Re: namespace as resource

On Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 09:29:26PM +0100, Sean B. Palmer wrote:
> > if a URI is used to reference a namespace, and i want to
> > describe the namespace in RDF, i have to use that URI.
> > but i also have to use that URI if i want describe the
> > retrievable resource located at the URI (assuming it's of
> > the URL persuasion).
> 
> A namespace is a namespace, not a file. If you want to refer to the file,
> then you are referring to the representation of the resource (i.e., that
> namespace) that is returned to the browser, not the resource itself. You
> can't argue that a page representing a namespace *is* a namespace. 

exactly. the page is not the namespace. i'm actually drawing a stronger
line between the page and the namespace. thats why i used the language i
did. i referred to the 'namespace' and the 'retrievable resource' at
the same URI. i guess i see a namespace as a completely different resource 
than the page. the page defines/describes/bounds the namespace, but i'm
not sure i see it as even a representation of the namespace. perhaps
i have a poor understanding of namespaces. 

an example of the potential problem:

<http://namespace.com> dc:creator "devon" .
<http://namespace.com> dc:creator "mike" .

i created the namespace. mike created the page. 
no one could tell from those two statements, however. 



> So, if
> you want to accurately model this so that it may be used in any context,
> you should state the particulars, e.g. that:-
> 
>    [ a :ResourceRepresentation;
>       :ofResource <http://blargh.org/>;
>       :date "2001-08-17" ] .
> 
> Be careful not to confuse a resource with a representation of that
> resource. Create a new (normally anonymous) resource out of that
> representation if need be. The representations returned from URLs rarely
> stay the same, so this has a practical as well as conceptual, use.

no, i understand the distinction between the resource and its representation.
again, i'm just not sure the page is a representation of the namespace.

devon
smithde@oclc.org

Received on Friday, 17 August 2001 16:59:39 UTC