SEMIC, the Semantic Interoperability Community recently published 10 Rules for Persistent URIs. The article states, “The attached report documents a survey performed by ISA Action 1.1 on Semantic Interoperability in order to explore good practices on the publication of Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI), both in terms of format and of their design rules and management. Read more

Richard Wallis recently posed the question, is do-it-yourself Linked Data a good idea? He states, “Most Semantic Web and Linked Data enthusiasts will tell you that Linked Data is not rocket science, and it is not.  They will tell you that RDF is one of the simplest data forms for describing things, and they are right.  They will tell you that adopting Linked Data makes merging disparate datasets much easier to do, and it does. They will say that publishing persistent globally addressable URIs (identifiers) for your things and concepts will make it easier for others to reference and share them, it will.” Read more

I often read blogs and watch conference presentations extolling the virtues and benefits of adopting Semantic Web and Linked Data techniques & technologies. It makes me wonder how those new to the field ever get through the blizzard of acronyms and techno-speak, to understand what is being promoted and how it might be relevant to them and their business.  In this post I will attempt to demystify and identify the core benefits of Linked Data without burying you in LD-speak!

Let me start with the web itself.  Imagine if you will that you have just returned from desert island exile for the last decade and a half. You are introduced to the web and start using Google searching to find out what this web thing is all about. You are assailed with an overwhelming array of acronyms terms and concepts – Ajax, Javascript, HTML, CSS, HTTP, XML, DOM, URL, Flash, RDFa, JSON, Microformats, SEO – argh! where do you begin?  However after some digging it becomes clear that there is a blindingly simple concept at the core that only uses three of them: HTML – a simple markup language to describe how a web page should be laid out, URL – a globally unique way to address a page on the Internet, HTTP – a simple way to request and receive a page across the Internet. Read more

A recent interview with Marcus Ebner, a geologist working as a domain expert in knowledge management at the Geological Survey of Austria sheds some light on semantics and data management. The article begins, “The Geological Survey of Austria is a public sector research institution that is affiliated with the Austrian Federal Ministry for Science and Research and as such the premier advisory body for the Austrian Government for geosciences. The core program covers diverse activities in a wide range of geosciences, such as geoscientific mapping, basic research, environmental monitoring including natural resources and water management and maintenance of extensive databases and archives. PoolParty Team had the chance to talk with Mr. Ebner about the role of SKOS and other standards in the context of the INSPIRE Directive and other scenarios for data harmonisation.” Read more