Semantic web

To browse other articles on a range of HSL topics, see the wiki index.

Introduction

See also Dublin Core, FOAF - Friend of a Friend, Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Web 3.0

The semantic web as envisioned by Tim Berners-Lee and others is a more structured web where data is connected through inferences among billions of documents. One reason the semantic web will be more organized is because websites will have better metadata or 'tags' attached to them using markup languages devised by machines and others by humans. Many ideas of the semantic web originate with Sir Tim Berners-Lee who is a key figure in the evolution of the web. Berners-Lee is widely-considered the web's 'inventor'. The semantic web has been debated since 2001 and is fiercely contested. The semantic web is a controversial concept and some critics say it is impossible to achieve.

• What the F*** is the Semantic Web? And, Why Should We Care?

Semantic web & 'data about data'

The semantic web will use metadata to make it easier to bring similar documents together during information retrieval. Metadata will help search tools find and collate similar documents much like what we see in our medical databases and library catalogues. Metadata is defined simply as 'data about data'. One of the major metadata standards is Dublin Core. Health librarians can think of metadata as the kind of information used in bibliographic records in our catalogues, information that describes documents or other intellectual works based on professional standards. The Dublin Core metadata element set is defined by NISO Standard Z39.85-2007. For more background, see the Semantic Media wiki.

• http://www.data.gov/semantic/index

Improving web findability through semantization

The semantic web (and its associated semantic aware applications) attempts to address the problems associated with poor integration, findability and organization on the current Web. Interestingly, the semantic web and Web 3.0 are often used synonymously because they share many of the same goals and objectives. However, the semantic web is a specific set of trends and technologies that will reach maturity in the next ten to fifteen years. This period of time is seen to be the third decade of the web's evolution from 2010-2020, which is why it is referred to as web 3.0. Web expert Nova Spivack has come up with his predictions of features of web 4.0 already. A 2001 Scientific American article by Berners-Lee describes a vision for the web that is quite different from the one that we have presently. A recent article from Berners-Lee and colleagues stated that: "This simple idea is still in process. Perhaps intelligent agents - smarter 'bots' that crawl websites for useful information and connect it - that have been touted for ages will finally materialize."

Interesting quotes by the semantic web guru

"People keep asking what web 3.0 is. I think maybe when you've got ...[the] semantic Web integrated across a huge space of data, you'll have access to an unbelievable resource [in web 3.0]." - A 'more revolutionary' Web - Sir Tim Berners-Lee "I have a dream for the web [where 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." "Semantic publishing will benefit greatly from the semantic web. In particular, the semantic web is expected to revolutionize academic and scientific publishing, such as real-time publishing and sharing of experimental data on the Internet. This simple but radical idea is now being explored by W3C HCLS group's Scientific Publishing Task Force."

Why should librarians care

Librarians need to articulate a vision for change and find a secure place for themselves in the digital age. (See Fiona Bradley's Semantic Library). A web built on the principles of description and analysis will look vastly different from what we know today. It could potentially be a place where much of the knowledge of librarians and computer scientists is built into the web itself. What's remarkable about semantic technologies is that they will not affect the look or feel of our 'web experiences', and may perform tasks without our end-users' knowledge. In other words, our users will likely be unaware of any filters or tools we have created to organize and connect the vast networks of information across the world. This could be important given our users' growing expectations for seamless delivery in the information age and their demands for instant access to information via handheld technologies such as the iPad.

Semantic websites

• HealthCyberMap Resource Index Using ICD-9-CM Top-Level Categories http://healthcybermap.semanticweb.org

See also Semantic search

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