Razorbase vs. Parallax By Sherman Monroe

Razorbase A browser for exploring the Linked Open Data cloud using OpenLink Facets API Live demo available at http://www.razorbase.com

A browser for exploring the Linked Open Data cloud using OpenLink Facets API Live demo available at http://www.razorbase.com

Parallax A browser for exploring the Freebase database using the Freebase API Live demo available at http://mqlx.com/~david/parallax

A browser for exploring the Freebase database using the Freebase API Live demo available at http://mqlx.com/~david/parallax

Task 1 : Find all U.S. Presidents Razorbase : Start with a lookup for things named presidents Parallax : Start by selecting U.S. Presidents collection from auto-suggest menu

Razorbase : Start with a lookup for things named presidents

Parallax : Start by selecting U.S. Presidents collection from auto-suggest menu

First Razorbase …

List of results

Filters (facets) click Your view to reveal

Filters (facets)

click Your view to reveal

Razorbase : Junk in result set To refine our results, let’s first filter general results by Category to eliminate unrelated results Next, refine query to return not things named presidents, but things connected to presidents

To refine our results, let’s first filter general results by Category to eliminate unrelated results

Next, refine query to return not things named presidents, but things connected to presidents

Zoom in to only Famous People

Now Parallax …

Filter (facets) Properties of resources Shows the property and all values for that property Clicking a value adds a filter

Filter (facets)

Properties of resources

Shows the property and all values for that property

Clicking a value adds a filter

Group view

Let’s scroll page right

View options

Properties menu Clicking one shows the list of values for that property, along with each subject

Properties menu

Clicking one shows the list of values for that property, along with each subject

Parallax : Let’s switch to table view

Select table view type

Let’s scroll page left

List of results

Task 2 : Find the schools of the children of the presidents Razorbase : Use About tab and blue right arrows to explore and select properties for the subject Parallax : Use add link and auto-suggest box to lookup and select the properties

Razorbase : Use About tab and blue right arrows to explore and select properties for the subject

Parallax : Use add link and auto-suggest box to lookup and select the properties

First Razorbase …

Let’s scroll page down

Found Children click blue right arrow navigates to children of President

Found Children

click blue right arrow navigates to children of President

Razorbase : Found the Children, now let’s view their schools

About tabs lists all information about the subject

Let’s scroll page down

Found schools

Select one

Razorbase : Sparse results Hmmm… only a few schools, let’s check the main subject using the breadcrumb to investigate

Hmmm… only a few schools, let’s check the main subject using the breadcrumb to investigate

Follow breadcrumb back to the main subject

Razorbase : Sparse results Hmm… only Bill Clinton shows up Let’s modify the query to lookup things connected to president (i.e. remove the trailing ‘s’)

Hmm… only Bill Clinton shows up

Let’s modify the query to lookup things connected to president (i.e. remove the trailing ‘s’)

Click to show Query description and facets/filters

Deleted the ‘s’, now press Enter or click the Green Go Arrow

Razorbase : View target subject That seemed to return more results Now navigate to the Children of the subject

That seemed to return more results

Now navigate to the Children of the subject

Let’s scroll page right

Click to view the list of the values for this property

Go to children

Go to children Let’s scroll page right

Razorbase : View target subject From here, view inbound and outbound connections and their values

From here, view inbound and outbound connections and their values

Go to children

Click to reveal the value

Now Parallax …

Let’s scroll page right

Click the add link to show controls for adding properties

Let’s scroll page left

Let’s scroll page down

Parallax : Select a property of the selected property The chain another property link allows you to add properties of the selected property

The chain another property link allows you to add properties of the selected property

Let’s scroll page right

Let’s scroll page left

Parallax : View target subject Clicking Done will add the selected connections as columns to the main table Only the last subject in the chain seems to appear in the table, the children node is missing

Clicking Done will add the selected connections as columns to the main table

Only the last subject in the chain seems to appear in the table, the children node is missing

Click to add properties to table as columns

Presidents

Schools of their children

… but where are the President’s children???

Task 2 : Ancestry Now let’s explore the genealogy of the Presidents Razorbase : Use the descendents button to explore ancestry (i.e. people taught be the students of a teacher, grandchildren, friend of a friend, etc.) Parallax : Use the properties selector

Now let’s explore the genealogy of the Presidents

Razorbase : Use the descendents button to explore ancestry (i.e. people taught be the students of a teacher, grandchildren, friend of a friend, etc.)

Parallax : Use the properties selector

First Razorbase …

Click to view connections …

… of this type (i.e. descendents)

Razorbase : Sparse results We are now viewing the grandchildren of the main subject The results are ready, but the service ran out of time, so let’s increase the timeout to give the service time to return more results

We are now viewing the grandchildren of the main subject

The results are ready, but the service ran out of time, so let’s increase the timeout to give the service time to return more results

Extend the time for retrieving results

Razorbase : Their schools Click the About tab to view the subject’s information Find and select school property

Click the About tab to view the subject’s information

Find and select school property

Click to view information about the subject

Found alma maters

Select one

View those who attended this school

show values

Let’s scroll page right

Razorbase : Now their children

Let’s scroll page left

Click to see children of this subject

Now Parallax …

Parallax : Ancestry We are now viewing the main subject We need to focus on Children, unfortunately, adding properties via the add link does not update breadcrumbs

We are now viewing the main subject

We need to focus on Children, unfortunately, adding properties via the add link does not update breadcrumbs

Let’s scroll page up

Parallax : Ancestry We are now focused on the Children of the main subject Since we want the grandchildren of the main subject, let’s navigate one more time to the children of this subject

We are now focused on the Children of the main subject

Since we want the grandchildren of the main subject, let’s navigate one more time to the children of this subject

Let’s scroll page right

Parallax: Mutual Connections We now have the grandchildren Let’s view the schools they attended

We now have the grandchildren

Let’s view the schools they attended

Let’s scroll page right

Task 2: Mutual Connections Now let’s view who else has attended school which the children of presidents attended Razorbase : Use the shares button to explore mutual connections Parallax : Use the properties selector

Now let’s view who else has attended school which the children of presidents attended

Razorbase : Use the shares button to explore mutual connections

Parallax : Use the properties selector

First Razorbase …

Navigate to the children of presidents

Razorbase : Sparse results The filters have limited the results set, so let’s remove some filters to return to all children of presidents

The filters have limited the results set, so let’s remove some filters to return to all children of presidents

Show filters

Razorbase : Query Description Query description expresses the criteria of your query in plain language Subjects are color-coded to help user trace the subjects to the criteria in which they are involved

Query description expresses the criteria of your query in plain language

Subjects are color-coded to help user trace the subjects to the criteria in which they are involved

Razorbase : Sparse results Remove the criteria that says the presidents must have grandchildren

Remove the criteria that says the presidents must have grandchildren

Click to remove criteria and sub-criteria

Razorbase : Mutual Connections Since a criteria has been removed, user is taken to the properties explorer Click the back to results button, or About tab to navigate back to the President’s children subject However, we’re interested in the schools they attended, so use the link in the Query description to switch focus

Since a criteria has been removed, user is taken to the properties explorer

Click the back to results button, or About tab to navigate back to the President’s children subject

However, we’re interested in the schools they attended, so use the link in the Query description to switch focus

Go to the schools of the children

Razorbase : Mutual Connections Now view other people who have attended these schools

Now view other people who have attended these schools

Click to show all who share things…

… of this property type

Let’s scroll page right

Breadcrumbs express the mutual connection

Razorbase : Mutual Connections We now have all people who attended the same schools attended by the children of people connected to U. S. Presidents Now let’s filter the list to include only Children who attended schools that John McCain attended

We now have all people who attended the same schools attended by the children of people connected to U. S. Presidents

Now let’s filter the list to include only Children who attended schools that John McCain attended

Let’s scroll page down

Found John McCain …

… now add a criteria for his school

Razorbase : Mutual Connections It appears that Jimmy Carter also attended the school John McCain attended It also says he’s a child of the subject, but can this be? First, let’s check the Query description to understand and verify all connections

It appears that Jimmy Carter also attended the school John McCain attended

It also says he’s a child of the subject, but can this be?

First, let’s check the Query description to understand and verify all connections

Razorbase: Mutual Connections All checks out there Let’s peeks at who is Jimmy Carter’s father

All checks out there

Let’s peeks at who is Jimmy Carter’s father

Click to see its parents

Razorbase : Mutual Connections It appears the Jimmy Carter in question is a junior, let’s see if his father is Jimmy Carter the U. S. President To do this, we view the categories that the parents appear under, if one is U.S. President , we can assume that refers to James Carter , and not Lillian Carter

It appears the Jimmy Carter in question is a junior, let’s see if his father is Jimmy Carter the U. S. President

To do this, we view the categories that the parents appear under, if one is U.S. President , we can assume that refers to James Carter , and not Lillian Carter

Razorbase : Mutual Connections We now discover that the Jimmy Carter in question is the U.S. President Jimmy Carter (a child of our query’s main subject) attended the same school as John McCain Now let’s view all other people who have attended this school, regardless of their relationship to the main subject

We now discover that the Jimmy Carter in question is the U.S. President Jimmy Carter (a child of our query’s main subject) attended the same school as John McCain

Now let’s view all other people who have attended this school, regardless of their relationship to the main subject

… or

Go to all who have attended this school

Razorbase : Mutual Connections Group them by category

Group them by category

Now Parallax …

Parallax: Mutual Connections To recap, we now have the schools of the children of U.S. Presidents We are interested in mutual attendants of these schools

To recap, we now have the schools of the children of U.S. Presidents

We are interested in mutual attendants of these schools

Let’s scroll page right

Let’s scroll page left

…

Let’s scroll page down

Parallax: Mutual Connections It appears Parallax does not (yet) support exploration of mutual connections

It appears Parallax does not (yet) support exploration of mutual connections

Conclusion Both Razorbase and Parallax are powerful tools for navigating databases Razorbase exploits schema-level metadata such as property transitivity to give users one-click access to useful connection types, while the schema metadata available to Parallax is less robust Razorbase navigates linkages across a large network of database sources, while Parallax is currently limited to Freebase

Both Razorbase and Parallax are powerful tools for navigating databases

Razorbase exploits schema-level metadata such as property transitivity to give users one-click access to useful connection types, while the schema metadata available to Parallax is less robust

Razorbase navigates linkages across a large network of database sources, while Parallax is currently limited to Freebase