What is the 'semantic web'?
“The Semantic Web provides a common framework that allows data to be shared and reused across application, enterprise, and community boundaries. It is a collaborative effort led by W3C with participation from a large number of researchers and industrial partners” (Herman, I). The W3C is the World Wide Web Consortium.
The idea behind the Semantic Web is to extend the standard web to enable better searching, processing and integration. It “seeks to enable the Web to intelligently interpret what people are seeking when they search the Net” (Espiner). Its aim is to make better use of the web as it is at the moment.
The technologies of the Semantic Web can be used for many different things. ‘Data integration’ which means different sets of data from different places and formats can be seen together in one application rather than multiple. ‘Resource discovery and classification’ which mans the semantic web technologies can provide better search engines techniques. The technologies can be used by ‘intelligent software agents’ to smooth the progress of information sharing and exchanging.
The Semantic Web isn’t something which is trying to replace the Web, it’s improving it. The way browsers look doesn’t change, the Semantic Web works behind the scenes, cataloguing and organising. The W3C’s organisation of the Semantic Web is to provide the Web with “the order that libraries have and the Web does not – a consistent structure by which people can access materials” (Marshall C and Shipman F). Many large businesses such as IBM, Adobe and Yahoo have started to use the semantic web technologies.
One of the issues with the Semantic Web is privacy. This is due to sets of information being combined and shared. Berners-Lee, a pioneer of the Web, said that the architecture of the Semantic Web will be designed to ensure it can be seen where data is from and where it is going. One option designers are looking at is users being able to set their own privacy options.
In their conclusion, Marshall and Shipman suggest that in the short term there may be “semantic webs” rather than “The Semantic Web”. From what I have read and researched I agree with this. I think it will take a long time to develop as although it’s not a completely new type of Internet, there are many issues to over come, particularly privacy, file sharing and copyright problems. I think the Semantic Web is part of the future of the Web, as like all forms of media we have looked at in New Media Cultures, technology advances and improves to create ‘new media’.
Espiner, T. (2009) “Berners-Lee: Semantic Web will build in privacy”, Cnet News, http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10195902-93.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1023_3-0-5
Herman, I (2008) “W3C Semantic Web Frequently Asked Questions”, W3C Semantic Web, http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/SW-FAQ
Marshall, C and Shipman, F. (2003) “Which Semantic Web?”, http://www.ht03.org/papers/pdfs/7.pdf
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