Records in Contexts: the road of archives to semantic interoperability Dunia Llanes-Padrón Department of Information Science, University of Havana, Havana, Cuba Juan-Antonio Pastor-Sánchez Department of Information and Documentation, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain Abstract Purpose - This paper examines the Records in Contexts proposal of a conceptual model (RiC-CM) from the International Council on Archives’ (ICA) archival description and proposes an OWL ontology for its implementation in the semantic web. Design/methodology/approach - The various elements of the model are studied and are related to earlier norms in order to understand their structure and the modeling of the ontology. Findings - The analysis reveals the integrating nature of RiC-CM and the possibilities it offers for greater interoperability of data from archival descriptions. Two versions of an OWL ontology were developed to represent the conceptual model. The first makes a direct transposition of the conceptual model; the second optimizes the properties and relations in order to simplify the use and maintenance of the ontology. Research limitations / implications - The proposed ontology will follow the considerations of the final version of the ICA’s RiC-CM. Practical implications - The analysis affords an understanding of the role of RiC-CM in publishing online archival datasets, while the ontology is an initial approach to the semantic web technologies involved. Originality/value - The paper offers an overview of Records in Contexts with respect to the advantages in the field of semantic interoperability, and supposes the first proposal of an ontology based on the conceptual model. Keywords Archival Description, Conceptual Description Models, Semantic Interoperability, Ontologies, Semantic Web, Records in Contexts Paper type Conceptual paper 1. Introduction The last 25 years have seen many changes to the process of archival description in terms of its conceptual, theoretical and methodological grounding. Internet-based technologies and users’ new needs when accessing information have been the key factors behind this. User profiles have varied and this has led to new approaches on how to access and disseminate information generated and stored in archives. This is essential from both a technical and social perspective if society is to get closer to the ideal of an information democracy, transparent organizations and information reuse. Following these principles, today researchers and professionals alike are seeking to develop theoretical and technical solutions that facilitate the organization, description, search, retrieval and use of archival information on the Web. The post-modern paradigm in the sphere of Information Sciences is having an influence on this transition toward new ways of representing information that are more in line with today’s needs and approaches. The trend is toward creating schematic representations and formats that enable Dunia Llanes-Padrón, Juan-Antonio Pastor-Sánchez, (2017) "Records in contexts: the road of archives to semantic interoperability", Program, Vol. 51 Issue: 4, pp.387-405, https://doi.org/10.1108/PROG-03-2017-0021 1