Invited Talk: Open borders for wider access to knowledge

National Bibliographies are vital for the documentation and curation of the intellectual and cultural output of communities, serving as a key source of reliable data as the volume of information increases. This presentation examines the potential of connecting National Bibliographies through Linked Open Data (LOD) and discusses how international cooperation can facilitate broader and equitable access to each country's intellectual resources. It focuses on data aggregation from National Bibliographies within the Share Family linked data ecosystem (www.natbib-lod.org), which maintains local autonomy and standards. The British National Bibliography was the first to launch as a linked data resource (https://bl.natbib-lod.org/), and collaboration with the National Bibliographies of Norway and Finland is ongoing. The presentation outlines the Share Family’s efforts toward implementing LOD for libraries, emphasizing how collaborative approaches permit adaptation of bibliographic metadata to current technologies and interoperability requirements, including compatibility with IFLA LRM, RDA, and BIBFRAME standards. The Share Family, developed, managed, and governed by libraries, is guided by an Advisory Council that helps define its direction based on practical needs. Recent developments, including the approval of Share Open Metadata Policies and advances in entity-based data models, support wider distribution and reuse of metadata, promote interoperability and sustainability, and aim to provide reliable data quality. The presentation illustrates how these activities enable National Bibliographies, including those with limited resources, to expand the reach of their bibliographic data, improve multilingual availability, address access barriers, and foster cooperation across the global bibliographic ecosystem.