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''In which I try to explain technical and practical aspects of the Semantic Web to a lay audience, of which I am part. '''Contributions welcome''', this is a wiki.''
''In which an explanation is attempted regarding technical and practical aspects of the Semantic Web and shared data using Semantic Mediawiki (SMW). This document is designed for public and non profit organizations.


'''Contributions welcome''', this is a wiki.


== Ramblings ==
<blockquote>
While traditional wikis contain only text which computers can
neither understand nor evaluate, SMW adds semantic annotations that
let the wiki function as a collaborative database, and let you
easily publish Semantic Web content. (From the SMW manual).


The Semantic Web is a concept that allows massive, reliable reuse of data. One of the most remarkable things about the Web is it is based on HTML, a text format that is highly accessible by humans and computers. Every Web page uses the same syntax to indicate what should be displayed, they all use the same retrieval mechanisms. This was a remarkable and unexpected (disruptive) breakthrough in communications, but the way companies jumped in to make the Web more attractive did little to make the exchange of data easier. Efforts over the years have struggled with complexity and standardization, with major initiatives interfering with each other for technical reasons (eg Microformats vs RDFa) or while trying to dominate in the market.
</blockquote>


One of the concerns has been the model for how information will be shared.  Today it's common for non profit organizations to hoard their information, to create "proprietary databases" they can use to pitch to granting agencies. Another factor is that ignoring standards allows efforts to move ahead on their own terms, without making their systems fit into larger systems which could slow them down. Another factor is insecurity - an organization may have a perfectly useful database, but in implementation it may not compare well to best technical efforts. There are two main requirements - well known mechanism usable by any organization, and the schemas/ontologies, descriptions of how the data will look for reliable re-use.
== Table of contents ==


Yet, the Internet has been mainstream for 15 years, and we're starting to see real breakthroughs in Semantic Web type applications. With unlimited room for our improvement by building on rather than hoarding data, and the recognition of the value of a true participatory society, many efforts to not share data start to appear ignoble. An unidentified new sector of public participation is developing based on the ease and minimal cost of gathering and organizing data functionality and interested parties on the Internet. The cost is simply making data re-usable, however many agencies fear this approach since it will affect their societal placement (and most don't trust 'the masses').
* Start at [[Wikis and Semantic Mediawiki]] or [[SMW Introduction]]
** [[Semantic Mediawiki and the Semantic Web]]
** [[SMW map]]
** [[SMW timelines]]
** [[SMW exhibit]]
** [[SMW Forms]]
** [[SMW Summary]]
** [[SMW Links]]


Another factor holding things back is how we use computers today - for the most part, like a typewriter. Not many people embed data from spreadsheets into their email, use automatic facilities for events and contacts, shared to-do tasks, etc. Documents and communications are one-offs, out of date the moment they're sent, and nothing is explicit in them. A semantic approach to computer data will change all this. Data will be more consistent, and when it comes to important statements we should be able to expect more.


Computer front ends, and people's habits will need to change to accommodate this. Sadly, however, the culture of many organizations and individuals will hold things back. Too many web design firms create sites like its 1995 (or emphasize Flashy presentations that can't even be used by many people), too many executives can't be bothered to remember their passwords, too many people make excuses for not pursuing a way that builds on our fascination with information.


== Approaches to Semantic Web applications ==
[http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ca/ http://creativecommons.org/images/public/somerights20.png]


=== Mining ===
Content in this category is re-usable under a Creative Commons by-attribution license. ''This front page is locked; an institutional wiki would have some editor controls''.


There are essentially two types of SemWeb applications, mining and intentional semantic development. One technique in mining is "scraping" to parse presumably reliable HTML pages. Many citizen projects use this technique to extract public data from recalcitrant government sources, for example, [http://www.theyworkforyou.com They Work for You]. Mash ups are related, sites like [http://www.housingmaps.com Housing Maps] combine data from disparate sources into one useful interface. However, scraping can be easily foiled by obfuscating low level structure, intentionally or not.
{{Blikied|September 25, 2009}}
 
Another mining approach involves scraping human oriented text. [http://www.opencalais.com Open Calais] is a infrastructure example of this. [http://healthbase.netbase.com Health Base] is an end user application. These sites use patterns in human text to try to derive statements. This technique is easily foiled leading to incorrect observations.
 
=== Intentional markup ===
 
Intentional semantic development involves explicit markup of text items. Most HTML documents today contain only text and links. Semantically marked up documents have explicit annotations about data objects, indicating them as entites such as people, places, dates, and so on. Relations (links) have explicit meanings.
 
In [http://www.foaf-project.org/ FOAF], we can indicate "me" links  on our home page that indicate another representation of ourselves. We can indicate links to friends, business associates, and organizations. It quickly becomes apparent that decentralized Facebook sites could be enabled, where individuals can publish their information wherever they like, using whatever licenses they like, and sites like Facebook can provide their own views of these webs of data.
 
Using RDFa and Microformats, annotations are added to regular HTML that give them semantic meaning. A person's information can be marked up with hCard, allowing you to "right click" and add that person to your address book. Similarly formats exist for locations and events.
 
Google, Yahoo and others use these formats to make their results more reliable. It used to be their information guessed what content on a page was content. So if you searched for "frames," looking for picture frames, you would be likely to find a page that referred to "frames" in its navigation. RDFa and Microformats allow more reliable markup of subjects, allowing meta directories to embed reviews from any cooperating site rather than trying to do everything themselves - because these reviews link back to the originating site, it's a "win win win" situation, for the meta directory, originating site, and end user, with richer, less biased results when a critical mass is reached.
 
The heavyweight options are systems such as RDF and Topic Maps. They provide a complex interlinked way to describe arbitrary data. Today they are only used for specific projects, but as their use grows we can expect the web to become more interlinked allowing an endless assemblage of information using the best references.
 
One way to 'intentionally' create semantic data is Semantic Mediawiki.
 
Next: [[Semantic Mediawiki and the Semantic Web]]


[[Category:SemWeb]]
[[Category:SemWeb]]

Latest revision as of 19:28, 28 June 2012

In which an explanation is attempted regarding technical and practical aspects of the Semantic Web and shared data using Semantic Mediawiki (SMW). This document is designed for public and non profit organizations.

Contributions welcome, this is a wiki.

While traditional wikis contain only text which computers can neither understand nor evaluate, SMW adds semantic annotations that let the wiki function as a collaborative database, and let you easily publish Semantic Web content. (From the SMW manual).

Table of contents


http://creativecommons.org/images/public/somerights20.png

Content in this category is re-usable under a Creative Commons by-attribution license. This front page is locked; an institutional wiki would have some editor controls.


Créer la version française

File:Lata Pada - Kshetram21.jpg
SemWeb


Home page

http://artsalive.ca/en/dan/meet/bios/artistDetail.asp?artistID=15

Location

Toronto


Lata Pada is a Canadian choreographer and Bharatanatyam dancer of Indian descent. Pada is the Founder and Artistic Director of Sampradaya Dance Creations, a dance Company that performs South Asian dance. She is also the Founder and Director of Sampradaya Dance Academy, a leading professional dance training institution that is the only South Asian dance school in North America affiliated with the prestigious, UK-based Imperial Society for Teachers of Dancing.Pada founded the dance company in 1990 because she wanted to showcase Bharatantyam dance as an art form throughout the world.

Pada, who attended Elphinstone College in Mumbai, trained under the gurus Kalaimamani Kalyanasundaram and Padmabhushan Kalanidhi Narayanan.Pada lives in Mississauga, near Toronto. Pada married geologist Vishnu Pada when she was 17 years old.

In 1985 Lata Pada and her family decided to take an extended vacation to India. On June 23 of that year Vishnu Pada and daughters Arti and Brinda died in the bombing of Air India Flight 182. Lata Pada was not aboard since she left on an earlier date to tour India for Bharatanatyam recitals in Bangalore and across India; Lata was in Mumbai rehearsing for her tour, while her husband and daughters stayed behind in Sudbury, Ontario because Brinda was graduating from high school; afterwards the three flew on Air India 182. Lata Pada became a spokesperson for the families of the victims. After the crash she created the dance piece "Revealed By Fire" in remembrance of the incident. Pada received a master's degree in fine arts from York University in 1997.

Pada married Hari Venkatacharya in September, 2000. Venkatacharya is an entrepreneur and was Managing Director of Nytric Business Partners and is the Immediate Past President of TiE Toronto. He also serves on the Boards of the Ontario Science Centre and Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences. They both met while founding the South Asian advisory committee at the Royal Ontario Museum in 1995, where they raised over $3 million Canadian dollars for Canada's first permanent South Asian Gallery.

In December 2008, she was made a Member of the Order of Canada for her contributions to the development of Bharatanatyam as a choreographer, teacher, dancer and artistic director, as well as for her commitment and support of the Indian community in Canada. Lata was also recently appointed as Adjunct Professor in the Graduate Faculty of Dance, York University, Toronto.


This article based on content from http://www.wikipedia.org. Original version: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lata_Pada
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