The Semantic Web

The Semantic Web An introduction

In linguistics , semantics is … devoted to the study of meaning … on the syntactic levels of words, phrases, sentences
http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic

Title Author Publisher Genre Price

“ The Semantic Web is a web of data , in some ways like a global database” 1
“ first step is putting data on the Web in a form that machines can naturally understand, or converting it to that form. This creates what I call a Semantic Web-a web of data that can be processed directly or indirectly by machines” 2
1. http://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/Semantic.html
2. Tim Berners-Lee, Weaving the Web . Harper, San Francisco. 1999.

<h1>Library Management Team</h1>
<h2>Director of Library Services</h2>
<p>Deborah Shorley - Director of Library Services<br />
<a href="mailto:d.shorley@imperial.ac.uk">d.shorley@imperial.ac.uk</a><br />
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7594 8881</p>
<h2>Assistant directors</h2>
<h3>Assistant Director: Administration and Planning</h3>
<p>Susan Howard<br />
<a href="mailto:s.howard@imperial.ac.uk">s.howard@imperial.ac.uk</a><br />
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7594 8622<br />
<a href="http://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/s.howard">
www.imperial.ac.uk/people/s.howard</a></p>
<h3>Assistant Director: E-Strategy and Information Resources</h3>
<p>Owen Stephens<br />
<a href="mailto:o.stephens@imperial.ac.uk">o.stephens@imperial.ac.uk</a><br />
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7594 8829<br />
<a href="http://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/o.stephens">
www.imperial.ac.uk/people/o.stephens</a></p>
<h3>Assistant Director: Faculty Support Services for Learning and Research</h3>
<p>Liz Davis<br />
<a href="mailto:e.davis@imperial.ac.uk">e.davis@imperial.ac.uk</a><br />
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7594 8877<br />
<a href="http://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/e.davis">
www.imperial.ac.uk/people/e.davis</a></p>

How do we get a semantic web?
Slowly!
Applications getting better at understanding human semantics (‘Top Down’)
More structured formats are gaining wider use (‘Bottom Up’)
More database driven sites, so less need for humans to understand it all
‘Semantic web’ applications appearing

Top Down
Depends of ‘more intelligent’ computers
Google Book Search
LibX Toolbar
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/semantic_web_difficulties_with_classic_approach.php

Bottom Up
Depends on more structured data using agreed standards
URIs
RDF
OWL
Many sceptics
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/semantic_web_difficulties_with_classic_approach.php

URI
Uniform Resource Identifier
“a simple and extensible means for identifying a resource”
A URL is a type of URI

What is RDF?
Resource Description Framework
“ a language for representing information about resources in the World Wide Web”
“ RDF can also be used to represent information about things that can be identified on the Web, even when they cannot be directly retrieved on the Web”
Uses URIs or Literals
http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-rdf-syntax/

Jane Eyre
has a
creator
whose name is
Charlotte Bronte
Subject Predicate Object

Jane Eyre
has a
creator
whose name is
Charlotte Bronte
Subject Predicate Object http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/creator http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1260/1260-h/1260-h.htm Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte Penguin Book is a has creator has publisher Person is a

RDF Schemas
Define vocabularies for a community
Define a class of objects ‘Books’
Define a property ‘Creator’

OWL (Web Ontology Language)
When a Schema just isn’t enough!
Allows you to put limits of relationships
a Person has one and only one biological mother
Allows you to say ‘this is the same as that’
This thing that I call a ‘Car’ is the same as that thing that you call an ‘Automobile’

Data:
< http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1260/1260-h/1260-h.htm > <http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/title> “Jane Eyre"
Query:
SELECT ?title WHERE {< http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1260/1260-h/1260-h.htm > <http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/title> ?title . }
Result:
“ Jane Eyre”

Some actual applications!
Cinespin (Freebase)
Nugget, Cenote (Talis)
RDA, DCMI, FRBR, FRAD etc.

RDA
Resource Description and Access
New standard for resource description and access designed for the digital world – building on AACR2
Uses FRBR and FRAD concepts
http:// www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/jsc/rda.html

DCMI
Dublin Core Metadata Initiative
An open organization engaged in the development of interoperable online metadata standards that support a broad range of purposes and business models
http:// dublincore.org /

RDA and DCMI
The participants recommend that the RDA Committee of Principals and DCMI seek funding for work to develop an RDA Application Profile -- specifically that the following activities be undertaken:
development of an RDA Element Vocabulary
development of an RDA DC Application Profile based on FRBR and FRAD
disclosure of RDA Value Vocabularies using RDF/RDFS/SKOS

RDA and DCMI
Outcomes:
The benefits of this activity will be that:
the library community gets a metadata standard that is compatible with the Web Architecture and that is fully interoperable with other Semantic Web initiatives
the DCMI community gets a libraries application profile firmly based on the DCAM and FRBR (which will be a high profile exemplar for others to follow)
the Semantic Web community get a significant pool of well thought-out metadata terms to re-use
there is wider uptake of RDA
http:// www.bl.uk/services/bibliographic/meeting.html

RDF for Bib Metadata
http://vocab.org/frbr/core
http://cidoc.ics.forth.gr/frbr_drafts.html
http:// myee.bol.ucla.edu/rdfmodelintro.html

Acknowledgments
Jane Eyre
http:// www.flickr.com/photos/andthenpatterns /
Sad Computer
http://www.flickr.com/photos/loririelly/
Power of Three
http:// www.flickr.com/photos/hale_popoki

The Semantic Web

by ostephens on Apr 24, 2009

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The Semantic Web — Presentation Transcript