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Title:
Semantic Web Technologies: Trends and Research in Ontology-based Systems
Review:
In May 2001, an article entitled "The Semantic Web" was published in Scientific American magazine. It described a future where the Semantic Web, which would evolve from the current web, would enable machines to manipulate data and complete tasks, for example to schedule appointments on behalf of their owners.
The web we use now consists of documents that are primarily designed for humans to read. The Semantic Web -- envisioned by Tim Berners-Lee, the man behind the World Wide Web and HTML -- is a way of arranging information so machines can easily read it. Once data is in this format, it becomes possible to create a global system for publishing information that can be easily accessed by everything, human or machine.
Semantic Web Technologies: Trends and Research in Ontology-based SystemsIn an article titled "The Semantic Web Revisited", Berners-Lee notes that the full vision of the Semantic Web has yet to be fully realised, but there has been great progress in the development of standards, languages and technologies. Gartner's recent "Emerging Technologies Hype Cycle" indicates there has been an adoption of Semantic Web technologies in certain areas like enterprise information integration, content management and life sciences but believes that main stream adoption is still five to 10 years away.
Semantically Enabled Knowledge Technologies (SEKT) is a European Union project that encompasses research and the development of tools and demonstrators of Semantic Web technology. "Semantic Web Technologies: Trends and Research in Ontology-based Systems", edited by John Davies, Rudi Studer and Paul Warren, documents some of the results of this project and provides a survey and analysis of the current state of Semantic Web research, especially in the area of creating, managing and mediating ontologies.
The book states from the outset that it is intended as a guide to the technologies of the Semantic Web for 'graduate and advanced undergraduate students, academics and industrial researchers in the field'.
"Semantic Web Technologies'" 14 chapters are structured around the 'lifecycle of an ontology' and are written by different researchers in the field. Some chapters focus on the construction and management of ontologies, such as semi-automatic ontology creation through knowledge discovery and the evolution of existing ontologies to reflect changes in data and the changing interests of the people who use them. Other chapters examine the way ontologies are used in such areas as Knowledge Management and specific applications of Semantic Web technology.
It is not necessary to read the book from cover to cover, because certain chapters might be of more interest to some readers than others. Those interested in web services and service-orientated architecture might read 'Semantic Web Services -- Approaches and Perspectives' (chapter 10) and 'A Semantic Service-Orientated Architecture for the Telecommunications Industry' (chapter 13). This cross-referencing structure works well.
Even though the individual chapters of 'Semantic Web Technologies' are interesting as stand-alone works, the book as a whole provides a useful survey of the current state of Semantic Web research. At a retail price of GBP 65, this book is priced slightly outside the realm of the common reference book, but remains a useful addition to a Semantic Web library.
Free Pint Reviewer:
Mike Jones is a Senior Technical Researcher working at the Institute for Learning and Research Technology (ILRT) at the University of Bristol. He is currently part of a team working on a Semantic Web project called Iugo http://iugo.ilrt.bris.ac.uk/. Prior to March 2006 he was employed as senior web developer in the Web and Portal Team at Cardiff University working with portal and web content management systems..
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