Semantic web for the working ontologist : effective modeling in RDFS and OWL

The promise of the Semantic Web to provide a universal medium to exchange data information and knowledge has been well publicized. There are many sources too for basic information on the extensions to the WWW that permit content to be expressed in natural language yet used by software agents to easily find, share and integrate information. Until now individuals engaged in creating ontologies-- formal descriptions of the concepts, terms, and relationships within a given knowledge domain-- have had no sources beyond the technical standards documents. Semantic Web for the Working Ontologist transforms this information into the practical knowledge that programmers and subject domain experts need. Authors Allemang and Hendler begin with solutions to the basic problems, but don't stop there: they demonstrate how to develop your own solutions to problems of increasing complexity and ensure that your skills will keep pace with the continued evolution of the Semantic Web.

Author Notes

Jim Hendler is the Tetherless World Senior Constellation Chair at Rensselaer.

Preface	p. xiii
About the Authors	p. xvii
Chapter 1 What Is the Semantic Web?	p. 1
What Is a Web?	p. 1
Smart Web, Dumb Web	p. 2
Smart Web Applications	p. 3
A Connected Web Is a Smarter Web	p. 4
Semantic Data	p. 5
A Distributed Web of Data	p. 6
Features of a Semantic Web	p. 7
What about the Round-Worlders?	p. 9
To Each Their Own	p. 10
There's Always One More	p. 11
Summary	p. 12
Fundamental Concepts	p. 13
Chapter 2 Semantic Modeling	p. 15
Modeling for Human Communication	p. 17
Explanation and Prediction	p. 19
Mediating Variability	p. 21
Variation and Classes	p. 22
Variation and Layers	p. 23
Expressivity in Modeling	p. 26
Summary	p. 28
Fundamental Concepts	p. 29
Chapter 3 RDF-The Basis of the Semantic Web	p. 31
Distributing Data Across the Web	p. 32
Merging Data from Multiple Sources	p. 36
Namespaces, URIs, and Identity	p. 37
Expressing URIs in Print	p. 40
Standard Namespaces	p. 43
Identifiers in the RDF Namespace	p. 44
Challenge: RDF and Tabular Data	p. 45
Higher-Order Relationships	p. 49
Alternatives for Serialization	p. 51
N-Triples	p. 51
Notation 3 RDF (N3)	p. 52
RDF/XML	p. 53
Blank Nodes	p. 54
Ordered Information in RDF	p. 56
Summary	p. 56
Fundamental Concepts	p. 57
Chapter 4 Semantic Web Application Architecture	p. 59
RDF Parser/Serializer	p. 60
Other Data Sources-Converters and Scrapers	p. 61
RDF Store	p. 64
RDF Data Standards and Interoperability of RDF Stores	p. 66
RDF Query Engines and SPARQL	p. 66
Comparison to Relational Queries	p. 72
Application Code	p. 73
RDF-Backed Web Portals	p. 75
Data Federation	p. 75
Summary	p. 76
Fundamental Concepts	p. 77
Chapter 5 RDF and Inferencing	p. 79
Inference in the Semantic Web	p. 80
Virtues of Inference-Based Semantics	p. 82
Where are the Smarts?	p. 83
Asserted Triples versus Inferred Triples	p. 85
When Does Inferencing Happen?	p. 87
Inferencing as Glue	p. 88
Summary	p. 89
Fundamental Concepts	p. 90
Chapter 6 RDF Schema	p. 91
Schema Languages and Their Functions	p. 91
What Does It Mean? Semantics as Inference	p. 93
The RDF Schema Language	p. 95
Relationship Propagation through rdfs:subPropertyOf	p. 95
Typing Data by Usage-rdfs:domain and rdfs:range	p. 98
Combination of Domain and Range with rdfs:subClassOf	p. 99
RDFS Modeling Combinations and Patterns	p. 102
Set Intersection	p. 102
Property Intersection	p. 104
Set Union	p. 105
Property Union	p. 106
Property Transfer	p. 106
Challenges	p. 108
Term Reconciliation	p. 108
Instance-Level Data Integration	p. 110
Readable Labels with rdfs:label	p. 110
Data Typing Based on Use	p. 111
Filtering Undefined Data	p. 115
RDFS and Knowledge Discovery	p. 115
Modeling with Domains and Ranges	p. 116
Multiple Domains/Ranges	p. 116
Nonmodeling Properties in RDFS	p. 120
Cross-Referencing Files: rdfs:seeAlso	p. 120
Organizing Vocabularies: rdfs:isDefinedBy	p. 121
Model Documentation: rdfs:comment	p. 121
Summary	p. 121
Fundamental Concepts	p. 122
Chapter 7 RDFS-Plus	p. 123
Inverse	p. 124
Challenge: Integrating Data that Do Not Want to Be Integrated	p. 125
Challenge: Using the Modeling Language to Extend the Modeling Language	p. 127
Challenge: The Marriage of Shakespeare	p. 129
Symmetric Properties	p. 129
Using OWL to Extend OWL	p. 130
Transitivity	p. 131
Challenge: Relating Parents to Ancestors	p. 132
Challenge: Layers of Relationships	p. 133
Managing Networks of Dependencies	p. 134
Equivalence	p. 139
Equivalent Classes	p. 141
Equivalent Properties	p. 142
Same Individuals	p. 143
Challenge: Merging Data from Different Databases	p. 146
Computing Sameness-Functional Properties	p. 149
Functional Properties	p. 150
Inverse Functional Properties	p. 151
Combining Functional and Inverse Functional Properties	p. 154
A Few More Constructs	p. 155
Summary	p. 156
Fundamental Concepts	p. 157
Chapter 8 Using RDFS-Plus in the Wild	p. 159
SKOS	p. 159
Semantic Relations in SKOS	p. 163
Meaning of Semantic Relations	p. 165
Special Purpose Inference	p. 166
Published Subject Indicators	p. 168
SKOS in Action	p. 168
FOAF	p. 169
People and Agents	p. 170
Names in FOAF	p. 171
Nicknames and Online Names	p. 171
Online Persona	p. 172
Groups of People	p. 173
Things People Make and Do	p. 174
Identity in FOAF	p. 175
It's Not What You Know, It's Who You Know	p. 176
Summary	p. 177
Fundamental Concepts	p. 178
Chapter 9 Basic OWL	p. 179
Restrictions	p. 179
Example: Questions and Answers	p. 180
Adding "Restrictions"	p. 183
Kinds of Restrictions	p. 184
Challenge Problems	p. 196
Challenge: Local Restriction of Ranges	p. 196
Challenge: Filtering Data Based on Explicit Type	p. 198
Challenge: Relationship Transfer in SKOS	p. 202
Relationship Transfer in FOAF	p. 204
Alternative Descriptions of Restrictions	p. 209
Summary	p. 210
Fundamental Concepts	p. 211
Chapter 10 Counting and Sets in OWL	p. 213
Unions and Intersections	p. 214
Closing the World	p. 216
Enumerating Sets with owl:oneOf	p. 216
Differentiating Individuals with owl:differentFrom	p. 218
Differentiating Multiple Individuals	p. 219
Cardinality	p. 222
Small Cardinality Limits	p. 225
Set Complement	p. 226
Disjoint Sets	p. 228
Prerequisites Revisited	p. 231
No Prerequisites	p. 232
Counting Prerequisites	p. 233
Guarantees of Existence	p. 234
Contradictions	p. 235
Unsatisfiable Classes	p. 237
Propagation of Unsatisfiable Classes	p. 237
Inferring Class Relationships	p. 238
Reasoning with Individuals and with Classes	p. 243
Summary	p. 244
Fundamental Concepts	p. 245
Chapter 11 Using OWL in the Wild	p. 247
The Federal Enterprise Architecture Reference Model Ontology	p. 248
Reference Models and Composability	p. 249
Resolving Ambiguity in the Model: Sets versus Individuals	p. 251
Constraints between Models	p. 253
OWL and Composition	p. 255
owl:Ontology	p. 255
owl:imports	p. 256
Advantages of the Modeling Approach	p. 257
The National Cancer Institute Ontology	p. 258
Requirements of the NCI Ontology	p. 259
Upper-Level Classes	p. 261
Describing Classes in the NCI Ontology	p. 266
Instance-Level Inferencing in the NCI Ontology	p. 267
Summary	p. 269
Fundamental Concepts	p. 270
Chapter 12 Good and Bad Modeling Practices	p. 271
Getting Started	p. 271
Know What You Want	p. 272
Inference Is Key	p. 273
Modeling for Reuse	p. 274
Insightful Names versus Wishful Names	p. 274
Keeping Track of Classes and Individuals	p. 275
Model Testing	p. 277
Common Modeling Errors	p. 277
Rampant Classism (Antipattern)	p. 277
Exclusivity (Antipattern)	p. 282
Objectification (Antipattern)	p. 285
Managing Identifiers for Classes (Antipattern)	p. 288
Creeping Conceptualization (Antipattern)	p. 289
Summary	p. 290
Fundamental Concepts	p. 291
Chapter 13 OWL Levels and Logic	p. 293
OWL Dialects and Modeling Philosophy	p. 294
Provable Models	p. 294
Executable Models	p. 296
OWL Full versus OWL DL	p. 297
Class/Individual Separation	p. 298
InverseFunctional Datatypes	p. 298
OWL Lite	p. 299
Other Subsets of OWL	p. 299
Beyond OWL 1.0	p. 300
Metamodeling	p. 300
Multipart Properties	p. 301
Qualified Cardinality	p. 302
Multiple Inverse Functional Properties	p. 302
Rules	p. 303
Summary	p. 304
Fundamental Concepts	p. 304
Chapter 14 Conclusions	p. 307
Appendix Frequently Asked Questions	p. 313
Further Reading	p. 317
Index	p. 321

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