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W3C's Semantic Web logo
W3C's Semantic Web logo

The Semantic Web is an evolving extension of the World Wide Web in which the semantics of information and services on the web is defined, making it possible for the web to understand and satisfy the requests of people and machines to use the web content. The World Wide Web (commonly shortened to the Web) is a system of interlinked Hypertext documents accessed via the Internet. Semantics is the study of meaning in communication The word derives from Greek σημαντικός ( semantikos) "significant" from Web content is the textual Visual or Aural content that is encountered as part of the user experience on Websites It may include among other [1][2] It derives from W3C director Tim Berners-Lee's vision of the Web as a universal medium for data, information, and knowledge exchange. Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee OM KBE FRS FREng FRSA (born 8 June 1955 is an English computer scientist who is credited Debt AIDS Trade in Africa (or DATA) is a Multinational non-government organization founded in January 2002 in London by U2 's Information as a concept has a diversity of meanings from everyday usage to technical settings Knowledge is defined ( Oxford English Dictionary) variously as (i expertise and skills acquired by a person through experience or education the theoretical or practical understanding [3]

At its core, the semantic web comprises a set of design principles,[4] collaborative working groups, and a variety of enabling technologies. Working Group can mean Working group, an interdisciplinary group of researchers or Working Group (dogs, kennel club designation for Some elements of the semantic web are expressed as prospective future possibilities that are yet to be implemented or realized. [2] Other elements of the semantic web are expressed in formal specifications. [5] Some of these include Resource Description Framework (RDF), a variety of data interchange formats (e. The Resource Description Framework (RDF is a family of World Wide Web Consortium (W3C Specifications originally designed as a Metadata Data g. RDF/XML, N3, Turtle, N-Triples), and notations such as RDF Schema (RDFS) and the Web Ontology Language (OWL), all of which are intended to provide a formal description of concepts, terms, and relationships within a given knowledge domain. The Resource Description Framework (RDF is a family of World Wide Web Consortium (W3C Specifications originally designed as a Metadata Data Notation3, or N3 as it is more commonly known is a shorthand non- XML serialization of Resource Description Framework models designed with human-readability Turtle (Terse RDF Triple Language is a serialisation format for RDF (Resource Description Framework graphs N-Triples is a line-based plain text Serialisation format for RDF (Resource Description Framework graphs RDFS or RDF Schema is an extensible Knowledge representation language providing basic elements for the description of ontologies, otherwise called The Web Ontology Language ( OWL) is a family of Knowledge representation languages for authoring ontologies, and is endorsed by the World Wide Description logics (DL are a family of Knowledge representation languages which can be used to represent the concept definitions of an application domain (known as terminological The term "concept" is traced back to 1554–60 ( l conceptum - something conceived but what is today termed "the classical theory of concepts" is the theory of Aristotle Terminology is the study of terms and their use Terms are Words and Compound words that are used in specific contexts Causality (but not causation) denotes a necessary relationship between one event (called cause and another event (called effect) which is the direct consequence Most generally domain knowledge is the Knowledge which is valid and directly used for a pre-selected Domain of human endeavor or an autonomous computer activity

Contents

Purpose

Humans are capable of using the Web to carry out tasks such as finding the Finnish word for "cat", reserving a library book, and searching for a low price on a DVD. WikipediaManual of Style (spelling, articles should conform to one overall spelling style of English typically the one most linked to the article topic (if it is geographic A Book is a set or collection of written printed illustrated or blank sheets made of Paper, Parchment, or other material usually fastened together DVD (also known as " Digital Versatile Disc " or " Digital Video Disc " - see Etymology)is However, a computer cannot accomplish the same tasks without human direction because web pages are designed to be read by people, not machines. A computer is a Machine that manipulates data according to a list of instructions. The semantic web is a vision of information that is understandable by computers, so that they can perform more of the tedious work involved in finding, sharing and combining information on the web.

Tim Berners-Lee originally expressed the vision of the semantic web as follows:[6]

I have a dream for the Web [in which computers] become capable of analyzing all the data on the Web – the content, links, and transactions between people and computers. A ‘Semantic Web’, which should make this possible, has yet to emerge, but when it does, the day-to-day mechanisms of trade, bureaucracy and our daily lives will be handled by machines talking to machines. The ‘intelligent agents’ people have touted for ages will finally materialize. In Artificial intelligence, an intelligent agent ( IA) is an entity which observes "reason" and acts upon an environment (i

– Tim Berners-Lee, 1999

Semantic publishing will benefit greatly from the semantic web. Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee OM KBE FRS FREng FRSA (born 8 June 1955 is an English computer scientist who is credited Semantic publishing on the Web or Semantic web publishing refers to publishing information In particular, the semantic web is expected to revolutionize scientific publishing, such as real-time publishing and sharing of experimental data on the Internet. Academic publishing describes the subfield of Publishing which distributes academic Research and Scholarship. This simple but radical idea is now being explored by W3C HCLS group's Scientific Publishing Task Force.

Tim Berners-Lee has further stated:[7]

People keep asking what Web 3.0 is. Web 30 is one of the terms used to describe the evolutionary stage of the Web that follows Web 2 I think maybe when you've got an overlay of scalable vector graphics - everything rippling and folding and looking misty - on Web 2.0 and access to a semantic Web integrated across a huge space of data, you'll have access to an unbelievable data resource. Web 20 is a term describing changing trends in the use of World Wide Web technology and Web design that aims to enhance Creativity, secure

– Tim Berners-Lee, A 'more revolutionary' Web

Relationship to the Hypertext Web

Markup

Many files on a typical computer can be loosely divided into documents and data. Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee OM KBE FRS FREng FRSA (born 8 June 1955 is an English computer scientist who is credited A document (noun is a bounded physical representation of body of Information designed with the capacity (and usually intent to Communicate. Debt AIDS Trade in Africa (or DATA) is a Multinational non-government organization founded in January 2002 in London by U2 's Documents like mail messages, reports, and brochures are read by humans. Data, like calendars, addressbooks, playlists, and spreadsheets are presented using an application program which lets them be viewed, searched and combined in many ways.

Currently, the World Wide Web is based mainly on documents written in Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), a markup convention that is used for coding a body of text interspersed with multimedia objects such as images and interactive forms. HTML, an initialism of HyperText Markup Language, is the predominant Markup language for Web pages It provides a means to describe the structure HTML, an initialism of HyperText Markup Language, is the predominant Markup language for Web pages It provides a means to describe the structure Metadata tags, for example

<meta name="keywords" content="computing, computer studies, computer">
<meta name="description" content="Cheap widgets for sale">
<meta name="author" content="Hack's Hardware">

provide a method by which computers can categorise the content of web pages.

The semantic web takes the concept further; it involves publishing the data in a language, Resource Description Framework (RDF), specifically for data, so that it can be categorized as human perception and be "understood" by computers. The Resource Description Framework (RDF is a family of World Wide Web Consortium (W3C Specifications originally designed as a Metadata Data So all data is not only stored, but filed and well handled.

HTML describes documents and the links between them. RDF, by contrast, describes arbitrary things such as people, meetings, or airplane parts.

For example, with HTML and a tool to render it (perhaps Web browser software, perhaps another user agent), one can create and present a page that lists items for sale. A user agent is the client application used with a particular Network protocol; the phrase is most commonly used in reference to those which access the World The HTML of this catalog page can make simple, document-level assertions such as "this document's title is 'Widget Superstore'". But there is no capability within the HTML itself to assert unambiguously that, for example, item number X586172 is an Acme Gizmo with a retail price of €199, or that it is a consumer product. Rather, HTML can only say that the span of text "X586172" is something that should be positioned near "Acme Gizmo" and "€ 199", etc. There is no way to say "this is a catalog" or even to establish that "Acme Gizmo" is a kind of title or that "€ 199" is a price. There is also no way to express that these pieces of information are bound together in describing a discrete item, distinct from other items perhaps listed on the page.

See also: Semantic HTML and Linked Data

Descriptive and extensible

The semantic web addresses this shortcoming, using the descriptive technologies Resource Description Framework (RDF) and Web Ontology Language (OWL), and the data-centric, customizable Extensible Markup Language (XML). HTML, an initialism of HyperText Markup Language, is the predominant Markup language for Web pages It provides a means to describe the structure Linked Data is a term used to describe a method of exposing sharing and connecting Data on the Web via Dereferenceable URIs. The Resource Description Framework (RDF is a family of World Wide Web Consortium (W3C Specifications originally designed as a Metadata Data The Web Ontology Language ( OWL) is a family of Knowledge representation languages for authoring ontologies, and is endorsed by the World Wide Don't change "Extensible" These technologies are combined in order to provide descriptions that supplement or replace the content of Web documents. Thus, content may manifest as descriptive data stored in Web-accessible databases, or as markup within documents (particularly, in Extensible HTML (XHTML) interspersed with XML, or, more often, purely in XML, with layout/rendering cues stored separately). A Computer Database is a structured collection of records or data that is stored in a computer system The Extensible Hypertext Markup Language, or XHTML, is a The machine-readable descriptions enable content managers to add meaning to the content, i. e. to describe the structure of the knowledge we have about that content. In this way, a machine can process knowledge itself, instead of text, using processes similar to human deductive reasoning and inference, thereby obtaining more meaningful results and facilitating automated information gathering and research by computers. Deductive reasoning is Reasoning which uses deductive Arguments to move from given statements ( Premises to Conclusions which must be true if the Inference is the act or process of deriving a Conclusion based solely on what one already knows Research is defined as Human activity based on Intellectual application in the investigation of Matter.

Semantic v. s. non-Semantic Web

Non-semantic web (Web 1.0 and Web 2.0):

<item>cat</item>

Semantic web (part of Web 3.0):

<animal Kingdom="Animalia" Phylum="Chordata" Class="Mammalia" Order="Carnivora" Family="Felidae" Genus="Felis">Cat</animal>

Skeptical reactions

Practical feasibility

Critics question the basic feasibility of a complete or even partial fulfillment of the semantic web. Web 10 is a Retronym which refers to the state of the World Wide Web, and any website design style used before the advent of the Web 2 Web 20 is a term describing changing trends in the use of World Wide Web technology and Web design that aims to enhance Creativity, secure Web 30 is one of the terms used to describe the evolutionary stage of the Web that follows Web 2 Some develop their critique from the perspective of human behavior and personal preferences, which ostensibly diminish the likelihood of its fulfillment (see e. g. , metacrap). Metacrap is a Portmanteau drawn from Metadata and crap. The origin of the word is unknown but it was popularized by Cory Doctorow in a Other commentators object that there are limitations that stem from the current state of software engineering itself (see e. Software engineering is the application of a systematic disciplined quantifiable approach to the development operation and maintenance of Software. g. , Leaky abstraction). A leaky abstraction is a notion applied to Implementations of an Abstraction.

Where semantic web technologies have found a greater degree of practical adoption, it has tended to be among core specialized communities and organizations for intra-company projects. [8] The practical constraints toward adoption have appeared less challenging where domain and scope is more limited than that of the general public and the World-Wide Web. [8]

An unrealized idea

The original 2001 Scientific American article by Berners-Lee described an expected evolution of the existing Web to a Semantic Web. Scientific American is a Popular science magazine, published (first weekly and later monthly since August 28, 1845, making it [9] Such an evolution has yet to occur. Indeed, a more recent article from Berners-Lee and colleagues stated that: "This simple idea, however, remains largely unrealized. " [10] Nonetheless, sometimes they even claim that many of the components of the initial vision have already been deployed.

Censorship and privacy

Enthusiasm about the semantic web could be tempered by concerns regarding censorship and privacy. Censorship is the suppression of speech or deletion of communicative material which may be considered objectionable harmful or sensitive as determined by a censor Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively For instance, text-analyzing techniques can now be easily bypassed by using other words, metaphors for instance, or by using images in place of words. Text mining, sometimes alternately referred to as text Data mining, roughly equivalent to Text analytics, refers generally to the process An advanced implementation of the semantic web would make it much easier for governments to control the viewing and creation of online information, as this information would be much easier for an automated content-blocking machine to understand. In addition, the issue has also been raised that, with the use of FOAF files and geo location meta-data, there would be very little anonymity associated with the authorship of articles on things such as a personal blog. FOAF (an acronym of Friend of a Friend) is a Machine-readable ontology describing Persons their activities and their relations to Metadata ( meta data, or sometimes metainformation) is "data about data" of any sort in any media A blog (a contraction of the term " Web log " is a Web site, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary descriptions of

Doubling output formats. .

Another criticism of the semantic web is that it would be much more time-consuming to create and publish content because there would need to be two formats for one piece of data: one for human viewing and one for machines. However, many web applications in development are addressing this issue by creating a machine-readable format upon the publishing of data or the request of a machine for such data. In Software engineering, a web application or webapp is an application that is accessed via Web browser over a network such as the Internet The development of microformats has been one reaction to this kind of criticism. A microformat is a web-based approach to semantic markup that seeks to re-use existing XHTML and HTML tags to convey Metadata and other

Specifications such as eRDF and RDFa allow arbitrary RDF data to be embedded in HTML pages. eRDF (embedded RDF is a syntax for writing HTML in such a way that the information in the HTML document can be extracted (with an eRDF Parser or XSLT stylesheet RDFa (or Resource Description Framework - in - attributes is a set of extensions to XHTML being proposed by W3C. The GRDDL (Gleaning Resource Descriptions from Dialects of Language) mechanism allows existing material (including microformats) to be automatically interpreted as RDF, so publishers only need to use a single format, such as HTML. GRDDL (pronounced 'griddle' is a markup format for Gleaning Resource Descriptions from Dialects of Languages.

Need

The idea of a 'semantic web' necessarily coming from some marking code other than simple HTML is built on the assumption that it is not possible for a machine to appropriately interpret code based on nothing but the order relationships of letters and words. If this is not true, then a 'semantic web' may be possible built on HTML alone, making a specially built 'semantic web' coding system unnecessary.

There are latent dynamic network models that can, under certain conditions, be 'trained' to appropriately 'learn' meaning based on order data, in the process 'learning' relationships with order (a kind of rudimentary working grammar). See for example latent semantic analysis. Latent semantic analysis (LSA is a technique in Natural language processing, in particular in Vectorial semantics, of analyzing relationships between a set of documents

Components

The semantic web comprises the standards and tools of XML, XML Schema, RDF, RDF Schema and OWL that are organized in the Semantic Web Stack. Don't change "Extensible" An XML schema is a description of a type of XML document typically expressed in terms of constraints on the structure and content of documents of that type above and beyond The Resource Description Framework (RDF is a family of World Wide Web Consortium (W3C Specifications originally designed as a Metadata Data RDFS or RDF Schema is an extensible Knowledge representation language providing basic elements for the description of ontologies, otherwise called The Web Ontology Language ( OWL) is a family of Knowledge representation languages for authoring ontologies, and is endorsed by the World Wide The Semantic Web Stack, also known as Semantic Web Cake or Semantic Web Layer Cake, illustrates the architecture of the Semantic Web. The OWL Web Ontology Language Overview describes the function and relationship of each of these components of the semantic web:

Current ongoing standardizations include:

The intent is to enhance the usability and usefulness of the Web and its interconnected resources through:

Projects

This section provides some example projects and tools, but is very incomplete. The choice of projects is somewhat arbitrary but may serve illustrative purposes.

Neurocommons

The Neurocommons is an open RDF database developed by Science Commons. It was compiled from major life sciences databases with a focus on neuroscience. It is accessible via a web-based front end using the SPARQL query language.

FOAF

A popular application of the semantic web is Friend of a Friend (or FoaF), which describes relationships among people and other agents in terms of RDF. FOAF (an acronym of Friend of a Friend) is a Machine-readable ontology describing Persons their activities and their relations to

SIOC

The SIOC Project - Semantically-Interlinked Online Communities provides a vocabulary of terms and relationships that model web data spaces. Semantically-Interlinked Online Communities Project (SIOC - pronounced "shock" is a Semantic Web technology Examples of such data spaces include, among others: discussion forums, weblogs, blogrolls / feed subscriptions, mailing lists, shared bookmarks, image galleries. A blog (a contraction of the term " Web log " is a Web site, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary descriptions of This is a list of blogging terms. Blogging like any hobby has developed something of a specialised Vocabulary.

SIMILE

Semantic Interoperability of Metadata and Information in unLike Environments Massachusetts Institute of Technology

SIMILE is a joint project, conducted by the MIT Libraries and MIT CSAIL, which seeks to enhance interoperability among digital assets, schemata/vocabularies/ontologies, meta data, and services. .

Linking Open Data

Datasets in the Linking Open Data project, as of September 2007
Datasets in the Linking Open Data project, as of September 2007

The Linking Open Data project is a community lead effort to create openly accessible, and interlinked, RDF Data on the Web. The data in question takes the form of RDF Data Sets drawn from a broad collection of data sources. There is a focus on the Linked Data style of publishing RDF on the Web. Linked Data is a term used to describe a method of exposing sharing and connecting Data on the Web via Dereferenceable URIs. See #Triplify for a small plugin to expose data from your Web application as Linked Data. In Software engineering, a web application or webapp is an application that is accessed via Web browser over a network such as the Internet Linked Data is a term used to describe a method of exposing sharing and connecting Data on the Web via Dereferenceable URIs.

The project is one of several sponsored by the W3C's Semantic Web Education & Outreach Interest Group (SWEO).

Services

Notification Services

Semantic Web Ping Service

The Semantic Web Ping Service is a notification service for the semantic web that tracks the creation and modification of RDF based data sources on the Web. It provides Web Services for loosely coupled monitoring of RDF data. In addition, it provides a breakdown of RDF data sources tracked by vocabulary that includes: SIOC, FOAF, DOAP, RDFS, and OWL.

Piggy Bank

Another freely downloadable tool is the Piggy Bank plug-in to Firefox. Piggy Bank works by extracting or translating web scripts into RDF information and storing this information on the user’s computer. This information can then be retrieved independently of the original context and used in other contexts, for example by using Google Maps to display information. Piggy Bank works with a new service, Semantic Bank, which combines the idea of tagging information with the new web languages. Piggy Bank was developed by the Simile Project, which also provides RDFizers, tools that can be used to translate specific types of information, for example weather reports for US zip codes, into RDF. Efforts like these could ease a potentially troublesome transition between the web of today and its semantic successor.

Triplify

Triplify is a small plugin for database driven Web applications which:

Since the Web mainly consists of Web pages served by a relatively small number of Web applications (consider all the Drupal, Wordpress and MediaWiki installations) once a Triplify configuration is created it can be reused without modifications for other instances of the same Web application thus making the "semantification" of Web applications very easy. In Software engineering, a web application or webapp is an application that is accessed via Web browser over a network such as the Internet Drupal (ˈdɹuːpʰəl is a free and Open source modular framework and Content management system (CMS written in the programming language WordPress is an Open source blog publishing application. WordPress is the official successor of b2\cafelog, developed by Michel Valdrighi MediaWiki is a web-based Wiki software application used by all projects of the Wikimedia Foundation, all wikis hosted by Wikia, and

Webepags Databases

Webepags Databases is an application that allows users to create an rdf database in the browser, without any knowledge necessary.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Berners-Lee, Tim; James Hendler and Ora Lassila (May 17, 2001). Website Parse Template (WPT is an XML based open format which provides HTML structure description of Website pages This is a list of emerging technologies. Emerging technologies are new and potentially Disruptive technologies, which may marginalize an existing dominant technology Semantic Web Services are self-contained self-describing semantically marked-up software resources that can be published discovered composed and executed across the Web in a task driven The concept of the Social Semantic Web subsumes developments in which social interactions on the Web lead to the creation of explicit and semantically rich knowledge representations Swoogle is a Search engine for Semantic Web documents terms and data found on the Web Web 30 is one of the terms used to describe the evolutionary stage of the Web that follows Web 2 "The Semantic Web". Scientific American Magazine.  
  2. ^ a b W3C Semantic Web Frequently Asked Questions. W3C. Retrieved on 2008-03-13. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1138 - Cardinal Gregorio Conti is elected Antipope as Victor IV, succeeding Anacletus II.
  3. ^ Herman, Ivan (2008-03-07). 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 161 - Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius dies and is succeeded by co-Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus Semantic Web Activity Statement. W3C. Retrieved on 2008-03-13. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1138 - Cardinal Gregorio Conti is elected Antipope as Victor IV, succeeding Anacletus II.
  4. ^ Design Issues. W3C. Retrieved on 2008-03-13. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1138 - Cardinal Gregorio Conti is elected Antipope as Victor IV, succeeding Anacletus II.
  5. ^ Herman, Ivan (2008-03-12). 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 538 - Witiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving W3C Semantic Web Activity. W3C. Retrieved on 2008-03-13. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1138 - Cardinal Gregorio Conti is elected Antipope as Victor IV, succeeding Anacletus II.
  6. ^ Berners-Lee, Tim; Fischetti, Mark (1999). Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee OM KBE FRS FREng FRSA (born 8 June 1955 is an English computer scientist who is credited Weaving the Web. Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee OM KBE FRS FREng FRSA (born 8 June 1955 is an English computer scientist who is credited HarperSanFrancisco, chapter 12. HarperCollins is a Publishing company owned by News Corporation. ISBN 9780062515872.  
  7. ^ Victoria Shannon (2006-06-26). Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian is killed during the retreat from the Sassanid Empire. A 'more revolutionary' Web. International Herald Tribune. Retrieved on 2006-05-24. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1218 - The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt. 1276 - Magnus Ladulås is crowned
  8. ^ a b Ivan Herman (2007). State of the Semantic Web. Semantic Days 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-26. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 657 - Battle of Siffin. 811 - Battle of Pliska; Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus
  9. ^ Berners-Lee, Tim (2001-05-01). Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. Events 305 - Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor. The Semantic Web. Scientific American. Scientific American is a Popular science magazine, published (first weekly and later monthly since August 28, 1845, making it Retrieved on 2008-03-13. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1138 - Cardinal Gregorio Conti is elected Antipope as Victor IV, succeeding Anacletus II.
  10. ^ Nigel Shadbolt, Wendy Hall, Tim Berners-Lee (2006). The Semantic Web Revisited. IEEE Intelligent Systems. Retrieved on 2007-04-13. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1111 - Henry V is crowned Holy Roman Emperor. 1204 - The Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople

Further reading

External links

Semantic Web Software & Demonstrations

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