Publication
Title
Tracing the origins of the semantic web
Author
Abstract
The Semantic Web has been criticized for not being semantic. This article examines the questions of why and how the Web of Data, expressed in the Resource Description Framework (RDF), has come to be known as the Semantic Web. Contrary to previous papers, we deliberately take a descriptive stance and do not start from preconceived ideas about the nature of semantics. Instead, we mainly base our analysis on early design documents of the (Semantic) Web. The main determining factor is shown to be link typing, coupled with the influence of online metadata. Both factors already were present in early web standards and drafts. Our findings indicate that the Semantic Web is directly linked to older artificial intelligence work, despite occasional claims to the contrary. Because of link typing, the Semantic Web can be considered an example of a semantic network. Originally network representations of the meaning of natural language utterances, semantic networks have eventually come to refer to any networks with typed (usually directed) links. We discuss possible causes for this shift and suggest that it may be due to confounding paradigmatic and syntagmatic semantic relations.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology. - Washington, D.C., 2001 - 2013
Publication
Washington, D.C. : 2013
ISSN
1532-2882 [print]
1532-2890 [online]
DOI
10.1002/ASI.22907
Volume/pages
64 :10 (2013) , p. 2173-2181
ISI
000324100000015
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 07.11.2013
Last edited 09.10.2023
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