A system creates an abstraction layer surrounding a diverse data system including multiple different databases. Data is received from data sources and ingested into the various databases according to a core model. New instances of the core model are created and added to a larger linked data model (LDM) when new data sources are added to the system. The LDM captures the linkages between different linked data objects and links across different databases. Accordingly, applications are able to access or explore the linked data stored in different databases without prior knowledge of the linking relationships.