This document discusses semantic technologies and digital data processing. It provides an overview of semantics and the semantic web, including XML, RDF, OWL, SPARQL, ontologies, and data models. It also discusses capturing semantics in XML documents, OWL, RDF schema, semantic web applications like cartographic searching, SKOS for knowledge organization systems, and the SKOS Play visualization tool.

1. SemanticS & digital data
proceSSing
Beirut, 9-10 March 2015
Establishing a framework for scholarly editing and publishing in the 21st century
Mokhtar BEN HENDA

2. Semantics:Semantics: Better computational description ofBetter computational description of
sciencescience
 Information is given explicit meaning so that machines can process it
more intelligently;
 Instead of just creating standard terms for concepts as is done in
XML, the Semantic Web also allows users to provide formal
definitions for the standard terms they create so that machines can
use inference algorithms to reason about the terms;
 A crucial component to the Semantic Web is the definition and use of
ontologies,

3. Basics of semantic WebBasics of semantic Web
 XML
 XML is a language for transmitting structured information. If the goal of the
web is to enable not only communication between people, but also between
machines, then XML seems a good basis not only for documents to be read
by people, but for data to be read by machines.
 RDF
 RDF(Resource Description Framework) is a directed, labeled graph data
format for representing information in the Web. It is just a data model that
does not have any significant semantics. RDF Schema is used to define a
vocabulary for use in RDF models. In particular, it allows to define the classes
used to type resources and to define the properties that resources can have.
 OWL
 OWL was designed to provide a common way to process the content of web
information instead of displaying it. It is primarily concerned with defining
terminology that can be used in RDF documents. Syntactically, an OWL
ontology is a valid RDF document and as such also a well-formed XML
document.
 SPARQL
 Is a set of specifications that provide languages and protocols to query and
manipulate RDF graph content on the Web or in an RDF store

4. OntologiesOntologies
 Principle:
 From characters string to word meaning
 From words listing to words relations
 From indexes to ontologies
Ontologies
Semantic links
Vocabularies

5. Data ModelsData Models
bank
fiddle
violin
violist
fiddler
string
rec: 12345
- financial institute
rec: 54321
- side of a river
rec: 9876
- small string instrument
rec: 65438
- musician playing violin
rec:42654
- musician
rec:25876
- string instrument
rec:35576
- string of instrument
rec:29551
- underwear
type-of
type-of
part-of
Vocabulary of a languageConceptsRelations
1
2
2
1
1
2
© Piek Vossen

6. Capturing Semantics in XML DocumentsCapturing Semantics in XML Documents

7. 7
XML
app#1
Semantics: Code
to interpret the data
Action: Code to
process the data
app#2
Semantics: Code
to interpret the data
Action: Code to
process the data
application basisapplication basis
© Katia Sycara and Massimo Paolucci

8. OWL (Ontology Web Language)OWL (Ontology Web Language)
XML
app#1
Action: Code to
process the data
app#2
Action: Code to
process the data
OWL Document
Semantic Definitions
OWL Document
Semantic Definitions
Handles separate concept definitions (semantics) from
application
Express concept definitions using a standard vocabulary
© Katia Sycara and Massimo Paolucci

9. 9
OWL and logicsOWL and logics
 OWL relies on Description Logics
 Logics provide automatic
 CheckCheck of consistency of concept definitions
 CompletionCompletion of concept definitions
 ClassificationClassification of new instances and concepts
 ExtractionExtraction of implicit knowledge in the documents
 OWL greatly expands the vocabulary for multiple
possible constructs
 XML Schema provides some of those properties to
some extent
© Katia Sycara and Massimo Paolucci

10. RDF (Resource Description Framework)RDF (Resource Description Framework)
 Provide basic syntax for OWL
 Use of URI for uniqueunique identification of
concepts, instances and relations
 Expression of relations between objects
and concepts (RDF triples)
Problem: no structure
© Katia Sycara and Massimo Paolucci

11. 11
RDF SchemaRDF Schema
 Add basic structure to RDF
 Class/Subclass declaration
 Instances
 Properties (relations)
 Multiple inheritance

12. 12(24)
NOTES
• everything is a replaceable bean
• all communication via fixed APIs
• low coupling, high modularity,
high extensibility
…
HTML
docs
RTF
docs
XML
docs
PDF
docs
email
XML
Document
Format
HTML
Document
Format
PDF
Document
Format
…
Document
Format
Layer (LRs)
XML OraclePostgre
Sql .ser
DataStore Layer
Corpus Document
Document
Content
Annotation
Set
Annotation
Feature
Map
Corpus Layer (LRs)
NOTES (2)
• eg: Protégé LR & VR both
wrapped in Res. (bean) API
• ontology repositories and
inference are the same:
KAON + Sesame +
Orenge + ?
GATE APIs
Processing Layer (PRs)
NE Co-ref TEs TRs POS …
Onto-
logy
Protégé
Onto-
logy
Word-
net
Gaz-
etteers
Language Resource Layer (LRs)
...
Application Layer
ANNIE OBIE …
IDE GUI Layer (VRs)
ADiff OntolVR DocVR ... Web
Services
Sheffield Natural Language Processing GroupSheffield Natural Language Processing Group

13. Semantic Web: cartographic searchingSemantic Web: cartographic searching

14. Semantic Web: cartographic searchingSemantic Web: cartographic searching
 Conceptual charts
 Reproduce semantic links like charts
 One concept can have numerous semantic
links
http://www.touchgraph.com/TGGoogleBrowser.html

15. Semantic Web: cartographic searchingSemantic Web: cartographic searching
http://www.oskope.com

16. Semantic Web: cartographic searchingSemantic Web: cartographic searching
• http://vionto.com/show/

17. Semantic Web: cartographic searchingSemantic Web: cartographic searching
Topic Maps : http://highwire.stanford.edu/lists/artbytopic.dtl

18. SKOS: Simple Knowledge Org. SystemsSKOS: Simple Knowledge Org. Systems
 SKOS: specifications
and standards to
support within the
framework of the
Semantic Web, the use
of knowledge
organization systems
(KOS) such as:
 thesauri,
 classification schemes,
 subject heading lists
 Taxonomies
http://www.ebusiness-unibw.org/tools/skos2owl/

19. SKOS PlaySKOS Play
 SKOS Play thesaurus is a
visualization service of
SKOS formatted
taxonomies or
vocabularies.
 More generally, it is used
to view or print a
knowledge organization
system expressed in
SKOS.
http://labs.sparna.fr/skos-play/upload?lang=en