Index Editorial Board as a pull request. Due to the excellent integration of MkDocs, the software used to generate this website, with Github, this process is actually much easier than it sounds!