SWT - Lecture 3 (Semantic Web Layer Tower) - 16-01-2009

SEMANTIC WEB TECHNOLOGIES
Instructor : Amna Basharat Haider

Lecture : 03
Date : 16th January 2009
SEMANTIC WEB TECHNOLOGIES
An Overview
Semantic Web Technologies

▫ Explicit Metadata
▫ Ontologies
▫ Logic
g and Inference
▫ Agents
FAST-NU, Islamabad Fall 2008 - Lecture 3 Instructor: Amna Basharat Haider

On HTML
▫ Web content is currently formatted
f human
for h readers
d rather
th than
th
programs
▫ HTML is the predominant language in

which Web pages are written (directly
or using tools)
▫ Vocabulary describes presentation

An HTML Example
<h1>Agilitas Physiotherapy Centre</h1>
Welcome to the home page of the Agilitas Physiotherapy Centre. Do
you feel pain? Have you had an injury? Let our staff Lisa Davenport,
Kelly Townsend (our lovely secretary) and Steve Matthews take care
of your body and soul.
<h2>Consultation hours</h2>
Mon 11am - 7pm<br>
Tue 11am - 7pm<br>
Wed 3pm - 7pm<br>
Thu 11am - 7pm<br>
Fri 11am - 3pm<p>
But note that we do not offer consultation during the weeks of the
<a href=". . .">State Of Origin</a> games.

Problems with HTML

• Humans have no problem with this
• Machines (software agents) do:

▫ How to distinguish therapists from the
secretary
▫ How to determine exact consultation hours

A Better Representation
<company>
y py
<treatmentOffered>Physiotherapy</treatmentOffered>
<companyName>Agilitas Physiotherapy Centre</companyName>
<staff>
therapist Lisa Davenport</therapist>
<therapist>Lisa Davenport /therapist
<therapist>Steve Matthews</therapist>
<secretary>Kelly Townsend</secretary>
</staff>
</company>

Explicit Metadata
• This representation is far more easily
processable by machines
• Metadata: data about data

▫ Metadata capture part of the meaning of data
• Semantic Web does not rely on text-based

text based
manipulation, but rather on machine-
processable metadata
p

Ontologies
• The term ontology originates from philosophy
•
• The study of the nature of existence
• Different meaning from computer science
• An ontology is an explicit and formal

specification
spec cat o of
o a conceptualisation
co ceptual sat o

Typical Components of Ontologies

• Terms denote important concepts (classes of
objects) of the domain
▫ e.g. professors, staff, students, courses,
departments
• Relationships between these terms: typically

class hierarchies
▫ a class C to be a subclass of another class C' if
every object in C is also included in C'
▫ e.g.
e g all professors are staff members

Further Components of Ontologies

• Properties:
▫ e g X teaches Y
e.g.
• Value restrictions
▫ e.g. only faculty members can teach courses
• Disjointness statements
▫ e.g. faculty and general staff are disjoint
• Logical relationships between objects
▫ e.g. every department must include at least 10
faculty

The Role of Ontologies on the Web

• Ontologies provide a shared understanding of
a domain: semantic interoperability
▫ overcome differences in terminology
▫ mappings between ontologies
• Ontologies are useful for the organisation and

navigation of Web sites

The Role of Ontologies in Web Search

• Ontologies are useful for improving the
accuracy
y of Web searches
▫ search engines can look for pages that refer to a
precise concept in an ontology
• Web searches can exploit generalisation/

specialization information
▫ If a query fails to find any relevant documents, the
search engine may suggest to the user a more
general query
g q y
▫ If too many answers are retrieved, the search

engine may suggest to the user some
specializations.
Logic and Inference

• Logic is the discipline that studies the
principles of reasoning
▫ Formal languages for expressing knowledge
▫ Well-understood formal semantics
x Declarative knowledge: we describe what holds without
caring about how it can be deduced
▫ Automated reasoners can deduce (infer)
conclusions from the given knowledge

An Inference Example
prof(X) → faculty(X)
faculty(X) → staff(X)
prof(michael)
We can deduce the following conclusions:

faculty(michael)
staff(michael)
prof(X) → staff(X)

Logic versus Ontologies

• The previous example involves knowledge
typically found in ontologies
▫ Logic can be used to uncover ontological
knowledgeg that is implicitly
p y given
g
▫ It can also help uncover unexpected relationships
and inconsistencies
• Logic is more general than ontologies

▫ It can also be used by intelligent agents for making
decisions and selecting courses of action

Software Agents
• Software agents work autonomously and
proactively
▫ They evolved out of object oriented and
component-based programming
• A personal agent on the Semantic Web will:

▫ receive some tasks and preferences from the
person
▫ seek information from Web sources,
communicate
i t with
ith other
th agentst
▫ compare information about user requirements
and p
preferences,, make certain choices
▫ give answers to the user
THE SEMANTIC WEB LAYER TOWER
The Semantic Web Layer Tower

Semantic Web Layers

• XML layer
▫ Syntactic basis
• RDF layer
▫ RDF basic data model for facts
▫ RDF Schema simple ontology language
• Ontology layer
▫ More expressive languages than RDF Schema
▫ Current Web standard: OWL

Semantic Web Layers (2)

• Logic layer
▫ enhance ontology languages further
▫ application-specific declarative knowledge
• Proof layer
▫ Proof generation, exchange, validation
• Trust layer
y
▫ Digital signatures
▫ recommendations, rating agencies ….

Semantic Web Layers: Principles

• The layers of the Semantic Web must respect
the following principles:
▫ Downward compatibility
x e.g., agents aware of the semantics of OWL can take full
advantage of information written in RDF and RDF Schema
▫ Upward partial understanding
x e.g., an agent only aware of RDF and RDF Schema
semantics can interpret knowledge written in OWL partly
by disregarding elements that go beyond RDF and RDF
schema

EVOLUTION OF THE SEMANTIC WEB

Evolution of Semantic Web

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

• 1989: Web designed and built at CERN by Tim
Berners Lee
• W3C formed in 1994 (Chair Tim Berners Lee)
to lead the Web to its full potential as a forum for
information, commerce, communication, and
collective understanding
by developing common protocols that promote its

evolution and ensure its interoperability
Overview of Semantic Web

• 1st generation
▫ Internet enabled machines to exchange
g data
• 2nd generation
▫ enabled enormous amounts of information available,
available in
human-readable form
• The next generation of the net

▫ is an “agent-enabled” (Semantic Web) which makes
information available in machine-readable form …
enabling “agent”
agent communication at a Web-wide scale
• The Semantic Web is a vision: the idea of having data

on th
the web
bddefined
fi d andd li
linked
k d iin a way th
thatt it can b
be
used by machines
A Picture of Semantic Web
Web User
use
Query
Service Push Push
Agent
Profile
Document Pull Pull Preference
Agent view Ontology view Communication

Agents in Semantic Web

• Software Agents can
▫ collect web content from diverse sources.
▫ process that information and exchange the results with other
programs(agents).
▫ also exchange “proofs” written in Semantic Web’s “Unified
Language”.
Language”
• (UL : A language that expresses logical inferences made using rules and
information such as those specified by ontologies.)
Where is cook?
Cook is in Missouri
Proof ?
Proof, doubts? Online Services
No
SOFTWARE AGENTS
Agents will be greatly
facilitated by semantic content
on the Web.
In the depicted scenario, Lucy's

agent tracks down a physical
therapy clinic for her mother
that meets a combination of
criteria and has open
appointment times that mesh
with her and her brother Pete's
schedules.
h d l
Ontologies that define the

meaning of semantic data play a
key role in enabling the agent
to understand what is on the
Semantic Web, interact with
sites and employ other
automated services.
The Semantic Web

SEMANTIC WEB APPROACH :
ILLUSTRATED!
Demonstrating the Power of Semantic Web
Technology
Technolog







Assignment # 1
• In their paper titled “The Semantic Web” Time
Berners-Lee
Berners Lee et al.”
al. describe a scenario exemplifying
a possible use of the Semantic Web. In your groups:
▫ Di
Discuss and
d describe
d ib another
h example
l off a possible
ibl usage
scenario of the Semantic Web
▫ Identify and list all the resources that need to be available on

the Semantic Web in order for the scenario to be successfully
fulfilled.
• Deadline:
▫ Friday
y 16th January
y 2008

Assignment No 1


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SEMANTIC WEB TECHNOLOGIES

Instructor : Amna Basharat Haider

Semantic Web Technologies

FAST-NU, Islamabad Fall 2008 - Lecture 3 Instructor: Amna Basharat Haider

▫ HTML is the predominant language in

▫ Vocabulary describes presentation

FAST-NU, Islamabad Fall 2008 - Lecture 3 Instructor: Amna Basharat Haider

FAST-NU, Islamabad Fall 2008 - Lecture 3 Instructor: Amna Basharat Haider

Problems with HTML

• Machines (software agents) do:

▫ How to determine exact consultation hours

FAST-NU, Islamabad Fall 2008 - Lecture 3 Instructor: Amna Basharat Haider

FAST-NU, Islamabad Fall 2008 - Lecture 3 Instructor: Amna Basharat Haider

• Metadata: data about data

• Semantic Web does not rely on text-based

FAST-NU, Islamabad Fall 2008 - Lecture 3 Instructor: Amna Basharat Haider

• Different meaning from computer science

• An ontology is an explicit and formal

FAST-NU, Islamabad Fall 2008 - Lecture 3 Instructor: Amna Basharat Haider

Typical Components of Ontologies

• Relationships between these terms: typically

FAST-NU, Islamabad Fall 2008 - Lecture 3 Instructor: Amna Basharat Haider

Further Components of Ontologies

FAST-NU, Islamabad Fall 2008 - Lecture 3 Instructor: Amna Basharat Haider

The Role of Ontologies on the Web

• Ontologies are useful for the organisation and

FAST-NU, Islamabad Fall 2008 - Lecture 3 Instructor: Amna Basharat Haider

The Role of Ontologies in Web Search

• Web searches can exploit generalisation/

▫ If too many answers are retrieved, the search

Logic and Inference

FAST-NU, Islamabad Fall 2008 - Lecture 3 Instructor: Amna Basharat Haider

We can deduce the following conclusions:

FAST-NU, Islamabad Fall 2008 - Lecture 3 Instructor: Amna Basharat Haider

Logic versus Ontologies

• Logic is more general than ontologies

FAST-NU, Islamabad Fall 2008 - Lecture 3 Instructor: Amna Basharat Haider

• A personal agent on the Semantic Web will:

The Semantic Web Layer Tower

FAST-NU, Islamabad Fall 2008 - Lecture 3 Instructor: Amna Basharat Haider

Semantic Web Layers

FAST-NU, Islamabad Fall 2008 - Lecture 3 Instructor: Amna Basharat Haider

Semantic Web Layers (2)

FAST-NU, Islamabad Fall 2008 - Lecture 3 Instructor: Amna Basharat Haider

Semantic Web Layers: Principles

FAST-NU, Islamabad Fall 2008 - Lecture 3 Instructor: Amna Basharat Haider

FAST-NU, Islamabad Fall 2008 - Lecture 1 Instructor: Amna Basharat Haider

Evolution of Semantic Web

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

by developing common protocols that promote its

Overview of Semantic Web

• The next generation of the net

• The Semantic Web is a vision: the idea of having data

A Picture of Semantic Web

Agent view Ontology view Communication

Agents in Semantic Web

In the depicted scenario, Lucy's

Ontologies that define the

The Semantic Web

FAST-NU, Islamabad Fall 2008 - Lecture 3 Instructor: Amna Basharat Haider

FAST-NU, Islamabad Fall 2008 - Lecture 3 Instructor: Amna Basharat Haider

FAST-NU, Islamabad Fall 2008 - Lecture 3 Instructor: Amna Basharat Haider