swade unep apr 2004

Slide1: 

Thesauri, Terminologies and the Semantic Web

CCLRC: 

CCLRC Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CCLRC) Big Science Synchrotron Radiation Sources Lasers Pulsed Neutron Source Large-scale IT demands: tera-scale data, computation Strong IT R&D programme BITD: Business and Information Technology Department

SWAD-E: 

SWAD-E Semantic Web Advanced Development for Europe (SWAD-E) EU Project W3C Semantic Web Activity R&D Demos & Apps Guidelines & Best Practises Partners: HP Labs, ILRT, Stilo, ERCIM (INRIA), CCLRC

Semantic Web: 

Semantic Web Current Web: Web of information for humans Semantic Web: Web of data for computers Why? Automation, organisation, search Enabling technologies: RDF: Resource Description Framework Data linking, low-level semantics OWL: Web Ontology Language High-level semantics, inference

SWAD-E Thesaurus Activity: 

SWAD-E Thesaurus Activity Why is SWAD-E interested in thesauri? Large body of well-engineered knowledge Enrich & bootstrap semantic web SWAD-E Thesaurus Activity Design Schemas for thesaurus data Guidelines for use and migration Supporting technologies and demos

Exploiting the Semantic Web: 

Exploiting the Semantic Web What can you get out of the semantic web? Integration & Connectivity Data Interoperability Application Interoperability N.B. The Semantic Web is a Tool.

Integration & Connectivity: 

Integration & Connectivity Recurring use-case: high/low-level thesauri E.g. GCL & Cultural Heritage thesauri E.g. Gerry’s macro/micro thesauri RDF => Data linking Can create large linked thesaurus structures – super-thesauri Linking solves problem of concurrent versions

Data Interoperability: 

Data Interoperability Interoperability is a major goal Move to XML technologies is a step in the right direction But … XML does not equal Interoperability [N.B. plethora of XML formats for thesauri]

SKOS-Core: RDF Schema for Thesauri: 

SKOS-Core: RDF Schema for Thesauri Introducing: SKOS-Core 1.0 RDF Schema for Thesauri SKOS: Simple Knowledge Organisation Systems The First Challenge: coping with variety in thesaurus design and structure Allow unique features Support interoperability The Second Challenge: interoperating with/migrating to ontologies, taxonomies, classification schemes etc. N.B. The semantic web is where data collide

SKOS Meta-Model: 

SKOS Meta-Model SKOS Meta-Model: Concept-orientation Concepts (given URIs) Labels (pref, alt) (symbols) Concept Schemes Semantic Relations (extensible set) Broader, narrower, related … Semantic Mappings (extensible set) Exact, inexact … Scope notes, definitions, depictions Infer meaning of concept from labels, scope notes, definitions, depictions & neighbours. skos:semanticRelation skos:broader skos:broaderInstantive sub-property of sub-property of

SKOS Meta-Model: 

SKOS Meta-Model

Example: GEMET: 

Example: GEMET Non-Standard Features: Groups & Super-Groups Themes Solution: Extend SKOS-Core: Class gemet:Group Sub-class of skos:Concept Class gemet:Theme Sub-class of skos:Concept Property gemet:broaderTheme Sub-property of skos:broader Property gemet:broaderGroup Sub-propery of skos:broader skos:semanticRelation skos:broader gemet:broaderGroup sub-property of sub-property of

Approach to Non-Standard Thesauri: 

Approach to Non-Standard Thesauri Design schema as extension to SKOS-Core Preserve unique features Can interoperate with anything based on SKOS-Core Have your cake and eat it!

Example: MeSH: 

Example: MeSH Medical Subject Headings Thesaurus features: Semantically ambiguous concept hierarchy Ontology features: Semantic typing of concepts, e.g. Calcymycin type Antibiotic Use combination of SKOS and OWL to represent this hybrid structure RDF, SKOS & OWL means you can migrate a thesaurus to ontology merely by adding statements (No re-engineering or transformation is required)

Interoperability: Thesaurus Mapping: 

Interoperability: Thesaurus Mapping Common use-case: overlapping thesauri Mappings support interchangeable use of overlapping thesauri Introducing: SKOS-Mapping RDF Schema for inter-thesaurus mapping

SKOS-Mapping: 

SKOS-Mapping Sets of Resources in which Concept Occurs

Data Interop Summary: 

Data Interop Summary SKOS-Core supports interoperability of KOS with variable structures SKOS-Mapping supports interoperability of overlapping KOS

Multilinguality: 

Multilinguality Analyse multilingual thesaurus into language components Multilingual Labelling Use SKOS-Core E.g. GEMET Inter-lingual Mapping Use SKOS-Core + SKOS-Mapping E.g. AAT, Merimee

Multilinguality (2): 

Multilinguality (2) Analyse each language component Multilingual Labelling Interlingual Mapping

GEMET Backbone in SKOS-RDF: 

GEMET Backbone in SKOS-RDF <skos:Concept rdf:about="c_3194"> <gemet:broaderTheme rdf:resource="t_9"/> <skos:narrower rdf:resource="c_1824"/> <skos:narrower rdf:resource="c_13150"/> <skos:narrower rdf:resource="c_13260"/> <skos:narrower rdf:resource="c_13177"/> <skos:narrower rdf:resource="c_13152"/> <skos:narrower rdf:resource="c_8308"/> <skos:inScheme rdf:resource="../GEMET"/> <skos:narrower rdf:resource="c_6793"/> <gemet:broaderGroup rdf:resource="g_2504"/> <skos:narrower rdf:resource="c_3205"/> <skos:narrower rdf:resource="c_1025"/> <skos:narrower rdf:resource="c_13151"/> <skos:narrower rdf:resource="c_11044"/> <skos:narrower rdf:resource="c_3201"/> <skos:narrower rdf:resource="c_4478"/> <skos:narrower rdf:resource="c_6602"/> </skos:Concept>

GEMET en labels in SKOS-RDF: 

GEMET en labels in SKOS-RDF <skos:Concept rdf:about="c_3194"> <skos:prefLabel xml:lang="en-GB">finances</skos:prefLabel> <skos:definition xml:lang="en-GB">The monetary resources or revenue of a government, company, organization or individual. (Source: RHW)</skos:definition> </skos:Concept>

Application Interoperability: 

Application Interoperability Move to modularisation and distribution via web services is step in the right direction But … Web services does not equal application interoperability Web service API Community driven design Endorsed by wider community

SKOS API : 

SKOS API SKOS API Interface to terminology web service Under development (pre-release is online) Participate on public mailing list: public-esw-thes@w3.org

Web Service Implementation: 

Web Service Implementation Reference Implementation of SKOS API Leverage power of sem-web tools E.g. RDF Query E.g. transitive closure of broader concepts SOAP Service Back end: Sesame RDF Store Modular design Semantic Web Services

Future Issues: 

Future Issues Social aspects Semantic web technology supports community driven development of thesauri But … validation? Change Management Versioning Evolution

Summary: 

Summary Semantic Web Technologies are tools SKOS-Core & SKOS-Mapping support data interoperability SKOS API supports application interoperability W3C Semantic Web Best Practises Working Group Thesaurus Task Force

SWAD-E & Eco-informatics: 

SWAD-E & Eco-informatics Work with thesaurus developers and managers Publish RDF encodings of current thesauri Test design and coverage of SKOS-Core Community building for development of web service API

Thank You: 

Thank You Links: SWAD-Europe Thesaurus Activity http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/Europe/reports/thes/ SKOS-Core 1.0 Guide http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/Europe/reports/thes/1.0/guide/ SKOS API http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/Europe/reports/thes/skosapi.html SKOS-Core 1.0 Guidelines for Migration http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/Europe/reports/thes/1.0/migrate/ Public Thesaurus Mailing list public-esw-thes@w3.org W3C Semantic Web Activity http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/ SWAD-E Project http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/Europe/