Toronto DAMA Oct 19 2005a

The Semantic Web:What is it and why should you care?: 

The Semantic Web: What is it and why should you care? Semantic Arts, Inc. Dave McComb for Toronto IRMAC/DAMA Oct 19, 2005

Objectives: 

Objectives Semantics > Good Definitions Exotic Terminology Pursue this further

Slide3: 

Semantic Web Semantic Technology Semantic Methodology, Design & Approach

Slide4: 

Part 1: Intro, Concepts and Methods Part 2: Semantic Metadata and Annotated Data Part 3: Semantic Web Part 4: Demos

Semantic Concepts, Discipline and Methods: 

Semantic Concepts, Discipline and Methods Part 1: Intro, Concepts and Methods

Semantics: 

Semantics The study of meaning (sometimes the study of the meaning of words)

Structure and Metadata: 

Structure and Metadata You can now deal with thousands, even millions of transactions, by knowing only a small amount of metadata

Drowning in Metadata: 

Drowning in Metadata Thousands -> millions of bits of metadata Meta metadata? XMI/MOF/CWM Millions -> Billions of instances in hundreds of databases Commit to share ontologies to get back to thousands/ tens of thousands of concepts

Operative Semantics: 

Operative Semantics Some of these fields are “known” to the system and cause overt changes in behavior

Others are more subtle: 

Others are more subtle This one shows up on the detailed P&L reports This one shows up in the AP list of bills to pay This one shows up on the check

None of this is mentioned in the user manual or on line help text: 

None of this is mentioned in the user manual or on line help text

Scale issues: 

Scale issues

Carver Mead : 

Carver Mead

Flat Earth Schema: 

Flat Earth Schema We need to get up out of the weeds Higher level, business concepts

Semantic Framework: 

Semantic Framework

Anna wierzbicka: 

Anna wierzbicka Semantics: Primes and Universals Anna Wierzbicka

Semantic Primes: 

Semantic Primes Anna Wierzbicka

First Prime : 

First Prime Discrete Physical Object Something to which you could (potentially) attach a unique bar code

Physical Items: 

Physical Items

Semantic Primes for Business: 

Semantic Primes for Business People Animals Physical Made Items Buildings Landmarks Physical Container Homogenous Material Legal Entities Historical Events Conversion Scheduled Events Defined Events Measurement Estimate Monetary Amount Reference Value Decision Request Rights Permission Offer Order (Directive) Contract/Order Messages Documents Inventions Programs

“G’arn?”: 

“G’arn?” “Narn” Role of context

Context: 

Context How many addresses do you have in your database? One of our clients has 116. How many types of addresses are there?

Context: 

Context Where When Relationships Purpose What differentiates the 116? Context, such as

Categories: 

Categories How Categories Inform Us

Example Categories: 

Example Categories Inventory system (categories disguised as attributes): Attractive Insurance spare Fast/Slow Moving A/B/C High/Low Value Degradable

Example Categories: 

Example Categories Inventory system (categories disguised as entities): Equipment Kits Parts Tools Serialized Parts Raw Material Assemblies Phantoms

Example Categories: 

Example Categories Inventory system (categories disguised as states): Obsolete Reserved Out of Stock In Inspection Discontinued On Order

Example Categories: 

Example Categories Inventory system (categories disguised as relations): On consignment In Use Stock for this warehouse Preferred Supplier Issued to

What are we doing???: 

What are we doing??? We categorize things all the time. As data modelers we set up other people’s categories for them. We decide whether their categories will be expressed as: Entities Attributes (codes, enums, flags and labels) States Relations Classes Types etc.

Category Definition: 

Category Definition Encarta: “a group or set of things, people, or actions that are classified together because of common characteristics” Cambridge (English): “a type, or a group of things having some features that are the same” Cambridge (American): ”a grouping of people or things by type in any systematic arrangement. (The light trucks weigh less than 5,000 pounds and are in a category that includes minivans, pickups, and sport utility vehicles)” Infoplease: “any general or comprehensive division; a class” Encyclopedia.com: “philosophical term that literally means predication or assertion”

Operative Definition of Categories: 

Operative Definition of Categories Semantic Arts: “A description of a set of things that contains: A set of testable membership criteria that can either improve or reduce our confidence in the membership A set of additional information that can be inferred from the membership A set of behaviors that can be applied to members of the category A set of questions that can be applied to the instance to gather property or relationship values”

Hidden Categories: 

Hidden Categories Almost every “IF…THEN…” or “CASE…” statement contains a category So does the procedures manual You are aware of some of them

Categories and Behavior: 

Categories and Behavior The reason to create a new category is if the distinction (the new category) will be treated differently, behaviorally By a program, or By a human

Categories and Behavior: 

Categories and Behavior The reason to subsume categories (through a taxonomy or just collapse them) is if they can be treated the same, behaviorally

Wrap on Discipline: 

Wrap on Discipline

Slide38: 

Part 2: Semantic Metadata and Annotated Data

Metadata and Annotated Data: 

Metadata and Annotated Data

Content: FOAF: 

Content: FOAF Friend Of A Friend Ontology for contacts

Slide41: 

Content: Dublin Core

So, how do we do this?: 

So, how do we do this?

Business Vocabulary: 

Business Vocabulary Not whether, but when: as you come across the terms, or up front? what source: source documents, interviews or existing systems? how: defining terms or concepts?

Business Vocabulary: 

Business Vocabulary Schema Jargon

Injured workers -- representatives: 

Injured workers -- representatives Information contained in the claim files and records of injured workers, under the provisions of this title, shall be deemed confidential and shall not be open to public inspection (other than to public employees in the performance of their official duties), but representatives of a claimant, be it an individual or an organization, may review a claim file or receive specific information therefore upon the presentation of the signed authorization of the claimant.

Employers -- Representatives: 

Employers -- Representatives Employers or their duly authorized representatives may review any files of their own injured workers in connection with any pending claims.

Claimant: 

Claimant A claimant may review his or her claim file if the director determines, pursuant to criteria adopted by rule, that the review is in the claimant's interest.

Patient: 

Patient Except as otherwise provided by law, all treatment records shall remain confidential. Treatment records may be released only to the persons designated in this section, or to other persons designated in an informed written consent of the patient….[much more]

Child Victims: 

Child Victims Information revealing the identity of child victims of sexual assault who are under age eighteen is confidential and not subject to public disclosure. Identifying information means the child victim's name, address, location, photograph, and in cases in which the child victim is a relative or stepchild of the alleged perpetrator, identification of the relationship between the child and the alleged perpetrator.

Dilbert’s Boss Understands This: 

Dilbert’s Boss Understands This

“How to”: 

“How to” Sources Documents Existing systems Controlled Vocabularies Interviews Techniques Distinctionary Concept -> Term

Documents: 

Documents Information contained in the claim files and records of injured workers, under the provisions of this title, shall be deemed confidential and shall not be open to public inspection (other than to public employees in the performance of their official duties), but representatives of a claimant, be it an individual or an organization, may review a claim file or receive specific information therefore upon the presentation of the signed authorization of the claimant.

Existing systems: 

Existing systems

Vocabulary Item:: 

Vocabulary Item: “A variety of language unique to an individual” Idiolect

Every System We Design or Buy…: 

Every System We Design or Buy… … is another ideolect

Interviews: 

Interviews Enumerate types Look for counter examples Look for similarities Synonyms

Warning:: 

Warning: Definitions are hard to get consensus on And often not worth it

Example good Definition: 

Example good Definition Customer: Groups or individuals who have a business relationship with the organization--those who receive and use or are directly affected by the products and services of the organization. Customers include direct recipients of products and services, internal customers who produce services and products for final recipients, and other organizations and entities that interact with an organization to produce products and services.

Another Problems with Definitions : 

Another Problems with Definitions Homonym problem Same lexical word means different things

SUMO and WordNet: 

SUMO and WordNet

Concept : 

Concept Avoids the generalized definition trap Drastically speeds up discovery (have you ever tried to get a group of experts to agree on the meaning of a set of terms) Finesses the homonymy problem Term or Terms

Process: 

Process Tease apart the facets of a given definition. People will generally agree with the facets. They won’t necessarily agree on the same combination of facets mapping to the base word you started with. Ask: what could we call each bundle of facets that they care about? e.g., mother

Key Concept: The Distinctionary: 

Key Concept: The Distinctionary Is: a glossary Is distinct from other glossaries: structurally, each definition first specifies the more general type of thing the word is, and then provides a way to distinguish this thing from others that are similar.

Example: 

Example Patient: A patient is a role between a human being and a healthcare delivery institution. It is different from other roles between a human and a healthcare delivery institution in that the human had been the recipient of the delivery of diagnostic or corrective health care services.

Taxonomies: 

Taxonomies

Taxonomy: 

Taxonomy “A taxonomy is a system for classifying and organizing large amounts of information” Seth Earley www.earley.com

DMOZ: 

DMOZ Home Gardening Personal Finance Cooking Baking Casseroles Camping Dutch Oven

Formal Taxonomy: 

Formal Taxonomy isa? isa?

Subsumption v. Inheritance: 

Subsumption v. Inheritance Dynamic v. Static

Ontology --Frame based: 

Ontology --Frame based

Ontology Definition: 

Ontology Definition “A specification of a conceptualization” Tom Gruber Taxonomy: Ontology :: Tree: Network

Limits of Taxonomy: 

Limits of Taxonomy Disjointedness

Concept: A Small Ontology: 

Concept: A Small Ontology GP (Genealogy Primitives) Person M/F Spouse Parent

Consider my family Database: 

Consider my family Database

What kinds of queries could I do?: 

What kinds of queries could I do? Any view qualified by the attributes (show everyone born before 1/1/1990) Some join based queries (show all of Dave’s children) But it gets much more complex after that

Committing to an Ontology: 

Committing to an Ontology Person Person Gender Person Spouse

Concept: Committing & Sharing: 

Concept: Committing & Sharing GP (Genealogy Primitives) GC (Genealogy Concepts) My Family Commits to Commits to Person M/F Spouse Parent Dave is male Dave is Addie’s parent Addie is female Naomi is Dave’s parent Naomi is Tom’s parent Father… Uncle… Cousin… Second Cousin, etc. … Key concept: queries/ inference can be executed using ontological definitions I’m not even aware of

Good Resource: 

Good Resource Ontology Development 101: A Guide to creating your first ontology Natalya Noy and Deborah McGuinness http://www.ksl.stanford.edu/people/dlm/papers/ontology-tutorial-noy-mcguinness.pdf

Description Logics: 

Description Logics

Description Logics: 

Description Logics This is where the rigor comes in. Three things that take some getting used to: Classes and Instances interchangeable Allowing the system to do some of the design work for you Open world logic Plus some very strange terminology and symbology

Description Logics (DL)Points of Departure: 

Description Logics (DL) Points of Departure As much as possible, minimize the number of concepts that have to be accepted axiomatically. Emphasize formal definitions for all the rest.

DL Definitions: 

DL Definitions

Classes and Instances: 

Classes and Instances Database designers make an early design decision as to what is going to be metadata (classes, columns, etc.) and what is going to be instance data. For ontologists, this is a continually moving target. Additionally, properties (which could be equivalent to attributes or relationships) are “free floating” and can be attached to classes, but don’t “belong” to them in the same way as with database models.

Allowing the System to Do some Design: 

Allowing the System to Do some Design Declared Inferred

Open World: 

Open World In closed world (i.e., SQL), absence of information is assumed to be negation. If the query doesn’t find it, it doesn’t exist. In open world (DL), things are assumed to be possible until proven otherwise. In DL, classes are assumed to overlap unless they are explicitly declared to be disjoint. Domain and range are used for reasoning, not constraining.

Motherhood: 

Motherhood Sue is John’s biological mother Sarah is John’s biological mother Therefore? George Washington’s mother

Other strange vocabulary: 

Other strange vocabulary

Summary: 

Summary

Slide91: 

www.semanticarts.com Semantic Arts, Inc.