Enabling the Semantic Web

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Enabling the Semantic Web

• Helping people find content
• preparing content to be found

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Outline

• Why Semantics Matter
• What is the Semantic Web
• How to Enable the Semantic Web
• Predictions

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Why Semantics Matter
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When you own a Rembrandt you can spell his name
any way you want.
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But when you want to find a Rembrandt you
better spell his name correctly.
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Vocabulary resources can help find the right
artist even if their name is typed incorrectly.
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Users cannot type in the complex queries needed
to find all the relevant items... But this can be
done automatically.
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Complex queries are even more important when you
search the entire web.
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So you find Rembrandt the Dutch guy...
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And not Rembrandt the toothpaste.
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What is the Semantic Web
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Berners-Lees Semantic Web

• Formatting content so that machines can
  understand it.
• Use XML/RDF
• Infinitely flexible markup language.
• Process content in many more ways than simply for
  viewing it.
• Problem Mostly syntax not semantics (in the
  human sense of meaning, i.e., language)

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Web Site Search Experience
Microsoft Travelocity useability study.
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Search Failure

• 19 Character errors (Young, et al)
• 40 Vocabulary errors (Norgard, et al)
• 20 Other errors, (e.g., field errors)
• 21 Successful (Nielsen)

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Search Failure Results
Semantic failure causes loss of users.
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The Real Semantic Web

• Specifying all possible relationships between
  terms.
• Use XML/RDF
• Extensible knowledge base.
• Terminology and their meaning and usage in
  various contexts.
• Problem No namespace agency yet.

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An Example ...
??xml version"1.5"?? ?!DOCTYPE CCLoadFile SYSTEM
"CC.dtd" ? ? CCLoadFile version2.5" ? ?
SrcVocab ? ? SVHeader ? ? dcTitle ? Current
Population Survey (March 1996 CPS) Glossary of
Subject Concepts ? /dcTitle ? ? dcDate ?
19960300 ? /dcDate ? ? dcContributor ? U.S.
Bureau of the Census and U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics ? /dcContributor ? ? /SVHeader ? ?
SVTerm ID"1101" ? ? label ? Age ? /label ? ?
definition ? Age classification is based on the
age of the person at his/her last birthday. The
adult universe (i.e., population of marriageable
age) is comprised of persons 15 years old and
over for March supplement data and for CPS labor
force data. ? /definition ? ? internalRelation
UREF"32" utype"Z39.19-19803" Name"RT"/ ? ?
/SVTerm ?
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How to Enable the Semantic Web
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The Holy Grail is ...

• Accurate information automatically processed so
  that it can easily be found and used for
  applications.
• A rich web of linked information, with markup
  allowing machines to route relevant information
  to the audiences that value it most.

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XML is a Grail-like Object

• XML is just a means for encoding informationan
  envelope standard. The real value is still in the
  information that you put in the envelope.
• Filling XML placeholders such as ltmetagt,
  ltsubjectgt, and ltmakergt requires semantic
  information management.

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Metatagging

• The hard work is mining content to extract key
  information
• Recognize the mentions of people, organizations,
  places, and things.
• Infer the subject matter.
• And putting it into formats with standard labels
  for effective exploitation.

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Semantic Content Management
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Exploiting the Semantic Web

• Route content to audience segments that value it
  most.
• Link mentions of people, organizations, places,
  and things to other information related to those
  entities.
• Populate portal directories.
• Precisely search heterogeneous content items.

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Predictions
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Predictions

• Semantic standard for unique identifiers (a
  namespace) for people, organizations, places, and
  things and the relationships among them.
• Technologies that enable the persistent naming of
  the information inside XML envelopes.
• Generation of enormous value through
  interoperability among web applications.

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Joseph A. Busch, VP Infoware ASIS
President 2001
Metacode Technologies, Inc. 139 Townsend St. San
Francisco, CA, USA http//www.metacode.com/ jbusch
_at_metacode.com