As the next generation of the Web, Semantic Web circumvents many of the information silos that currently exists on the Web. The Semantic Web does this by removing data barriers and enabling machines to talk to each other in an almost "artificially intelligent" manner about the context and nature of the content they contain. Unlike Web 2.0, which was coined by Tim O'Reilly in 2004, the Semantic Web has had its origins since the earliest days of the World Wide Web, when its creators had envisioned and planned for the Semantic Web infrastructure.
The Scientific American Article
Many ideas of the Semantic Web originate with Sir Tim Berners-Lee whose article in Scientific American in 2001 reveals a futuristic scenario in which Semantic Web software agents negotiate complex arrangements for medical treatment of Lucy and Pete's ill mother. In one seamless step, the right local doctors are found, appointments are made, and transportation -- all arranged automatically. In Berners-Lee's Semantic Web, one can find exactly which doctor is how far from home, what his specialization is, when his next open appointment is, and when the local buses run to get there.
The Semantic Web in Action
In many ways, the Semantic Web translates and merges languages (computer languages included) into something universal in order for complex negotiations to be performed. This simple notion promotes standards for databases and brings artificial intelligence to bear on computer programming and deciphering between similar concepts. For example, think of how two documents on the web containing information about the actress "Paris Hilton" might get confused with a hotel in that City of Light. In the Semantic Web, all documents will need to be carefully described with proper metadata (information which describes the document) in order for machines to be able to read and process complex online transactions. Although the technology behind it is still a work in progress, the Semantic Web is essentially based on seven key pieces, often viewed as a layered cake.
- Uniform Resource Identifier (URI)'s allow meaning and context as it assigns any item on the Web with its own unique address.
- Documents: Extensible Markup Language (XML) - XML allows anyone to design Web documents in any format and have it "machine-readable" so that any program can read and understand it. Think of it like HTML with
- Statements: Resource Description Framework (RDF) - RDF puts it all together as it provides the semantic language statements that are machine-processable. An RDF statement is like language, with the difference being that words are URIs. An RDF statement contains three parts: a subject, a predicate and an object.
- Schemas and Ontologies - URIs are useless if we never describe what they mean. Schemas and ontologies describe the meaning and relationships of terms. This description (in RDF) allow computer systems use terms more easily, and decide how to convert between them.
- Logic, Trust, & Proof - The next three layers of the Semantic Web cake are a bit fuzzier and conceptual. Logic, proof, and trust (in the form of digital signatures) are the final ingredients which, like a credit card, allows for the information currency necessary for the Semantic Web to function properly.
The Intelligent Web
In many ways, the current web represents an information anarchy, where the multitude of user acccounts and passwords coupled with the vast amount of similar operating web programs, have made searching for information online a troublesome chore more than it is a direct portal for information. Berners-Lee's vision of the Semantic Web in which a search online through her web browser would not only yield a doctor's information, such as address, medical specialty, and hours of operations, but ultimately matching it with her own schedule and needs in order to perform a fully function one-stop search, remains a very possible solution for the current problems that still plagues that one-dimensional world that is the world wide web.
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