Re: ISSUE-66: LinkedDataT

On 8/5/14 7:03 PM, David Booth wrote:
>>
>> Funny fact: the "original principles" didn't explicitly mention it:
>>
>> https://web.archive.org/web/20061115043657/http://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/Li 
>>
>> nkedData.html
>
> That's because everyone discussing it at the time knew very well the 
> context.  The semantic web community was suffering from use of the 
> existing term "semantic web", both because it is misleading -- 
> "semantics" is strongly associated with natural language processing 
> (NLP), but the semantic web has nothing to do with NLP -- and because 
> it sounds overly imposing/pedantic.  There was also concern that some 
> users of RDF were not making use of the *linking* capability of URIs 
> in their RDF (i.e., not making URIs dereferenceable).  TimBL coined 
> the term "linked data" as a more accurate and marketable term for the 
> original concept of the semantic web, which is based on RDF. 

David,

Back in the day, pre Linked Data meme, folks where building RDF 
documents and packing them into zip and gzip files. Basically, it was 
all about IRIs (words) rather than HTTP URIs (terms) in regards to RDF 
sentence contruction.

Linked Data had more to do with resurrecting the "Web" in "Semantic Web" 
(what many assumed was either a buzz-phrase or loose project name).

RDF and Natural Language need to be connected rather than disconnected. 
This too showcases an area where RDF messaging went awry.

We can fix these errors from the past by keeping them out of newer 
standardizations efforts based on RDF.

Key points the help RDF messaging:

1. It is a Language -- i.e., it isn't a format
2. Like any Language it is a system of signs, syntax, and role semantics 
(or model theory)
3. It is a W3C formalization effort that addresses a critical aspect of 
the *existing* Web
4. RDF document content can be created using a variety of notations, 
rather than any single golden notation -- for instance showing how POSH 
has always represented RDF triples (even though they precede the actual 
W3C RDF formailzation effort) is a bridge builder ++ .

One-liners:

RDF (the W3C spec) formalizes the nature and form of links (connections, 
associations, relations) that constitute the World Wide Web.

RDF (the Language) provides a digital rendition of natural language 
sentences whereby information is encoded and decoded using a combination 
of signs, syntax, and relationship role semantics (model theory).

-- 
Regards,

Kingsley Idehen	
Founder & CEO
OpenLink Software
Company Web: http://www.openlinksw.com
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